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| Yeah I know, this gag never gets old. MASSIVE SPOILER AHEAD |
https://readitdaddy.blogspot.com/2017/04/spoiler-alert-why-do-some-people.html
Back then, I had just had several movies, a couple of books and one TV series "spoiled" for me, mostly due to the fact that stupidly I hadn't shut myself off in a cave while those entertainment events were still fresh in the minds and hot on the fingers of the internet's "NO I DON'T HAVE AN INDOOR VOICE" crowd.
Last year though I had something of an epiphanic moment. I started to pre-spoil stuff for myself.
Before, this would be tantamount to treason for my emotionally-invested self. These were things I wanted to know the outcome of at my own pace, to retain that "Christmas Morning" type surprise you get from accessing the film, book or TV show in the way the makers intended. By deliberately setting out to read about the big-bang plot surprises, character deaths, book twists and other spoiler fuel, I was still controlling the way I was exposed to this information.
The problem is, in this day and age, it's virtually impossible to A) Stay online and B) avoid spoilers. They creep into everything, and as I said in my previous article there are folk who just go out of their way to ruin things for you because basically they're giant a-holes.
BUT there are also folk who called me out for my last article and put their own side of things forward. Folk who have enjoyed the thing they're inadvertently spoiling for you to such an extent that their enthusiasm rules the rational bit of their brain that would normally prevent them from blurting something out that gives away a key point.
I've really enjoyed seeing this going on with two things at the moment. 1) Avengers: Endgame, a movie that (by all accounts, because I still haven't seen it yet) redefines superhero movies to the point where you just wonder how on earth they're going to move on from how it ends, and what on earth is going to happen in the MMU from now on and 2) Game of Thrones, which is now entering its final hours after 8 series - but of course is absolutely hanging off that one vital question - who will be sitting on the iron throne at the end.
I've now read all the major plot spoilers for Avengers: Endgame online, deliberately, but will still want to see the movie - even though the element of surprise won't be there for me, I can luxuriate in the knowledge that I can stride into the cinema without some complete moron blurting out the killer spoilers while I'm buying my popcorn (someone genuinely actually did this to me while I queued for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, believe it or not).
I don't know nor am I that invested in what's going on in Game of Thrones, other than again waiting until the final episode of Series 8 airs, and the inevitable cluster-eff that's going to kick off online as people react to it (if you think you've done well for avoiding Avengers spoilers, you're going to have a very hard time avoiding GoT stuff, it'll be memed to death if nothing else).
Controlling the spoilers has another interesting (and quite satisfying) pay-off. It instantly deflates the would-be spoiler person as they gleefully try to ruin something for you! Nothing's quite as fun as watching someone's face fall as they realise their salacious behaviour bounces off your newly minted teflon pre-spoiler shield, making you feel like some kind of superhero.
I do wonder how I'll feel when it comes to books - which I must admit don't quite get spoiled to the same extent that movies and TV shows do. In most cases I've been far more likely to grab a book I really want at release and blitz through it quicker than most thanks to my speed-reading abilities, but it'd be interesting to hear other book fans opinions on spoilers - and whether you think pre-spoiling stuff is complete lunacy.