I remember when the Ellery Queen TV series debuted in 1975. I was looking forward to it, but i made the mistake of reading a certain TV reviewer’s newspaper column first. She apparently thought the mystery in the first episode was too easy to solve, so she described the murder and revealed the culprit in print before the show aired. I avoided her column from then on.
Usually.
I did happen to read it again 12 years later, when Star Trek: the Next Generation premiered. That time, she gave me a laugh. She said that the new series took place in a future so litigious that they had to have a lawyer on board. When I watched the episode, I laughed out loud, grabbed the newspaper and yelled at her column, “That’s not what they mean by ‘Ship’s Counselor,’ you fool!”
I watch a lot of TV series when they are released on DVD. I work really hard to not be spoiled by all the threads started by “real time” viewers. Still get spoilt once in a while.
Example:
I stumbled across a thread that mentioned Dexter’s wife getting killed and how, before I had a chance to rent the DVD.
Yeah, I’m not big on surprises. I actually LIKE to be spoilered. I’ll read every spoiler box I can find. Sometimes before I see a movie I even go to themoviespoiler.com and read a complete synopsis. I don’t know why, maybe it’s because I feel more in control. I’m more comfortable when I know what’s coming. There’s also the aspect of knowing when I’m watching a movie with someone who doesn’t. That’s where I think the “control” thing comes in.
That being said, I DO enjoy movies when they have twists & surprises. “The Sixth Sense” and “The Crying Game,” etc. Saw 'em before they were spoiled for me.
My preferred method of reading a book is to read the title and the author’s name, then turn to chapter 1 page 1 and off I go.
If I can manage it (if it’s an author I know and love, for example) I’ll even avoid reading the synopsis on the back cover. Just let the story unwind at its own pace, is my view.
In general, I do my very best to avoid spoilers for something that I think I’ll want to watch. I want to preserve the joy of discovery. But, obviously, sometimes stuff just happens. I had the twist ending of The Sixth Sense spoiled before I got around to it – and, given that it was several years after the movie had been released, I really have no one to blame but myself – and I still enjoyed the movie a great deal. I could still appreciate the craftsmanship and picking out all of the misdirection.
I try to avoid spoilers and spoilling the movie for others. About the last time I can recall deliberately doing the latter was quietly warning a guy about to rent Marley & Me for his two young children that
the dog dies.
at the end. Knowing how my niece & nephew reacted to that, I think not doing so would have been dickish.
Several major points of Half-Blood prince were spoiled for me by Livejournal userpics (including the death), and if there’s a single death in Deathly Hallows I haven’t been spoiled on - mostly by looking up characters names, or the names of the actors who played them in the movies - I’d be shocked. I also know who everyone I care at all about (among those I don’t know end up dead) ends up married to (not that 2 of the couples were anything resembling a surprise).
It depends on the book. When I know something has a scene that might upset me (rape is the typical culprit), I find out as much as I can before reading. I don’t think I would’ve been able to read the Song of Ice and Fire series without doing this.
Others, not so much. I’ve decided I don’t really care if someone DOES spoil me, because I’ve found that some authors build up the suspense so well that even if you ARE spoiled it doesn’t matter. But I don’t go seeking them out, and I sure as hell won’t spoil anyone who doesn’t want to be spoiled.
I don’t actively look for them but I don’t avoid them like the plague. My brother will sit in the cinema and close his eyes and block his ears during trailers.
I actively dislike the word spoilers, if knowing one thing about a book or film manages to spoil the enjoyment of a whole book or film it wasn’t worth much to begin with. In my view well written/acted/directed suspense will be exciting even if you know the outcome.
I’m generally indifferent to spoilering, though there are occasional exceptions (like when someone spoiled something in the last season of The Wire for me when I was in the middle of Season 4…yeah, you fans feel what I’m talkin’ about).
I’d read all of ASIOF before the TV series started. Still, I was shocked at poor Ned’s fate! Oh, no, that little twirp doesn’t dare!
Generally, I don’t seek out spoilers & try to avoid spoiling others. However, concerning the upcoming series of Sherlock–that’s me out there, leaning on the lamppost…