In a recent episode of Game of Thrones, many fans were surprised that (SPOILERS), King Joffrey, one of the most widely maligned characters on television, died. Many people (pertaining to the ones who have not read the books) were also taken back after discovering the news before watching the episode, which follows a string of Game of Thrones viewers being upset after reading spoilers.
Internet outpour aside, spoilers have become such an integral part due to the blogosphere and social media that ruining the ending to a film or TV show can lead to outcry from fans. I’ve always disliked spoilers, which is why I typically read movie reviews after seeing the film in order to avoid them. Despite this, I often spoil a few details in my posts (though I always mention it beforehand as you can see above), mainly because I feel that that the best way to analyze a movie as a whole is to break the entire thing down and doing so often means revealing the ending to convey my point. But what about yourself?
Well you know how I put my reviews and leave it spoiler free except for one section which is clearly marked. I agree that spoilers can ruin watching well anything really but I have become rather Internet savy over the years and so I know how to avoid them. I do feel sorry for others though, some people just like to ruin it for others 😦
I rather like knowing secrets, feel like a spy hehe 😀
By: Tim The Film Guy on April 27, 2014
at 6:11 am
I’ve learned to avoid spoilers over the internet as well by often avoiding reading online posts until after I’ve seen the movie or TV show. I like that you forewarn viewers about spoilers as I tend to reread those sections once I’ve watched the subject matter.
By: ckckred on April 29, 2014
at 7:43 pm
Little trick I use with blogger reviews is that I bookmark them until I can see the film and then come back and read and comment and what have you 😀
By: Tim The Film Guy on April 30, 2014
at 6:51 am
I usually write my reviews with the assumption that the person reading hasn’t seen the film in question, so try to avoid giving anything away that I think will spoil it.
Re Thrones, I haven’t read the books and don’t have Sky so I’m not watching S4 yet, but I already saw the spoiler you mentioned above – I really wish I hadn’t as it would’ve been great to see it without knowing in advance.
By: Laura O on April 27, 2014
at 7:51 am
Sorry for that accidental spoiler. I’ve written a few posts that go more directly in detail about the ending (most recently The Wolf of Wall Street), but I prefer not to mention spoilers out of fear that I’d be giving away valuable information.
By: ckckred on April 29, 2014
at 7:45 pm
Unless I’ll actually see the work in question, spoilers don’t bother me. It seems like if you want to keep something a secret, you have to develop an insane viral marketing campaign about it, like J.J. Abrams’ “Cloverfield” and “Super 8”, or keep nearly everyone involved in the dark, like the Darth Vader revelation in “The Empire Strikes Back”.
By: Thomas Ostrowski on April 27, 2014
at 9:32 am
I don’t usually mjnd hearing about spoilers unless they relate to a major plot twist. I think if you don’t want to hear spoilers about such a popular tv show as Game of Thrones however, you need to make a conscious effort to avoid them, especially when so many people have read ahead in the book series.
By: Miss Enthusiast on April 27, 2014
at 9:32 am
I often don’t have time to watch any television on Sundays so I usually see them within the next few days. With Game of Thrones I try to watch early because it’s hard to avoid major spoilers on the internet.
By: ckckred on April 29, 2014
at 7:46 pm
I’m like you, I usually read reviews after I see the movie (unless the movie isn’t all to important to me). As for writing I generally leave spoilers out, but only obvious ones. There is an argument to be made that mentioning anything about a film is a spoiler, so I suppose that there is some sort of spectrum as to when people would get upset.
If I really want to talk about something very spoilerish, I will just give a warning in my review, like you.
By: ianthecool on April 27, 2014
at 1:03 pm
Even though plenty of reviews don’t have spoilers, I try to avoid them until I’ve seen the movie. I’m with you on the plot descriptions, I tend to write much but try not to go into too much specifics.
By: ckckred on April 29, 2014
at 7:48 pm
I avoid reading reviews of movies I haven’t seen for similar reasons. As for my own reviews, I always mark out spoilers, though avoiding using them at all unless it’s an integral part of a particular criticism or compliment. But yeah, I tend to avoid spoilers if at all possible.
By: Chris on April 27, 2014
at 1:39 pm
I try to only use spoilers when they’re important as well. It annoys me when a reviewer throws out the ending in front of all the readers.
By: ckckred on April 29, 2014
at 7:49 pm
I think it depends, some films I don’t mind spoiler as I’d watch it for the performances. I think some films that are ‘unspoilable’ (I know that’s not a real word) like Sixth Sense, it doesn’t hold up for subsequent viewing. But still I always try to avoid spoiler and be respectful about it when writing reviews, too.
By: ruth on April 27, 2014
at 3:20 pm
Spoilers often can ruin a film for an audience so I typically try to avoid giving away them. I agree that they can often be disrespectful to readers.
By: ckckred on April 29, 2014
at 7:50 pm
I love spoilers. To me it’s about the journey of the story and not how it ends.
By: mightysupers on April 27, 2014
at 6:38 pm
I avoid spoilers and I avoid most reviews before I see a picture. When I write about a film I try to keep details about the story to a minimum, since that is where spoiler territory lies. Way too many posts are simply recaps of the events of the films. I don’t mind that, once I’ve seen a movie, but it’s like hearing a joke the second time, not quite the same effect, even when well told. Great films can still be great, even if you know what’s coming, but it is robbing someone of a pleasure to tell them key plot points in Chinatown, The Crying Game, The Sixth Sense, Memento, Seven, Fight Club, or a host of others. That suden realization, intake of breath, kick to the gut or moment of outrage belongs to the film maker and the audience together. I’d rather someone be a part of the act rather than a second hand vessel for gossip.
By: 70srichard on April 27, 2014
at 9:26 pm
I do the same. Spoilers really tend to hurt my perception of a movie because it takes away much of the thrill of discovering the picture yourself.
By: ckckred on April 29, 2014
at 7:51 pm
I avoid spoilers in 90% of my reviews, the rare spoilery ones are marked at the beginning of the post in bold. I hate having anything spoiled, be it something I love like Game of Thrones, or a film I am only vaguely interested in watching.
By: Cameron Richardson on April 28, 2014
at 3:49 am
Even for things I don’t have much interest in watching I avoid spoilers. Today they often seem unnecessarily shouted out.
By: ckckred on April 29, 2014
at 7:52 pm
Revealing the secrets of a film or TV show destroys the enjoyment of that film for the viewer. To this day I have not watched The Crying Game.
By: Mark Hobin on April 28, 2014
at 11:03 am
I agree, they tend to hurt the enjoyment of seeing a movie or TV show. I was very upset when someone accidentally told me the ending of Shutter Island.
By: ckckred on April 29, 2014
at 7:52 pm
I tend to avoid them, but if my review does divulge critical points I will put a spoiler alert.
By: vinnieh on April 28, 2014
at 12:47 pm
I do the same. Spoilers really can ruin a movie.
By: ckckred on April 29, 2014
at 7:53 pm
Good question! Dealing with them is trickier reviewing certain films as opposed to others, at least it is for me. The way I break things down I like to give general overviews and occasionally go into detail when I think it’s necessary but I mostly try to stay away from revealing major points that are spoilers. But today a lot of stuff seems to be deemed a ‘spoiler;’ the line delineating what’s critical info and what’s just semi-important is completely blurring.
By: Tom on May 12, 2014
at 10:56 pm