Ryan McNeil
“Spoilers”.
Few words strike so much fear into the hearts of so many. Perhaps it’s because we feel as though the integrity of a piece of art comes down to the element of surprise. Perhaps it’s because fans of various types of entertainment can gather together virtually in so many ways they couldn’t before. Or perhaps it’s because the conversation around any given topic seems to be moving so quickly, that just remaining “unspoiled” has turn into a stressful task all its own.
Through the last 24 hours, two things have happened that got me thinking about the spoiler-culture we live in these days.
The first was something of my own doing – the recording of Matineecast 110 where I discussed both volumes of NYMPHOMANIAC with Alex Withrow. In case you’ve never noticed before, what you read and hear around this site tends to stay fairly spoiler-free…usually holding back on any specifics that arrive after the halfway point of a film. However, when it came to NYMPHOMANIAC, I couldn’t help but feel that it would be disingenuous to sidestep discussion of the ending. Putting aside the fact that there are actually two endings, which means one cannot be avoided, the conclusion of the film felt like it had so much sway over one’s ultimate opinion of the movie.
Could we still have talked about the film for forty-five minutes without getting into the nitty-gritty of its final five? Probably. Would it have been as informed a discussion? Probably not.
I feel as though there should be a place for that in the lexicon of review and discussion. Somewhere that people can go to read and reflect after they’ve seen something. To examine it as a whole and consider how something’s beginning informs its end. Heck, nowadays people tend not to read word-one about a piece of art until they’ve seen it for themselves anyway. Still, I don’t know that place is the widest basins of social media.
That brings me to the other encounter with spoiler culture this weekend: Game of Thrones.
(Don’t worry – I won’t be alluding to any specifics)
We live in an on-demand age, where shows are being aired on a specific day and time, but consumed according to the viewer’s whimsy, However, certain shows have defied that model. The fan culture surrounding shows like Hannibal, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, and Walking Dead has turned these properties into must-see-TV. Not only is it must-see, but the window for discussing what happens opens…well…as it happens. On Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and the like. The moment it happens, it must be reacted to, must be shared, must be “OMG”d to the enth degree. Is this fair for those of us who cannot be in front of our TV’s? Maybe not. Can anything be done about it? Only to stay off social media until you have the chance to watch the show in question.
However, in the days that follow, I do feel like media outlets can do a poor job of pussyfooting around spoilers. Even the suggestion that there is something to be spoiled is a spoiler in its own right. I mean really, how much is an article protecting a twist when its headline is “You Won’t Believe What Happened on ________”. Or my favorite, “About THAT Scene”. Perhaps the only thing worse than spoiling the surprise? Tipping one off that there is a surprise to be spoiled! Don’t even get me started about the choices of images that get used in these articles.
What gets my goat about this is the fact that it runs counter to my previous point about there being safe places to read and review pieces of art as a whole. I believe in these places – but they are not newspapers, entertainment sites, or the like. These are spaces that people go to for all sorts of reasons – many of which have nothing to do with the property in question. For instance, I should be able to find out what my city’s dumbass mayor has done now without having to see a headline about The Walking Dead right beside it.
But that leads me to my final point – about the very nature of spoilers in the first place. How much do they matter – really? As I’ve been prodding people to seek out films they’ve never seen before, people are inevitably coming across films where the endings are well-known. I, for one, know that the first time I watched CITIZEN KANE that I was fully aware of what Rosebud was. If a piece of art is so well-constructed, shouldn’t it be able to stand up to spoilers? Shouldn’t there be more to it than just “what happens”?
Don’t get me wrong – I won’t be going on social media on Sunday nights anytime in the near future…but shouldn’t there be a better balance from all sides?
You know for me if something relies on surprise and without it wouldn’t be as good, maybe it’s not that good to begin with.
I don’t mind spoilers. I’m not bothered by them. I always watch trailers, read theories about movies I’m anticipating, hell, sometimes I even read the scripts. For me what matters is not the jolt of adrenaline when you are shocked but how well it is executed on screen.
As for the shows – with Thrones it’s tricky – books have been around for years so the spoilers for practically every part of the story are out there. However I will not abstain from twitting about that show just because someone didn’t see episode yet. The truth is there are no safe places on the web. You don’t want to get spoiled, you should avoid the social media. The information travels too fast for any better way to avoid spoilers, not to mention world is filled with assholes who love spoiling stuff.
Yeah – that’s sorta what I was alluding to at the end there: whether it comes as a jump-out-of-your-seat jolt, or a satisfied smile, if it’s a well-executed plot point, it should still work even if it’s been tipped off.
As for where and when one talks about such things, I think social media is fair game since it’s easy enough to avoid for a few days before one catches up with whatever’s going on in whatever show they’re following. Thrones and Walking Dead are trickier though, since they’re based on established properties. The fandom seems to be fighting with crossover followers.
I put the books down midway through Storm of Swords because I wasn’t crazy about Martin’s writing style (I feel like it’s better executed as a show). For the most part, it’s easy enough to avoid book spoilers – I just stay away from comment sections. If someone brought it up unprompted though…as someone I know well often does…that’s a different story.
Thanks for the comment.
I’m rarely put off by people “spoiling” a movie or episode. Good art is usually about how they got there (even something like the 6th Sense which had the mother of all spoilers was good even when you knew). Knowing a real game changer in advance (like the death of a character) can make the whole thing more exciting knowing it’s coming. I’ve read the GoT books so I was up and down running around waiting for the big moment on Sunday.
Wait – weren’t YOU the person who got grumpy with me for discussing the last scene of The Lego Movie?
You have such a knack for writing the best pieces. I’m in awe of the way you present things, seriously.
Anyways, enough gushing. I totally get what you’re saying. I think a lot of this has to do with the attention span of the average person these days. I mean, trailers alone are giant spoilers. You have to rope them in with everything they have to watch out for, because they’ll get bored if they don’t know whats coming.
I personally try and avoid spoilers in my reviews, even on my blog. They aren’t necessary. Still, there are times when they are. I mean, sometimes you just cannot really DISCUSS a film without getting into the ending, which is where the real guts lie, and some films demand being discussed. In that case, I usually try and throw up a spoiler warning so that people who haven’t seen the film can avoid that part of the review.
But like you said, most people won’t read on a film until they’ve seen it anyways.
In the interest of science – Take a week or two and run the spoiler flag up the pole on your site. Write about several films as a complete work.
See if you like coming at the subject matter in this manner more, less, or the same.
I’m pro-spoilers. If a piece of media art relies too much on surprise then it’s only good for a one time viewing. But if it’s a well crafted reveal then it is just as enjoyable without the surprise. In fact it’s more enjoyable because it builds that anticipation for the reveal. On a blind view the reaction is “what?! Did that just happen?!” Whereas on an informed view the reaction becomes “yes! There it is!”
On a smaller scale I was recently spoiled for a little found footage horror movie called Afflicted. On the distribution companies Twitter before the release they were marketing it kind of like Chronicle with a horror twist and that they wouldn’t be retweeting reactions which contained a certain word. I didn’t look deeper to find out what that word was, but after the launch and before I saw it, they did let the cat out of the bag and I knew the twist (though it’s not a huge twist) before seeing it. But in the end, I think I enjoyed it just slightly more than I would have if I hadn’t known.
I’d never thought of the anticipation of watching a piece of work and thinking “here it comes!”.
Then again, there have been shows where I knew a character was going to kick the bucket, but not which…so the anticipation within the scene of who would bite it overwhelmed the shock of “holy crap! x just died!!”
Good point, sir.
Yeah, most of the time the spoiler is a simple fact, but almost never all the details surround that fact. There are many movies and TV shows that are sort of built around a spoiler themselves. They will reveal a key plot point at the beginning and then spend the rest of the movie/episode building the story around that plot point. I think that unsolicited spoilers often work the same way.
There’s something called ‘ROSEBUD’ in Citizen Kane!!!! Noooooo.
All kidding aside, spoilers are annoying, but if the property is good it should be better than the spoiler. I know the ending of Breaking Bad, but still decided to watch it because I want to know how they got to that ending. While there are some TV/Films that live and die on the twist, perhaps those weren’t that good to begin with. Perhaps if journalists realize that a show is going to be live they can avoid social media, but at what extent? Social Media is where we work, so if you really care about spoilers for a specific movie and TV show you should do everything in your power to watch it live, instead of waiting for video/DVR time.
It’s crazy, isn’t it? Here we were over the last ten or twelve years praising the wonder of PVR’s and on-demand, and being able to watch what we wanted when we wanted.
Then along come social media to yank us by the collar back to watching our beloved properties live…lest we get precious details tipped off.
I’m with you – if you’re a fan of a show, and you know that this sort of fervour grows around it, you need to make every effort to watch it night-of.
I’m actually surprised that I’m usually able to remain spoiler-free about the shows and movies I watch.
What bothers me the most about spoiler culture is the assumption that it’s OK to spoil a film or TV show if it’s a certain age. While it’s true that some spoilers (i.e. Darth Vader’s reveal in Empire Strikes Back) enter pop culture and no longer become spoilers, I really don’t like it when people use the excuse “it’s XX years old, so too bad” for spoiling a movie.
I personally try to remain courteous when it comes to plot details.
Sorry – no sale.
There’s a statute of limitations. If you’re standing there holding the blu-ray for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and someone tells you the Darth vader reveal, then that’s a dick move.
If you haven’t got around to seeing a film 30+ years after its release, that’s on you and it’s fair game.
I’m all for keeping details quiet for days, weeks, or even months…but once we get into decades, there’s only so much I can stand to see people covering their ears and humming.
Generally, a film’s more enjoying the less I know about it. Yes, there comes a point (like 30 years) when it gets ridiculous, but I’d rather prefer to see a film totally blind than have someone casually talk about the plot, just because I didn’t see it in a certain window.
At the very least ASK.
I used to try not to spoil movies in my posts, but I’ve gone away from that lately. One reason is that I’m rarely covering brand new films, so I expect that someone who reads 1,000 words on Drug War has probably seen it. Also, I find that it’s a lot more interesting to me when I’m writing it. I’m able to delve into the main themes and not have to dodge so much of it.
That’s pretty much in line with your Nyphomaniac points. I won’t listen to that part until I see the movie, but there’s nothing wrong with digging into it on your end. It makes for a discussion that’s a lot more interesting and goes beyond the “I liked it” comments that get old. While it might make me angry to read a spoiler in Entertainment Weekly before the show even airs (they killed Torchwood: Children of Earth for me), I know what I’m doing when I read a review.
As much as I’ve kept the Matineecast spoiler-free for most of its run, after NYMPHOMANIAC I am really toying with the idea of making it a place where discussion happens on a complete work. Not only do I think people aren’t reading if they haven’t already seen the film, but I seriously doubt they’re listening if they haven’t seen the complete film.
I have a few weeks yet before the next episode arrives, so it’ll be something I seriously stew over.
There is a big difference in spoiling in analysis and casual spoiling. If there’s something I haven’t seen I hold off reading about it until after – that’s easy to do. I enjoy a good spoilery anylsis. What’s harder is avoiding the casual spoiling – outlets which put spoilers in headlines or photographs, friends who spoil on facebook, people tweeting. The solution? Unfollow people, don’t read those sites. It’s not ideal, but it helps. I also stopped watching GoT and will pick it up in a couple of seasons when any spoilers I heard I’ve likely forgotten. Hey, I have the entire series of Breaking Bad to watch because i didn’t want to get caught up in the hyperbolic praise.
It’s about respect for your audience, right? I mean, once in a while there are films that I don’t want to know ANYTHING about (Before Midnight comes to mind)…so I avoid it all. I didn’t even watch the trailer for that movie. Other times, I’m curious and want to be wooed.
There’s a way to woo though.
Writing a long piece that may touch on key details and explain why they have great meaning is like getting treated to dinner and the theatre. Putting up a photo of a huge reveal is like your suitor just pulling his dick out.
“Don;t even get me started about the choices of images that get used in these articles.” — lol, I know what you mean. Some of the most irritating stuff there is.
I’ve given up on spoilers. I always see things at least a night later than most because I live in Europe, so if something was on last night that I’m excited to see, I check social media after I’ve seen it. I’m not that attached to it that I can’t stay a day or three away either, so that works for me. But if I do get stuff spoiled, I try to hold my temper nowadays and watch stuff with Sati’s approach — I know what happens, so I’ll just appreciate how it happens.
Great post, Ryan, and something that deserves to be discussed. 😉
Sorry Elina – I must have missed this.
It’s interesting because since this post went up I’ve had MORE stuff from Game of Thrones spoiled for me, and yet, it’s not like it’s changing my opinion of events as they happen. It might have been nice to see these details play out within the scope of the show, but all the same I’m having fun. On the flip side of things, part of what I love about Mad Men is that in their “Next Time on Mad Men” clip at the end of every episode, they give NOTHING away.
Hey, since you’re doing blindspots this year (hint, hint) go back and re-read my January entry on CHARADE. I get into this topic again there.
An interesting question. In the grand scheme of things, there are obviously much worse things in the world than quick bursts of information that spoil art. However, for me personally, avoiding spoilers is just another step in delaying the mysticism of a great film. I avoid them like the plague, all in an effort to appreciate a film in the fullest way I know how. Now, on the rare occasion that I do come across a crushing spoiler, is the film as a whole completely ruined? Not really. I’ve just be exposed to the intrigue of the film slightly earlier than I would prefer. So, yes, I do think there should be a better balance from both sides.
And, “I should be able to find out what my city’s dumbass mayor has done now without having to see a headline about The Walking Dead right beside it.” Yes, my god, I couldn’t agree more.
Funny thing – through the year, there will sometimes be one or two moments where I go into lockdown on a film and even avoid trailers (BOYHOOD is that for me right now). Being in-the-know, I feel as though there are so few chances to go into something fresh.
Interestingly, the “exhibit a” of that for me at the moment is ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE, as I mention in this week’s podcast. It really slanted the way I came away from the film!
I think at the end of the day, both sides can do better. Those who cover their ears and hum could do better to learn about a *bit*, and those that report could do better to tone down the reveals.