Spoilers don't ruin movies. People do.

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Cinema Discusso > Spoilers don't ruin movies. People do.

Do spoilers ruin your life?
	Yes! They make me die the small death.
	No. Posting on an Internet forum is more important to me.

Corek: May 11, 2013; by R. Guyovich

SuperMechagodzilla posted:

Exactly, yes.

'Spoilers' are simply contextual information. No-one goes into any film as a blank slate, without preexisting knowledge. And, yet nobody worries about this 'everyday' knowledge that contextualizes (and thereby completely alters the experience of watching) a given film.

The fear of 'spoilers' is actually the fear that someone has access to extreme pleasure - the 'unspoiled', 'uncorrupted' experience - and is stealing it from you. This Despoiler amasses jouissance in the same way that 'George Lucas' is accused of raping so many childhoods. In reality, 'George Lucas' does not exist. He's a fantasy figure - a total boogeyman invented to explain why things go wrong.

Why don't you like Star Wars as much as when you were ten? It's obviously not because you're older and smarter. It's because the Lucas-boogeyman stole your innocence.

The Despoiler is likewise a fantasy figure, who can be blamed for the theft of something that never existed.

There is no such thing as an unspoiled film and, consequently, there is no such thing as a spoiler.

See, this is why I hate JJ Abrams' mystery box publicity for Star Wars so much. It is entirely predicated on not being "the enemy", by neither being a spoiler or being George Lucas (see the promo hyperemphasis on real sets! real props!).

# ¿ Jul 28, 2015 18:10

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 22:49

Corek: May 11, 2013; by R. Guyovich

computer parts posted:

Not being "the enemy" is a Disney thing, I think. Age of Ultron seems like it had several scenes inserted specifically to say "we're not like that gritty Man of Steel, honest! Now watch Hulk tear up a city."

Exactly. Ever since Disney's founding it's been totally unlike the other studios in positioning itself as more moral and ethical. It almost drove the company into the ground multiple times.

# ¿ Jul 28, 2015 23:43

Corek: May 11, 2013; by R. Guyovich

This reminds me of a twitter account @savedyouaclick revealing whether Tony Soprano dies at the end of the show, which was hidden at the end of a 5000 word longread. The Verge flipped out and accused him of this:

quote:

It is bullshit because he didn't save anyone a click at all � he stole an experience. That story is great. It is absolutely worth the click. Arguing that it's not because the headline is phrased in the form of a question is reductive to the point of absurdity, just like arguing against lists or quizzes or gifs or any specific form of art is absurd. Rock music. Horror movies. A generation raised on rebellion has grown up to instead police the web pages of the larger internet from the wide-ranging terrorism of mild curiosity. We are all of us the Tipper Gore of clickbait headlines. Parental advisory: viral content.

Saved you a click is a joke that's over, just as all jokes-of-a-moment eventually turn into the cloying aftertaste of unimportance. It's a joke that's turned into a crusade in the name of formalism; a series of sad internet book reports insisting that there's no room for depth behind the binary series of yes / no answers haunting every thoughtful person's wettest nightmares.

Fighting against the idea of stories that begin with questions is to insist that we live in a world without any suspense, in which even contemplating the existence of two possibilities before lightly tapping a small button to reveal the answer is somehow an affront to good taste that must be stamped out. Meanwhile, everyone else is just enjoying a small taste of freedom at work.

You know what saving that click really stole from you? The chance to read this, Nochimson's brilliant final line about Tony Soprano: "It's not whether a character dies on screen that is at stake, but whether we die to our own capacity for wonder."

http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/27/6075535/are-you-proud-of-yourself-savedyouaclick-question-mark-nope

Experience thief!

# ¿ Jul 30, 2015 17:38

Corek: May 11, 2013; by R. Guyovich

Tenzarin posted:

So a guy who "saves a click" spoiled something? What were they expecting from something that spoils stuf,f coupons? Are you going to try to tell me my healthcare isn't free?

Amazon's one-click buying spoils the e-business experience

# ¿ Jul 30, 2015 23:38

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Cinema Discusso > Spoilers don't ruin movies. People do.