How long a spoiler should be a spoiler ? Caution : Spoilers !

[cathou]

last year or so i saw a post somewhere where somebody was talking about Bruce Willis in 6th sense, and specifically mentionned that he was dead is the movie. somebody called : hey you should say spoilers !

in the thread about billy dee williams returning as Lando in star wars IX, the op mentionned spoilers for TFA. TFA is almost 3 years old. dont you think that if you didnt saw it already, you will never see it and the spoilers isnt really affecting you ?

but is it really making sense to call spoilers for a 20 years old movie, or even a 3 years old movie ? how long a movie spoiler should be considered as a spoiler ?

 

[Thaluikhain]

I'd say forever. There's always going to be someone that hasn't watched it. I mean, even if you are a hard core film enthusiast, there will be big(ish) films from 10, 20, 30 years ago you've not yet watched. It's not like spoiler tags are hard to use.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I'd say forever. There's always going to be someone that hasn't watched it. I mean, even if you are a hard core film enthusiast, there will be big(ish) films from 10, 20, 30 years ago you've not yet watched. It's not like spoiler tags are hard to use.

^This mostly; there?s an entire generation that potentially grew up without the seemingly innate knowledge that

Spoiler

Darth Vader is Luke?s father,

so a particular medium?s age and fame does not exempt it from common courtesies, but it also depends upon the audience; some of the onus falls on the potential spoilee. If you?ve not seen Star Wars before, don?t engage in a ?Star Wars Discussion? thread and expect it to be spoiler-free; neither do I think it?s too much to ask that others have the decency to use spoiler tags when the discussion is generic.

 

[CaitSeith]

Technically, a spoiler is a spoiler as long as the reader hasn't watched the movie (or played the game, or read the story). It depends on who is reading the spoiler; not in who is writing it.

In practice, you'll have to use your common sense on how many people who are interested in the movie you're spoiling haven't watched it yet. And don't get angry if you were wrong and someone calls you out for spoiling the movie (just try to learn from your mistake).

 

[Squilookle]

Agreed, forever. You can't blame someone for not watching Citizen Kane within 6 months of it coming out. I bet nobody here saw it back then, so why should we have it spoiled?

Never drop an unflagged spoiler on anything. Don't be that guy.

 

[Trunkage]

I'd say forever. There's always going to be someone that hasn't watched it. I mean, even if you are a hard core film enthusiast, there will be big(ish) films from 10, 20, 30 years ago you've not yet watched. It's not like spoiler tags are hard to use.

^This mostly; there?s an entire generation that potentially grew up without the seemingly innate knowledge that

Spoiler

Darth Vader is Luke?s father,

so a particular medium?s age and fame does not exempt it from common courtesies, but it also depends upon the audience; some of the onus falls on the potential spoilee. If you?ve not seen Star Wars before, don?t engage in a ?Star Wars Discussion? thread and expect it to be spoiler-free; neither do I think it?s too much to ask that others have the decency to use spoiler tags when the discussion is generic.

I've been showing my daughter Star Wars. This reveal was not a big shock for her. In fact, it seemed to make no impact.

I deliberately have been keeping the reveal a secret. It's the most important part of that movie. I thought it would make an impact.

But then I remember not having a big reaction to it when I was little. Maybe that's the reason why I don't have the nostalgia that some people have for the movie.

I'd also agree that it is somewhat the spoilee's responsibility. Don't go into a discussion about a movie excepting no spoilers. If your spoiler sensitive, be mindful

 

[Dalisclock]

I'm kind of ambivalent about spoilers in a post or article, but I do get pissed when people put spoilers in titles. I don't get to watch Game of Thrones as the episodes air, but apparently some people believe that it's cool to post spoilers in articles like a day or so after the episode airs, because obviously everyone saw it that evening and knows the big plot twists.

Yeah, that's one reason I haven't been enjoying the new seasons nearly as much, because a lot of the plot twists were spoiled for me just from browsing the internet.

 

[Xprimentyl]

SNIP

I've been showing my daughter Star Wars. This reveal was not a big shock for her. In fact, it seemed to make no impact.

I deliberately have been keeping the reveal a secret. It's the most important part of that movie. I thought it would make an impact.

But then I remember not having a big reaction to it when I was little. Maybe that's the reason why I don't have the nostalgia that some people have for the movie.

I'd also agree that it is somewhat the spoilee's responsibility. Don't go into a discussion about a movie excepting no spoilers. If your spoiler sensitive, be mindful

Given a young mind (assuming your daughter?s a child of preteen-to-teenage years?) I?m certain Star Wars offers a lot more in the vein of distracting spectacle than genuine plot intrigue. As a youngster, I was more enthralled by the super powers, light sabers, muppets and mechs than any line of dialogue, no matter how expertly delivered or plot significant: ?You?re an absentee daddy; fine, whatever. Did you just choke that guy from across the galaxy using your mind?!? That?s AWESOME!!!

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

Here's the thing about spoilers. Because a movie is out for a certain amount of time doesn't mean someone knows about it. The very time you talk to them might be the first time they are hearing about it. And then, they have no need to see it because we learned X was really Y all along!

And we can't discount being busy, being sad or depressed at the time that you can't make it out of your house, financial woes (you can afford Netflix but maybe not the HBO add on to Hulu to watch Game of Thrones), or being an agoraphobe.

Not everyone has the same circumstances as everyone else. So I always ask if anyone has any interest in witnessing the media event in question. If no, I don't know why I'd talk about it anyway. It's lost on them and I'm just gushing about something to someone who has no interest. And if they do have interest, but they haven't seen it yet... it's just better to wait so we can talk about it.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

3 weeks. If you haven't seen a movie you want to see or played parts of a game in 3 weeks, its on you to avoid spoilers, not on people not to talk about them.

Here, watch: Darth Vader is Luke's Father. Who here thinks that's a spoiler? Thanos wins in Infinity War. Is that a spoiler?

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

*snipped*

Actually, yes, it is. I'm 5 hours away from my friends, and I was actually going back after my surgery in a few days to see it with my friends. As a sort of "Yay, you're not dead" situation.

And there's a patent difference between people having a conversation and it coming up in the course of the conversing and you just stating things that happens in movies.

 

[Souplex]

We should stop catering to the anti-spoiler crowd alltogether. They've become obnoxious, and have convinced themselves that the only way to enjoy something is to not know what happens.
Snape kills Dumbledore, rosebud is a sled, you were actually a cat the whole time, Kylo is Ben Solo, and kills Han.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

*snipped*

Actually, yes, it is. I'm 5 hours away from my friends, and I was actually going back after my surgery in a few days to see it with my friends. As a sort of "Yay, you're not dead" situation.

And there's a patent difference between people having a conversation and it coming up in the course of the conversing and you just stating things that happens in movies.

At this point the movie is over 2 months old. 5 hour drive isn't a good enough reason to not have seen something for over 2 months that you want to see.
But in your view, how long is long enough to have not taken 5 hours to go be with friends to see a movie? 5 months? 5 years? 5 decades? How long?

 

[CaitSeith]

3 weeks. If you haven't seen a movie you want to see or played parts of a game in 3 weeks, its on you to avoid spoilers, not on people not to talk about them.

Here, watch: Darth Vader is Luke's Father. Who here thinks that's a spoiler? Thanos wins in Infinity War. Is that a spoiler?

Why is 3 weeks a reasonable amount of time? Why not 1 week? Why not 1 day? Or 1 hour?

 

[CaitSeith]

We should stop catering to the anti-spoiler crowd alltogether. They've become obnoxious, and have convinced themselves that the only way to enjoy something is to not know what happens.

Who are you to decide how other people can enjoy things? Only douches do that.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

3 weeks. If you haven't seen a movie you want to see or played parts of a game in 3 weeks, its on you to avoid spoilers, not on people not to talk about them.

Here, watch: Darth Vader is Luke's Father. Who here thinks that's a spoiler? Thanos wins in Infinity War. Is that a spoiler?

Why is 3 weeks a reasonable amount of time? Why not 1 week? Why not 1 day? Or 1 hour?

Well for one thing it'd be hard to spoil a 2 hour long movie 1 hour after its release. 1 day is hard because opening night is usually sold out months in advance. 1 week is a little better, but in practice people only see movies on Friday/Saturday/Sunday, so 1 week is really just 3 days, all of which will be damn crowded.
3 weeks is 3 full weekends to see something, and is considered the most important section in a movie's financial window, where the majority of people see a new movie, and the success or failure of the movie is played out.

There are of course stragglers, but they're the minority, and the minority doesn't get to define what the majority does. To use Infinity War, the majority of people who planned to see it saw it in the first 3 weeks. Anyone who planned to see it 6 months after release, good for them, but don't expect people to censor themselves.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I can only hope those of you arguing that there?s an actual statute of limitations on spoilers are being internet contrarians (because that?s a thing to do, I guess.) It?s an unreasonable and downright stupid expectation to think everyone would, could, and LEAST of all should have experienced ?everything? after a certain length of time; I don?t care how vapidly drooled after something is, several someones are going to be late to the party and should be afforded the courtesy to enjoy it just as the early adapters did so long as they?re making efforts to avoid having it spoiled. People around here tend to be pretty good opening threads about specific topics and forewarning spoilers inside; whoever goes in, shame on them if something is spoiled. But if I haven?t experienced [something] and come to the forums? front page just to see a thread with a header like ?OMG!! I can?t believe [major spoiler] in [something]!? That?s just fucking wrong; it?s a dick move to run around giving away the best parts of stuff just because *you* experienced it. Thinking of films like ?The Game? or ?The 6th Sense? foreknowledge of the big reveals at the end literally KILL the films; why would you rob someone of that experience?

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I can only hope those of you arguing that there?s an actual statute of limitations on spoilers are being internet contrarians (because that?s a thing to do, I guess.) It?s an unreasonable and downright stupid expectation to think everyone would, could, and LEAST of all should have experienced ?everything? after a certain length of time; I don?t care how vapidly drooled after something is, several someones are going to be late to the party and should be afforded the courtesy to enjoy it just as the early adapters did so long as they?re making efforts to avoid having it spoiled. People around here tend to be pretty good opening threads about specific topics and forewarning spoilers inside; whoever goes in, shame on them if something is spoiled. But if I haven?t experienced [something] and come to the forums? front page just to see a thread with a header like ?OMG!! I can?t believe [major spoiler] in [something]!? That?s just fucking wrong; it?s a dick move to run around giving away the best parts of stuff just because *you* experienced it. Thinking of films like ?The Game? or ?The 6th Sense? foreknowledge of the big reveals at the end literally KILL the films; why would you rob someone of that experience?

Its not about robbing anyone of anything. Its about what's reasonable when it comes to topics of conversation, and how patient the world needs to be with those lagging behind. If someone wants to see Star Wars, but still hasn't over 30 years later and goes around to fantasy shops and cons, demanding SPOILERS because they still haven't see Star Wars, you know what? Screw 'em.

Its not our job to subsidize other people's lack of progress in seeing something they want to see, but still haven't decades after its come out. Also I think once spoilers become a meme and inserted into popular culture, its time for spoilers to end. The 'I see dead people' is literally a joke meme about spoilers, because everyone already knows it.

Being one of those assholes who went around with megaphones when Harry Potter books dropped was a dick move, and they were assholes for doing it. But now, having an open discussion about the death of Dumbldore shouldn't need spoiling, because its been long enough. If someone wanted to know the story, they would by now.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

At this point the movie is over 2 months old. 5 hour drive isn't a good enough reason to not have seen something for over 2 months that you want to see.
But in your view, how long is long enough to have not taken 5 hours to go be with friends to see a movie? 5 months? 5 years? 5 decades? How long?

If I have to justify my life, I just got my father settled in up here in his Memory Care, I've been looking for a new job non-stop which meant I was on a strict budget until new cash started coming in. I finally got one and that very week I was diagnosed with this ailment that restricted my travel, and my boss afforded me extra time off for recovery.

The next person you ask might say "I just couldn't get around to it"

The one after that will tell you how his or her best friend past away and it hit them hard (which, coincidentally, also happened to me in that two month period).

But the simple question I'll ask you in return is why is it so hard and vexing just to ask a simple question of "do you want to know?".

Go spoil all you want. I'll live. As will others. But as you must be unencumbered in your ability to say what you want, be prepared as others must be unencumbered to say how they feel about you for doing so.

That's how it works. Either both sides shut up, or Both sides are allowed to be free in saying whatever they want, picking whatever fight they want, and et-cetera.