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SPOILER WARNING! (Discussion)

Recoil

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I came across this interesting article about spoilers and how soon is too soon to talk about what happened on your favorite show, for fear of ruining it for someone. Interesting look at the DVD/DVR era we live in. In the end, I agree 100% with their stance on this. The shows I am most into....I don't wait to see them.

Check it out:

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/03/spoilers.html
 
Years ago, some friends of mine lived in a household with no TV. I admired this as a bold and principled stand against corporate America, and once DVDs took over and allowed movies to be watched on computers, it only made sense to simply eliminate the physical television box from my life. I get sucked into TV more easily than others, because I can't tune out the motion -- if a TV is on, I have to watch it. So either the box sits there inert, or I do. Plus, I hate ads.

But I remain addicted to TV shows...

The DVD solution -- specifically the Netflix solution -- is my answer, but this puts me months and months behind. On the other hand, perhaps my big error is insisting on viewing TV shows as coherent stories, because I insist on seeing the beginning first, not jumping into the middle. This is in no small part because my favorite show (Buffy) was spoiled for me horribly -- ironically, this included all the secrets the article reveals in its first paragraph -- and I prefer not to lose out on the tension again.
 
The way I see it, if a show is "ruined" by spoilers, than it's a cheap gimmicky show.

Look at how B5 can be enjoyed over and over again even though you know the outcomes of things.

I like Lost, but I know I'll never re-watch it once it's over, 'cause it's all gimmick.
 
The way I see it, if a show is "ruined" by spoilers, than it's a cheap gimmicky show.

Look at how B5 can be enjoyed over and over again even though you know the outcomes of things.

I like Lost, but I know I'll never re-watch it once it's over, 'cause it's all gimmick.

That is an excellent point and I was just thinking about this last night. My thought process is that I was recalling all the stuff earlier on in the show:

Season 1: Where the hell are we / what is inside the hatch?
Season 2: What is the deal with the button? / Who are "The Others"
Season 3: What is the deal with Ben? / What is the deal with Jacob?
Season 4 so far is: What is the deal with the boat?

I was thinking that even if the show is pulled together masterfully at the end and it turns out to all make sense with key questions answered, I found myself wondering if I would ever watch it again beginning to end. Even if it is a cool premise, it is still a gimmick to a degree. Would I be able to watch Season 1 again knowing what is inside the hatch? Probably not, because the character stuff just isn't strong enough to draw me back in.

B5 is the opposite example. I not only know what is going to happen to who and when, but I know most of the lines in the show. But it is so well put together that I can watch it over and over. Same with Firefly.

If someone would have spoiler the Valen thing for me, yea, I would have felt cheated a bit out of one of the coolest reveals in Television. But would it have completely RUINED the show for me? No.
 
Regarding Lost, a recent (as in new within the past week or so) episode of Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends (that I just got to watch for the first time tonight) pokes fun at the endless mystery going on on Lost. Everyone's gathered around a tv watching a show about people stranded on an island and they're watching a character in that show as he is building it up saying things like the mystery's now solved and how he can't believe how simple it all is and right as he is about to "reveal" the mystery, one of the Foster's Home characters turns the tv off. When everyone complains he says (paraphrased) "Oh like they were actually going to tell you anyway."

I just thought it was funny. It would seem I'm/we're not the only ones who kinda feels that the big mystery has been built up for so long that any resolution to the story won't be anywhere near as significant as it'll need to be to justify such a huge build up.
 
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That's how I drifted away from the X-files. Unfortunately for American t.v., a good mystery has to be limited in length, I think.
 
Yea but XFiles never had a plan for their arc/mystery. They pieced it together as they went which is why that part of the show suffered IMO. I liked the XFiles for the standalone "monster of the week" aspect of it. I was into the overall alien colonization mystery for a bit, until I started realizing that none of it really made sense and it became clear it was just all tossed together. XFiles had some REALLY outstanding single-episodes in its run. I like a good story arc, but there is nothing wrong with some good quality stand-alone episodes.
 
XFiles had some REALLY outstanding single-episodes in its run. I like a good story arc, but there is nothing wrong with some good quality stand-alone episodes.

Very true. And no problem with the non-arc thing: it's what most shows actually do. But to sort of imply an arc, to try to build up suspense, and then not really have a payoff...

that part got old. So after the first couple/few seasons I just found myself not tuning into it.
 
I don't feel that any show worth its salt is ruined by spoilers -- B5 being a case in point. Some shows I've seen actually get better on rewatching, because when you know what's coming it ramps up the tension. But I want to be surprised, for starters.

Whedon's Serenity is a case in point. There's a wickedly unexpected death which blew us all away. Now it's a powerful scene because we know what's coming. But the first time we all watched it, it was truly intense.
 
Although I agree in principal with the idea that spoilers are almost inevitable in this day and age, I don't go out of my way to make them. Like here the rules are fairly lax, but they are defined. I like how spoilers is put in the title by most, if they intend to talk about the thorough details of a week's show, but some don't follow even that small standard for a season or two, so best to avoid the entire subject unless the title says "NO spoilers".

:)

I think that's about as good as it gets, in the way of pleasing everyone and being as fair as possible about it.
 
It really is irritating when someone cries: "how dare you ruin it for me, I haven't watched the DVDs yet!" Ew.

Sometimes people see an ep before it airs, via On Demand or internet stealing. Those people should shut the f up until the thing airs. After that, everyone should just get over themselves.

One caveat is something I have learned from this and other boards: different countries air these things at different times, so it certainly makes sense to make some consideration for that.
 
That sounds like an easy enough compromise, to me. :)

So I can stop putting in spoilers to movies that were made a decade ago, now? :LOL:

What does Antony think? ;)
 

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