The politics of online spoilers

[matgb]

One of the things that always bugs me online is different peoples reactions to plot 'spoilers' for media things—unpredictable and at times downright weird, as Nick Mamatas demonstrated last month. Now me, I tend to seek them out for shows I like—before the internet I had a subscription to SFX partially for the spoiler zone section, I loved reading about shows way in advance and knowing what would happen. But then I tend to rewatch stuff I like a lot anyway. So, inspired by this old poll at nmg's, I thought I'd update it a bit.

Warning though, below the fold are some minor spoilers for recent films such as Iron Man, Harry Potter 5 and Spiderman, and also endings/character reveals for Hamlet, Sixth Sense, Citizen Kane, the Star Wars trilogy, Soylent Green and Fight Club. Nothing is revealed that isn't on this classic t-shirt but if you really are that averse, just scroll to the last question...

[Poll #1199471]

Obviously some things, like the end of a genuine mystery, are worth hiding if that's how it's written—knowing who did it never seemed to hurt my enjoyment of Columbo though, and a chunk of my reading is always history books where, y'know, I normally know the ending. It's not what happens that matters to me, it's how—I'm there for the ride, not the big splash at the bottom. You?

Comments

[pmoodie.livejournal.com]

Generally, I don't have a problem with spoilers.

Obviously when a film or whatever relies heavily on a twist ending or a shock revelation for it's effect, then it's best not to know that beforehand, but basic plot points don't trouble me. I don't exactly seek them out, but I don't avoid them either.

For me, watching a film, reading a story, isn't just about finding out what happens next, it's about losing myself in another world, with a bunch of interesting characters. It should be an experience. If the film is good, then I'll still be carried along for the ride, no matter what prior knowledge I have of the plot.

Case in point - as a school kid, I read the novelisation of The Empire Strikes Back before I saw the film. And knowing that Vader was Luke's Dad in no way detracted from the OMFG power of that scene to my ten year-old eyes.

Similarly, I can enjoy watching my favourite films over and over again, so the pleasure I'm getting out of those clearly doesn't depend on not knowing the plot.

[sylo-tode.livejournal.com]

The Star Wars books of the movies are an entirely different kettle of fish.

The first one, i.e., episode 4 before it got the subtitle, is a really good read. There's so much more detail and stuff that make it really cool to read.

And, most importantly, it doesn't read like the written form of a movie, like the other five do. (Well, I'm assuming that episodes 2 and 3 are like that, I haven't read them.) Empire has a couple of cool "scenes" (Luke training on Dagobah) that weren't in the movie (maybe because they're on the cutting room floor) that would help flesh out some scenes later. Return has virtually nothing additional.

I've read the original several times, the other two only once a piece.