Do Spoilers Ruin Stories?

[SpiderClops]

I think I generally agree with this video. I have been spoiled many times. Star Wars, Game of Thrones, etc. I still enjoyed these stories immensely.

I think that spoilers only affect negatively when the story relies on cheap twists that doesn't make much of a sense and are there just for shocks. Prime example I have is Frozen. I was spoiled that Hans was a villain from the start. So I was looking for the clues and hints throughout the movie... I didn't find any. That twist really is out of nowhere.

[JKtheMac]

I think I generally agree with this video. I have been spoiled many times. Star Wars, Game of Thrones, etc. I still enjoyed these stories immensely.

I think that spoilers only affect negatively when the story relies on cheap twists that doesn't make much of a sense and are there just for shocks. Prime example I have is Frozen. I was spoiled that Hans was a villain from the start. So I was looking for the clues and hints throughout the movie... I didn't find any. That twist really is out of nowhere.

Spoilers are a very modern panic. A social media fear. The genuine concern that a twist ending may be spoilt has been exaggerated to the point of extremes, where even explaining the premise of a movie can be seen as spoiling it.

There is an argument that spoiling a twist will make the movie less enjoyable, but the cynical side of me suspects the main reason for twists is to make people want to rewatch the movie once the twist is revealed. True plot twists endings are actually not that common and nowadays get confused with mid-point reversals and other narrative devices. Quite frankly I find the whole hysteria over spoilers a little silly.

Also, taking Game of Thrones as an example is interesting. None of the supposedly big twists came out of the blue, they all emerged naturally and could easily be predicted, there is heavy foreshadowing for example. I sometimes got strange looks from the book readers when I predicted future events, as if I was somehow cheating, but the story is pretty standard genre fiction and not in any way unpredictable if you are fluent in that language.

[jbmasta]

There's a scale for magnitude of spoilers. On one end there's the big game changing or unexpected things while the other end is the trivial minutiae like the fact a certain character appears for example. Some people choose to avoid all pre-release material entirely (given the trend of trailers to show the developments of the film, like Batman v Superman showing Doomsday who is the third act antagonist, I can see the point) including trailers and ads. I've heard someone call spoilers over a YouTube video of a Glee performance, even though the only spoiler would have been what they wore at a competition.

Generally if I'm watching a new episode or movie I'd prefer to find things out the way the creators intended, through the actual presentation. Rewatching is when you look for foreshadowing and other things that come off differently when you know the full context. For example I've listened to an audio story twice, and the second time around caught obvious foreshadowing for a character's fate. Besides, when you're watching something recent for the first time knowing the plot beats takes something away from the point of watching it. You could read an episode recap or a review and save yourself twenty or forty minutes.

When I watched Lego Batman some kids sitting in the same row mentioned spoilers (this was the advance screening), and I really wanted to tell them to shut up, but had to settle for indignant shushing.

[Carabas]

Spoilers are a very modern panic. A social media fear. The genuine concern that a twist ending may be spoilt has been exaggerated to the point of extremes, where even explaining the premise of a movie can be seen as spoiling it.

A modern panic perhaps in the sense that back in the day we didn't have to worry about the internet (or even the official promotion of a show or movie or book) spoiling important stuff six months before it even comes out? Because it didn't happen (or happened extremely rarely).

Back in the day, if you didn't want to know Vader was Luke's father before you watched the movie, that was not hard to do. It took effort to find out. Nowadays it takes considerable effort not to find out stuff like that.

[AndrewCrossett]

A spoiler does ruin a movie or TV episode for me, yes.

I want to see a story unfold and get the twists as they come. Otherwise, why not just read a synopsis?

I think even officially released previews and trailers often give away too much these days, and creators often give away too much in interviews. It's like they think people won't see the show if they don't know what happens beforehand.

[Elmo]

I mean for me, knowing something like a character death or betrayal or some huge plot twist/development doesn't ruin it for me, that just seems ridiculous. It doesn't make it less enjoyable it just deprives me of a better watching experience. I find that barely knowing anything about a show or movie makes the viewing experience better for me. In fact I unfollowed CBR on twitter because they will literally spoil anything and it gets sooooo tiring (it does mean I'm out of the loop on most of my movie/comic news though) .

I think even officially released previews and trailers often give away too much these days, and creators often give away too much in interviews. It's like they think people won't see the show if they don't know what happens beforehand.

I disagree with you on the trailer thing. Though I agree that some trailers will often show clips from the best scenes in the movie, this complaint that every trailer nowadays "shows the entire movie" is a bit tired. In fact from how I see it, most trailers from before the 2000s showed way more than any trailer today has. Just the other day I was watching the original trailer for Moonraker, it literally shows the entire plot of the movie. The villains, the locations Bond travels to, I think it even revealed Jaws working with Bond at the very very end. A lot of trailers back then did that, more than any trailer that I have seen does today. The most recent example I can think of is BvS, but even then I still went into that not knowing what the exact plot was or what the character motivations/development were, I came out loving it. Those sort of things can't be revealed in a trailer. Aside from low budg comedies or movies a studio has no faith in, trailers nowadays give away very little. If a studio is behind the movie, they won't show anything too important. We all know how WB felt about BvS or how Fox felt about F4 considering how much they medelled with the production so that explains why their trailers gave away so much.

[XPac]

I think ruin is too strong a word. It potentially takes away from some of the fun, but if the movie or tv show or whatever is good, then it's good even if you know what will happen. It's why people buy DVD's... so they can rewatch stuff despite knowing what happens.

[Star_Jammer]

Spoilers don't bother me. Quite often, I even seek them out. I still enjoy watching/reading the story unfold (provided I enjoy it otherwise), and can often take time to look for the clues/hints better (in the case of "twist endings") to see how well they were crafted into the plot.

[AJBopp]

if a thing can be spoiled, it isn't very well done.

Spoilers are thing for people who are determined to be outraged to have something to be outraged about.

Back in the day, if you didn't want to know Vader was Luke's father before you watched the movie, that was not hard to do. It took effort to find out.

Only if you watched the movie on opening night. Possibly opening weekend. You'd better have been prepared to not consume any media or interact with any people from Monday onwards, though.

[AndrewCrossett]

Spoilers are thing for people who are determined to be outraged to have something to be outraged about.

No, they're a thing for people who like to consume a story the way the storyteller intended to be outraged about.

[Carabas]

A spoiler does ruin a movie or TV episode for me, yes.

I want to see a story unfold and get the twists as they come. Otherwise, why not just read a synopsis?

I think even officially released previews and trailers often give away too much these days, and creators often give away too much in interviews. It's like they think people won't see the show if they don't know what happens beforehand.

I have not watched a trailer for a movie I am interested in in well over a decade now.
(I do like actual teasers like the new Star Wars one that just came out...)

[Carabas]

Only if you watched the movie on opening night. Possibly opening weekend. You'd better have been prepared to not consume any media or interact with any people from Monday onwards, though.

I watched it four months after it opened in America (because that was how things were - we had to wait for American films up to 6 months at times) and wasn't spoiled. Without trying to not be spoiled.

There was no internet. That makes all the difference.

[Immortal Weapon]

I don't think spoilers ruin anything. I looked for spoilers on stuff I don't have time for and to check if it's worth my time. There been instances I checked something out because of spoilers. I only gain an interest in the movie spilt after knowing the twist ending. Spoilers bother me when I'm heavily invested in a series.

[Scott Taylor]

If its a good enough movie, knowing spoilers going in won't matter for enjoyment. For instance, Empire Strikes Back is still a great movie regardless of how many times I've seen it. Knowing spoilers only ruins movies that use plot twists as crutches.

Ain't that right, M. Night Shyamalan?

[AndrewCrossett]

It seems to be a generational thing. Most millennials don't care about spoilers, most older people do.