I think, moving the musical to a new medium, like film, is to gain a new, wider audience.
So they wouldn’t know.
And she doesn’t die at the end.
That was my first thought when I read the OP. Hathaway did give away part of the ending and that’s unusual for a talk show interview. But expectations for non-spoilerage for this story are extremely low to non-existent. The book is very old, the show is extremely famous - the original Broadway production ran for 16 years, it was revived a few years ago, it’ll be back yet again next year, and who knows how many other productions have been staged around the country over the last couple of decades. And I think a big part of the movie’s target audience is people who love the play. They’re not only marketing it to theatergoers, but I think the studio is presuming people are already familiar with the story.
I will say that I don’t like to get things spoiled, but at the same time, I’m also of the mind that a good story CAN’T be spoiled. That is, if knowing something about the end of a book or movie makes it so you can’t enjoy reading or seeing it, then I guess there’s never a reason to read a book or see a movie twice. On the contrary, a good story is about the journey, not the destination. Sure, you lose out on the surprise twist, but if it’s completely out of nowhere, it’s not really good storytelling; it needs to make sense in the context of the story. To that end, I’ve seen Star Wars countless times and it’s still enjoyable. In fact, that knowledge is a big part of what makes subsequent viewings enjoyable.
The opposite would be like spoiling a sports event. Those aren’t stories and any given play could easily turn it around. That’s a big part of why knowing the final score ruins a sporting event, but knowing the ending of the Sixth Sense or Fight Club or ESB or whatever isn’t ruined. You miss out on a few moments of surprise, but that’s about it.
As for Anne Hathaway saying they died… meh. Yes it’s a new movie, but it’s not a new story. Sure, a lot of people today probably haven’t read the book or seen an adapation of it, but it’s also a well known classic and she didn’t spoil anything that’s unique to the film. It strikes me as being as upset about mentioning Romeo and Juliet die in some new adapation of that. I can understand and appreciate no spoiling for a new book for, say, 6 months or a movie still in theaters, but she didn’t spoil the movie, she spoiled the story and, moreso, assuming the others upthread are accurate, it doesn’t even sound like she gave away anything that would actually really be much of a surprise anyway.
Oh, good, she survives then.
I have an incredible soft spot in my heart for Ms. Hathaway, and the thought of watching her die in a movie just fills me with depression, to the point where I wouldn’t want to see the film.
Thanks for setting my mind at rest. I’m going to go online and order tix for tonight’s show. 
Whoosh!
Whoo-oo-oosh!
It doesn’t. I did cry at the ending of the book, but I would definitely not call it a downer in any way.
And the musical doesn’t end downerish at all.
I could understand being pissed about spoilers if it was a movie currently in the theater that was a new story, one that hadn’t been around long enough to become part of popular culture.
But say somebody decided to do a remake of The Wizard of Oz, could anybody really get miffed if it was spoiled that the Wicked Witch melts when she gets doused with water? “I’m mellllllting!” has legs of its own, it’s been used for decades.
Another thing is that people like to talk about movies. Spoilers happen all the time. Think of the guy who never saw The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and learned the hard way that “We don’t need no stinking badges” didn’t come from Blazing Saddles (or TTOTSM, strictly speaking). Spoiled or discussed? Now he knows that when he sees TTOTSM for the first time, there’s going to be some banditos. That stinking badges thing has been done to death, but some guy just got spoilered.
Well I’m just furious because I recorded The Daily Show last night, and was planning to watch it when I got home this evening, and now you’ve spoiled the big revelation that happens in the interview! :mad:
As my screenname indicates, I don’t like spoilers, but I would not apply that to a 19th century literary work, no matter what new format it might be in.
I just watched the episode of The Daily Show and in all fairness to Hathaway she does not mention her character and Valjean dying until after Jon Stewart announces that everyone dies in the end. So, Stewart gave the spoiler and Hathaway only followed up.
I don’t really see how anyone with the slightest bit of education wouldn’t know the rough plot of les mis. You don’t need to have seen a macbeth adaptaion to know what macduff does to him either.
There has to be a point where revealing obvious things is fine otherwise there can be little discussion at these silly chat show things, and when it comes to les mis we are WAY past that point.
Great post/username combo.
Generally speaking I agree with you, most movies are pretty formulaic anyway and you can predict most of what’s going to happen.
The exception that I would make would be movies where the “fun” of the watching is in trying to work out the ending (something like 6th Sense would be counted in this sort of thing)
Gotta be honest and admit that I didn’t even know there was a book.
I knew about the musical, but have never seen it.
I actually believe the complete opposite, if there was a point when not revealing things about a classic work it is definitely during the time people who might not have been exposed to it before might be wanting too. Any other time during the past 150 years would have been perfectly fine, while it’s in theaters and people who haven’t heard of it might want to watch it? nope, dick move.
There have been 50+ film adaptations of the book alone. There is no time when a new version hasn’t just been released. Some are bigger than others, but still.
My 40 yr old sister got mad at me for spoiling the ending of Lincoln. :rolleyes: Well, at least I only mentioned the shooting & didn’t let it slip who won the Civil War or if slavery was abolished.
Right. I would prefer not to spoil certain movies where the twist is a big deal (Fight Club, oh boy)–even to the point of censoring myself when talking about them, which is hobbling and tiresome.
Then there are the movies by that guy who likes twists, where the twist practically is the movie, and if you talk about it, you’re mostly talking about the twist, which is annoying because you can’t help but spoil it, like happened to me the first time I watched a movie by that guy… See? Hobbling and tiresome.
Yeah, I’m resurrecting a zombie, but I was searching for another thread and a happened on this one, which I missed the first time around.
I haven’t seen or read the work, but the first one sounds like it is something that happens early on, so it isn’t a spoiler unless it’s something the creators themselves refused to reveal. The second and last ones are the point of the work: it’s a musical set during the French Revolution. Of course they aren’t spoilers.
The other three depend entirely on how important and dramatic the scenes are. They sure sound like spoilers due to their specificity. They sound like they take reveal something that the work tries to keep in suspense.
And, that, my friends, is the definition of a spoiler. Does the work itself contain any portion where suspense is lost because you know something ahead of time? Then it is a spoiler. The work as a whole may not be harmed, but that little bit of conflict is gone, and the experience is irreparably changed. I may still be able to enjoy the work, but I my enjoyment will be lessened at that one part.
I don’t know if the deaths mentioned are spoilers, as I don’t know if knowing they die lessens any of the suspense. I do know that the logic of defending them as not being spoilers is wrong. It doesn’t matter what you think I already should have read. What matters is the above. plus whether the venue is one in which people who want avoid spoilers know they have to avoid.
And while you may disagree, an interview promoting said movie is not a place where spoilers are expected. Particularly for an audience of a comedy show who probably didn’t give a crap about the guest. It’s not as if the audience was there to find out about said movie.