Are We Afraid of SPOILERS!

DAY 230 - 26/18/8 -

Spoiler alert! There will be no spoilers in this post.

I didn't know about the whole "no spoilers" thing, until I started watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After that, I couldn't watch something without people telling me, "I didn't see it yet. No spoilers." Initially, I thought this meant, 'They just don't want me to tell them the ending,' but that was a mistake. I realized my error when I told a friend what my favorite part of a movie was. "Ahh! You spoiled it," she screamed. "No, I didn't. That was at the beginning of the film." Her response shocked me. "You spoiled that it was the only fun part! Now I know the movie is bad." That's when I realized how serious some people take their spoiler warnings.

Roger Ebert, a renowned film critic, wrote this about spoilers in 2006:

"Spoiler warnings" on Web-based movie reviews are a shorthand way of informing the reader that a key plot point is about to be revealed. Having heard from more than a few readers accusing me of telling too much of the story, I began using such warnings in my reviews. In the case of some films, however, even to hint that there is a surprise is to reveal too much.

An official post from MARVEL demanding fans
not spoil Infinity War while it was in theaters

Frankly, I think this "spoiler" trend has gotten out of hand, especially with the recent release of Spider-Man Brand New Day. I watched this incredible film, but I had no idea what to expect. That's because I couldn't find any informative reviews. They all insisted they couldn't talk about the movie without including spoilers. A number of YouTube channels expressed their frustration, with one person saying, "How vague is my review gonna be?" That's why I took on the challenge of writing a spoiler free review with as much detail as possible. You can read it at jfmviews. I think I accomplished my task, but others might say I spoiled too much.

How much is too much?

Is it too much to say what a character's internal conflict is? If I could address that, it would help skeptical audiences see whether they can relate to the character. Or is it too much to even say that there will be internal conflict? Does that spoil how the story will be more of a character drama than an action thriller? If that's the case, is it too much to even hint at what a story's genre is? What is someone allowed to say to get an audience's interest?

"Spoiler warnings" became so serious that
Tom Holland's mouth was taped shut during
an interview. It was meant to be humorous,
but it raises the question: What can
someone say about their movies?

It's possible that the trend of "spoiler warnings" has turned into "spoiler phobia." People are afraid of knowing anything, as if knowing will ruin their entire experience. This fear keeps viewers from discussing stories with those who haven't read them. It removes input from outside opinions.

I used to have long in-depth conversations about TV shows I never saw. People would discuss the show's concepts with me and I would ask questions. "Do the characters ever encounter this moral dilemma?" Sometimes, I thought these discussions taught me everything about a show...until I watched it and discovered how much more there was. We wouldn't have been able to have these conversations, if all the interesting parts were wrapped in spoilers. It'd be difficult (if not impossible) to discuss these stories. It would also be difficult to enjoy them.

If I were in this position, it'd be hard for me
to give my best performance.
Are spoilers so important that their
protection should compromise
the talent that gives them impact?

Concerning my novel's first draft, I wanted to save all of its secrets for the ending. This resulted in my readers telling me, "I like the way this book reads, but I have no idea where it's going." After enough people told me this, I realized my readers needed a sense of direction if they were going to keep turning the page. It's true that "the joy is in the journey," but how many more kids would sit patiently in the car if they knew they were heading to their wonderful grandma's house? By hiding every detail about my book's conflict, I was putting too much trust on my readers to keep their seat belts on because "Dad said so." That's why my later drafts gave readers little promises of things to come. Everyone agreed this was much better, plus it allowed for earlier exciting moments that didn't involve spoilers.

Audiences, for the most part, need to know what's going to happen in a story in order to decide if it's worth their time. This doesn't mean that the storyteller should give an exact destination, but they shouldn't be afraid to highlight a few landmarks. What characters will we encounter? What themes will we explore? What morals will we discuss? Any of these details should be open to discussion without the fear of spoilers.

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