Not for nothin’, but the worst example of a spoiler I’ve EVER seen was the Castaway trailer (long version). In which it showed…
HE GETS OFF THE ISLAND! and his wife is obviously with someone else!
Why on earth would they do that? I’ve not even bothered to watch it because of that.
Here’s something else to consider: books that are over five years old (or five decades old; see example below) made into movies.
For example, Lord of the Rings was published six decades ago; well beyond the statute of limitations. But how many people will see the movie who have/had no intention of reading the book?
Frodo eventually gets rid of The Ring. :eek:
The information in the above spoiler is sixty years old, but yet may spoil a movie for someone. What do do, what to do…
“reliops” is “spoiler” spelled backwards
It seems to me that it would be really difficult to define a ‘statute of limitations’ that worked for most people, most of the time. I agree with what’s been said about the 5 year proposal - it sounds reasonable at first, but then again it is possible to like a movie more than 5 years old that you somehow just never got round to seeing before, or one that you didn’t know you liked until you chanced across it on TV. Either way, spoilers will… er, spoil the pleasure.
But surely there’s no need for a statute of limitations. If you’re going to reveal a significant movie plot point, just flag it in advance. Any movie, any age. It only takes a second to type ‘Spoiler ahead!’ or similar.
Ditto for books, plays… whatever. Except ‘The Mousetrap’. It’s about time it was laid to rest. Nobody cares now that the sweet, innocent little school-girl is actually the killer.
GASP! :eek: You…you…monster!
Speaking only for myself, I don’t see the need to note “spoilers” at all; indeed, I feel the term is something of a misnomer, since in no case has prior knowledge about a story (even the ending or alleged plot twist) ruined a movie (or book) for me.
Consider any movie which is based on a book. Does this mean no one reads the book before (or after) seeing the movie? You know how the other is going to end, after all. This includes, if the movie is faithful, who lives and who dies. In fact, from what I’ve seen here in the Cafe, the fewer changes (which results in, obviously, fewer surprises) from the book to movie, the better.
Also, does no one re-watch a movie? Or re-read a book? Do you get less enjoyment the second (or third…) time around?
I don’t know. Chalk this up as yet another thing I don’t “get”. I’ll certainly abide by any written or unwritten spoiler rules, but I’m never going to complain about their absence, either.
How the hell do you do a freaking spoiler?
pout
(spoiler)
The butler did it!
(/spoiler)
Replace parenthesis with brackets.
I’m with Darwin’s Finch in that spoilers don’t matter to me at all. I do understand, however, that they matter to a lot of people.
I’ve never seen The Usual Suspects and the comment that was made about it in the other thread didn’t spoil it for me; rather, I didn’t understand it at all so I just shrugged it off.
I’ll put in my vote for a five-year statute of limitations, as I think it’s impossible to have a discussion on the merits of classic movies without having spoilers.
Speaking for myself, well, yeah. To both parts of the question. With certain stories, be they written or enacted, there is one defining moment that, when you know it, unlocks the rest of the plot. Or explains it. And that shock you get the first time you see it is what makes it so much fun.
Let’s take, as an example, Miracle Mile. The movie builds tension, never letting the audience know what the true story is, until the final reel. Once you know how the flick ends, it knocks a lot of the enjoyment out of the flick, for repeated viewings. Well, it did for me, anyway. I’m one of those people who does rewatch the hell out a lot of movies, and can enjoy them even knowing the ending… but with certain stories, the first time you watch it is the best.
There’s a subset of stories who fall into the “Twilight Zone” category, in that they contain a ‘twist’ ending, which is almost always the big pay-off to the thing. Once you know that, again, generally speaking, repeated viewings/readings of it are a lot less enjoyable, as a great deal of tension is bled out the plot. Think of the classic Burgess Meredith librarian espisode of TZ; is the ending as wrenching now as the first time you saw it? (Assuming that you have seen it, of course.) This holds true for mysteries, murder or otherwise, as well.
Of course, I’m the kinda guy who’ll tape a Columbo movie (y’know, Peter Falk) I haven’t managed to see before, and intentionally skip the first 15 minutes or so, the first time I watch it; my perspective on the matter may therefore be a little… skewed.
And yeah, maybe a certain time limit on revealing spoilers could work out, but…
What about the young movie lover who is only now discovering some flick or another, that us old farts consider too old to spoil? Pick some novel/movie/campfire story that you really loved. Now imagine that you were born 10 years later than you actually were: Someone gives away the spoiler to you before you’ve had a chance to enjoy it for the first time, as the author/director intended. Is it as much fun, now, or just another movie you don’t really feel like going through the effort of tracking down, since you already know how it’s gonna turn out?
Yeah, I know, it’s just a movie an’ alla that, but… I like being surprised by the occasional plot twist. The ones that work are rare enough as it is.
[sub]It is a good idea to stay away from threads discussing a flick you wanna see. MsWhatsit nailed it pretty succinctly, I think.[/sub]
Wouldn’t it be a good idea to at least say what you are spoiling when using the spoiler box? I have senn many movies, but for some reasons I have not yet seen Citzen Kane. So I wouldn’t have read the spoiler box in Finagle’s post if I had known that it was for that movie.
Out of curiosity, mkl, how did you know what movie Finagle was spoiling?
Because I have seen the first minutes of it, just not the whole movie.
I have to agree with this. Say someone was 9 when The Usual Suspects came out, now they’re 16 and discovering a whole new world of film and want to check that one out.
There are film/book/play fans born and made every day. I agree that if the thread is about said film/book/play, the reader should be wary and perhaps not enter that thread at all. But, if a spoiler is given in the context of something else, a quick “spoilers ahead!” as someone else noted, only takes a second and is the polite thing to do.
(I can enjoy things that are spoiled for me. I went to The Others knowing how it ended “thanks” to a jerk in a newsgroup who put it in a Subject Line, and I enjoyed it anyway (I’ve seen it 3 times now) but it would have been nice to not know the first time.)
mkl12, Citizen Kane is about so much more than that, so see the movie and don’t worry about the spoiler you just read.
Maybe we should do what IMdB does - if someone posts a spoiler on there in a movie review, they’re banned from doing any more reviews! 
Here’s another way to look at it. I’d say that if you’re going to post a rather crucial plot twist (whether you yourself believe it’s crucial or if you imagine others might), you really should use the spoiler tag, even if it’s a movie “everyone” has seen. This isn’t 1950. There are zillions of old movies that people have never seen. I’ve never, ever seen Gone with the Wind. So just because a movie was immensely popular doesn’t mean that everyone on the message board has seen it, or even heard about the ending. One can’t assume anything.
[Personally, I’d be more likely to use the spoiler tag if a) the movie was still in theaters, b) was about to be released on video, or c) was being remade; in these situations, you know a lot of people will be interested in discussing the movie, a lot of people who perhaps are being exposed to the film for the first time]
To come to the defense of Juanita (the spoiler of the Usual Suspects) the thread that jjimm started was a game that he and his brother devised. They had to give a summary of a film using no more than 5 words. jjimm opened the thread to us Dopers to join in.
Granted Juanita’s entry was not really a summary but a big spoiler I think anyone going to the read the thread should have assumed that it was possible that a summary may reveal something about a movie they haven’t seen yet.
I actually realize now that I may have inadvertantly spoiled The Color of Money for someone. I wasn’t intentional I was merely disputing two different TCOM summarys by other Dopers. Although theirs didn’t go into as much detail as I did.
There are different degrees of spoilers. The often referenced Stars Wars “spoiler” really doesn’t spoil the triolgy but gives information not revealed/confirmed until Return of the Jedi. It doesn’t tell you how the movie ends or if the “spoiler” plays a major part in the outcome.
The Usual Suspects or The Sixth Sense spoilers would definately ruin the surprises in the movies. Isn’t that, by definition, what a spoiler does?
My advice is to use common sense when reading or posting. If you think there might be unannounced spoilers stay away from the thread or proceed with caution. If you think what you post may reveal too much of a movie insert a spoiler alert.
FYI, I have not yet seen The Maltese Falcon or Mouse Trap and they both seemed spoiled to me. Kind of ironic coming from this thread don’t ya think? Or were they jokes?
A statute of limitations is absolutely, definitely necessary. Many classic works of literature have made their way into the popular culture to the point that it’s impossible to avoid spoilers. Is it a spoiler if I refer to doomed lovers as Romeo and Juliet? To someone who’s never seen the play, it might be a spoiler to know that things don’t work out between them. But references to Romeo and Juliet are so abundant in our culture that even if it is desireable to avoid spoilers, it’s impossible to do so.
Or Citizen Kane… Ever see an episode of The Animaniacs? They spoil that one in the opening theme. Sure, I would like to have the chance to see the movie “fresh”, as it were, but I can’t do that, and nor can anyone else who’s not living under a rock. Why bother trying?
Now, the proper length of such a statute of limitations might be debateable, but the fact is that eventually, any given spoiler will become “public domain”, so to speak.
Another point: some movies are spoiled even by mentioning that there are spoilers…
for instance (at this point, this movie has already been mentioned in this thread, plus it’s been widely discussed) The Sixth Sense. When I saw it in the theatres early in its run, I had heard exactly zero people say anything about a twist at the end, and all the reviews I had read had been complimentary but had not said things like “and wow, what a surprise, etc”. Thus I wasn’t expecting any kind of twist at all. Thus, I was completely blown away.
Had I heard it mentioned a lot as a movie with heavy spoilers, even without knowing what those spoilers were, it would have diminished the experience.
I’ve discovered that with careful avoidance and my lack of TV watching (not intentional, per se), I have the advantage when watching movies. I haven’t been overhyped about a show and then disappointed, nor had anything spoiled. Lately. Except A Beautiful Mind, which the synopsis on the back of the tape spoiled :mad: