My Theory of Being "Spoiled"

[heeroyuy135]

I know that we all hate it when we get spoiled to something related to anime, manga, movies, video games, books, and just about everything else.

However, I feel that just someone simply telling you the spoiler - "so and so dies in the end and this happens at the end and the result is this" - is only half the battle.

In order to be truely spoiled, you must know how one gets to that spoiler. So even if you know what happens at the end of the Harry Potter series or Kanon 2006, ask yourself this: "Do I know how I get to that spoiler?" Because if you don't know the route, then that spoiler doesn't make sense until everything is linked together.

[PyronIkari]

This is only applicable if that's how the story is written.

Take for example, The Usual Suspects, or Memento. Knowing the ending spoils the point of the entire movie. So and so dying, or so and so is the killer, or so and so dies...

Means that you can create links as to what happened and as to why. You know who's going to win, and in good writing, knowing that will make a story fall apart.

But in other stories, the purpose is more how something happened over what happens...

[mDuo13]

I disagree with HeeroYuy135's theory, because knowing the end will let you "link everything together" sooner than you should have, so the surprise is lost.

[otakuya]

...and twists, plot turns, and unexpected circumstances wouldn't be as entertaining.

[Nyxyin]

We're talking about entertainment.  I think people should be able to approach their entertainment however they want.  If people prefer to have the spoilers so they can join in conversations, they shouldn't be denied the information.  If people want to avoid spoilers at all costs, people shouldn't intentionally spoil it for them either.

Beyond that, there are courtesy issues.  I think it's very rude when one person silences a whole group just because he hasn't seen something yet and doesn't want to be spoiled.  He should quietly just excuse himself from the conversation.  Likewise, I think it's very rude when one person insists on spoiling the ending of a film that nobody else in the room has seen.

Spoilers or not should be a personal choice no matter the logical merits of the argument one way or another.  That's what entertainment is.  When people with different personal choices get together, then rules of interaction come into play.

[Tony]

Yes and no. A lot, lot of value in art has nothing to do with the content, but its context and how it is delivered.

Then there's stuff like The Sixth Sense that falls flat if you know the ending. But then, it's kind of a one-trick pony in that sense. To me, those kinds of things can be rewarding, but I almost never revisit them.

........... I'm an idiot. What Pyron said.

[Glitch]

Yes and no. A lot, lot of value in art has nothing to do with the content, but its context and how it is delivered.

Then there's stuff like The Sixth Sense that falls flat if you know the ending. But then, it's kind of a one-trick pony in that sense. To me, those kinds of things can be rewarding, but I almost never revisit them.

........... I'm an idiot. What Pyron said.

Actually that part about one trick pony wasn't that off. While we're at it, pretty much alot of entertainment is a one trick pony.