Many people like spoilers and yes, it has become synonymous with having one up on someone else, but here's my thoughts on reviews.
Reviews are a person's thoughts on the basic aesthetics of a movie--from the cast to the direction to the performance and overall execution of a film/TV show. Yes, that's a fairly traditional view of reviews, but to me, there is something in telling me about the media without telling me the exact details of the story itself. Telling without telling. Generating interest and then letting the viewer ultimately decide by taking in the venue themselves.
Spoilers do exactly that, they spoil. And what's point of spoiling someone's enjoyment? To gloat? To feel you have one up on them? How childish is that? What does it say about you? What does it accomplish? Exactly nothing. Why was RETURN OF THE JEDI such a big to-do? Because it was called BLUE HARVEST and under the tightest wraps at the time.
Just that titillation of knowing I was being kept from "big secrets" in JEDI made me want to jump right in line everytime I saw it on a marquee as a kid. And the movie was everything I hoped it would be when I finally saw it. I enjoyed it immensely. But if a grown up had walked up to me and said, "Ah kid, Leia gets shot and Vader kills the Emperor", I would have been crushed and mad. I would have felt like something was taken away from me.
So my point is this, keep the spoilers to yourself or your close friends who also like that kind of stuff. Your buddies may enjoy that one-upmanship game, but I don't. I'm not your friend. I don't know you. And I tend to think "you stupid jerks" everytime I see a spoiler.
@JunkDNA: Hi Brent, I'm guessing you didn't actually read my essay before you wrote this lengthy response, since I explain how (in my view) spoilers aren't anything to do with gloating, or having "one up" on anyone else.
The way I see it, spoilers aren't that big of a deal, but take Lost for example. The writers intended for you to not know who was in the coffin. You were suposed to find out when they told you, how they told you. They would tell you things the previous week that is only exciting if you take into account the fact that you're not supposed to know who's in the coffin. If you figure it out beforehand, that's great, but until they tell you, there's always some doubt in you.
Basically, spoilers do just that -- they spoil the experience that the writers intended for you to have from the moment that you are spoiled until the point that everyone else knows.
That's why I don't want to know them. The writer doesn't want me to know, and I want to experience the show/movie that the writers want me to.
It's funny that you post this on the day I read the review of Moon, which spoiled the big twist in that for me. I should have known better; Annalee has made it clear that she doesn't care about being spoiled, and I shouldn't have expected her to write a review in the style of say, the NYT, who are always careful to put spoilery stuff near the bottom of the reviews so you can get an impression of the film but still be surprised.
I have a lot of respect for the NYT for that, actually.
@Lampbane: I think Annalee's point was that it's not "the big twist." It's part of the movie's setup, and it happens early on. It's more like revealing that he's on the Moon: It's a big part of the movie's initial premise.
I find (many) useful. Particularly for episodes like Dr. Who where a) rapid delivery of lines with British accents can be difficult to follow and b) decades of dense backstory require a PHD to fully understand the references. Its like Shakespere. You need to view it a few times and read the wikipedia synopsis ore else you won't get it all. Spoilers help you anticipate what to look for.
NothankyouIdonotwantnudeOlmosp.... Even if you email them to me.
Personally I like to keep things in the dark as long as possible. If things get leaked out though.. oh well. My memory is crappy at times and I'll probably be surprised when I find out that he's been dead this whole time.
I'll say, just as an addendum to my post, that I read the story in a few big bursts instead of weekly, which probably helped with some of the pacing issues. Also, since it's telling essentially one big story over 52 issues in a way the previous weekly series weren't, it probably does take several issues before it really gets going.
Both of which are good arguments to read this in trades, I guess. Anyway, just thought I'd point that out, considering I had a much more favorable view of the series than most here.
06/25/09
Reviews are a person's thoughts on the basic aesthetics of a movie--from the cast to the direction to the performance and overall execution of a film/TV show. Yes, that's a fairly traditional view of reviews, but to me, there is something in telling me about the media without telling me the exact details of the story itself. Telling without telling. Generating interest and then letting the viewer ultimately decide by taking in the venue themselves.
Spoilers do exactly that, they spoil. And what's point of spoiling someone's enjoyment? To gloat? To feel you have one up on them? How childish is that? What does it say about you? What does it accomplish? Exactly nothing. Why was RETURN OF THE JEDI such a big to-do? Because it was called BLUE HARVEST and under the tightest wraps at the time.
Just that titillation of knowing I was being kept from "big secrets" in JEDI made me want to jump right in line everytime I saw it on a marquee as a kid. And the movie was everything I hoped it would be when I finally saw it. I enjoyed it immensely. But if a grown up had walked up to me and said, "Ah kid, Leia gets shot and Vader kills the Emperor", I would have been crushed and mad. I would have felt like something was taken away from me.
So my point is this, keep the spoilers to yourself or your close friends who also like that kind of stuff. Your buddies may enjoy that one-upmanship game, but I don't. I'm not your friend. I don't know you. And I tend to think "you stupid jerks" everytime I see a spoiler.
/opinion
Kindest regards,
Brent
06/25/09
06/25/09
Basically, spoilers do just that -- they spoil the experience that the writers intended for you to have from the moment that you are spoiled until the point that everyone else knows.
That's why I don't want to know them. The writer doesn't want me to know, and I want to experience the show/movie that the writers want me to.
06/25/09
I have a lot of respect for the NYT for that, actually.
06/25/09
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06/25/09
Personally I like to keep things in the dark as long as possible. If things get leaked out though.. oh well. My memory is crappy at times and I'll probably be surprised when I find out that he's been dead this whole time.
05/31/09
The Legion of Doom deduce that the best way to defeat the SuperFriends is to make sure the 3 most powerful members never come into being.
They travel back in time, Cheetara wins the amazonian contest (by cheating) and wins the mantle of Wonder Woman instead of Diana.
Lex Luther tricks Hal Jordan into not getting the GL ring from Abin Sur.
And they divert Ka-el's space ark to a planet with a red sun instead of earth.
05/31/09
Wow. You are right. That was a good episode.
05/31/09
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05/31/09
Both of which are good arguments to read this in trades, I guess. Anyway, just thought I'd point that out, considering I had a much more favorable view of the series than most here.
05/31/09
As is, it lost me after two issues. Boring as hell.
05/31/09
05/23/09
Marvel's unbreakable >>allow<< Adamantium
You may discuss this amongst yourselves.
05/23/09