posted
I guess I would categorize myself as spoiler neutral. I'm not one to automatically flip to the last page first. Neither, am I one to freak out and get upset if I come across an internet spoiler or somebody tells me the ending before I get there.
I do find that I sometimes rush through a story, especially a comics story, if the big climax has been teased a lot. I rush though the story trying to get to reveal, and miss a lot of details along the way. In these situations, I typically go back to re-read the story at a slower pace after I know the ending. I find that I enjoy the second reading more.
The article mentions the "Who Shot JR" episode of Dallas. I recall that kind of being spoiled during the summer, by published reports that Mary Crosby would be leaving the show shortly after the beginning of the season. That made her the pretty obvious suspect. I still enjoyed finding out her motivation, and her performance in the episode that revealed she really was the shooter.
[ August 13, 2011, 11:06 PM: Message edited by: Jerry ]
-------------------- No regrets, Coyote.
From: Missouri | Registered: Oct 2003
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Personally I don't like spoilers. Personally I like the personal satisfaction of figuring out the plot of a book/show/movie/video game before it ends. If I am spoiled on it, then I lose the fun of trying to decipher the ending before it happens. That being said I do also enjoy re-reading/watching something as well, so I can see how the creator crafted the complete tale and tied it all together.
From: Fort McMurray | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:Originally posted by dedman: Personally I don't like spoilers. Personally I like the personal satisfaction of figuring out the plot of a book/show/movie/video game before it ends. If I am spoiled on it, then I lose the fun of trying to decipher the ending before it happens. That being said I do also enjoy re-reading/watching something as well, so I can see how the creator crafted the complete tale and tied it all together.
I think that's exactly how I feel. I like having the chance to experience something NOT KNOWING in advance what's going to happen, whether I can figure it out or just go along for the ride and be surprised.
Then, on repeat viewings, you can see just how good (or not) a story is. If it REQUIRES "surprise" to be entertaining, I think something's wrong.
SOYLENT GREEN, apparently, was a "mystery" that was totally ruined as soon as people found out the ending. Worse, I get the feeling that movie, by its very existence, turned an important social problem into a trivia joke, to the point where nobody's wanted to deal with it head-on for decades since. (over-population)
Registered: Aug 2003
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There are some books/movies are more affected by spoilers. Mysteries and books/movies that have a surprise twist ending.
There do seem to be some spoilers that have become wide spread. prof's example of Soylent Green. I would say the Crying Game and possibly the Sixth Sense fall into this widely known spoiler catagory. You don't even need to have seen these movies to know what the surprise ending is.
I remember a while ago I decided to read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. To my surprise the whole story is about Dr. Jekyll's friends worried about this mysterious Mr. Hyde who seems to be controlling Jekyll. The surprise twist at the end of the story is that Click Here For A SpoilerHyde & Jekyll are the same person
Some books and movies need a second viewing/reading to see all the little things that you missed but become real interesting once you know the ending. And of course there are some books/movies that a person just likes the story and wants to experience it again.
-------------------- Five billion years from now the Sun will go nova and obliterate the Earth. Don't sweat the small stuff!
From: Boston | Registered: Aug 2003
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I do like to avoid spoilers, but with my habit of reading about far more works than I actually read, that's hard.
There's something more disappointing (or at least more often disappointing) about knowing too much in advance. When you hear of some great idea in a story, and then you read it and find that's the only good idea. That is, when "spoilers" lead you to believe the story is more creative than it is.
-------------------- Tom Strong, on nostalgia: "I suppose it's a ready substitute for genuine feeling." - Tom Strong #6, Alan Moore
From: Calgary, Alberta | Registered: May 2008
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Not really about spoilers, but what can spoil a movie (mostly) or book for me is if it gets overhyped/overadvertized. You can't help but get your expectations up. Then the movie never lives up to your expectations.
For that reason, I try my best to avoid previews, first looks, news about any superhero movie.
-------------------- Five billion years from now the Sun will go nova and obliterate the Earth. Don't sweat the small stuff!
From: Boston | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
Here's a good one that I had avoided spoilers about...Fight Club. A friend of mine told me that I had to see it, so I ventured over to his house and watched it.
There's a twist at the end of the movie that I predicted about half way through the thing. I literally made him stop the movie and wrote it down, and left it on the table until the end of the thing and when he read what I had wrote he laughed hysterically...cause I was dead on with the twist.
There was a plot point that was a telegraph of the ending at a certain point (to me anyway) and I caught it and it that tipped me off in a huge way. I know not everyone figured it out, but in a lot of movies, there are clues that can 'spoil' an ending for you as well.
I do like to avoid spoilers when I can, but am not normally upset when I find out things about movies. Found out about Sixth Sense early, but still enjoyed the movie in looking for all the clues.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Someone gave an example of "someone dies next issue". I think that's an artistically reprehensible spoiler. It's often used as promotion for the issue, but it completely cheapens the character's death into a mere promotion, and sabotages any artistic merit it had in the story, not to mention the reader knowing a death is going to happen when the writer may not have intended the reader to have that foreknowledge.
BTW, so glad nobody included a list of famous spoilers in this thread. That's happened several times on other forums when the subject of spoilers came up. They totally ignore the fact that some people haven't seen certain classics yet and really don't need to know who or what Rosebud is before seeing Citizen Kane, or what the title "To Serve Man" means in the Twilight Zone. (Well profh0011 did a few, but at least I couldn't identify the movies of the ones I didn't already know.)
Some idiot newscaster spoiled Sixth Sense, and the movie wasn't even on cable yet, so I never got to have that "first" viewing where you gasp at the twist, or have the satisfaction of figuring it out yourself.
From: Manhattan, NY | Registered: May 2011
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Regarding comic book deaths. It used to be that the character wasn't dead if you didn't see the body. Now even if you see the body, the character can be brought back. Is there any character who has stayed dead? Barry Allen's back. Rita Farr is back. Mar-Vel is back. This bringing characters back to from the dead makes any character's "death" pretty ho-hum.
-------------------- Five billion years from now the Sun will go nova and obliterate the Earth. Don't sweat the small stuff!
From: Boston | Registered: Aug 2003
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Haha Dev, I did the thing you did with Fight Club, except I did it with the first Saw movie, about 10 minutes in.
From: Fort McMurray | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Maybe because I'm hopeless at figuring out mysteries ahead of time, I don't mind the spoiler.
However, it's a lot easier to get spoilers with the internet, too easy if you don't like them.
I'm still a sucker for the preview pages from comic books, although it's a bad habit. They show you three pages out of a measly 20, there's that much less to read when I get the book. Previews aren't generally spoilers, but I find they do take something away from the reading - so I can understand why people don't like real spoilers.
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