I suspect this has already been discussed many, many times and I know it is impossible to establish ironclad guidelines, but is there any sort of general consensus as to when we can stop worring about spoilers when discussing literature, movies, etc.? In another thread recently someone put some information about the movie **Cat Ballou ** in a spoiler box. That movie came out in 1965, 43 years ago. Surely we can discuss it now without worrying about spoilers. Or maybe not since I am sure there are many people who have not seen it yet. What about Citizen Kane? Is it o.k. to talk about the meaning of “Rosebud?” Should I use a a spoiler box when I want to comment on the fate of Romeo and Juliet? And perhaps I shouldn’t reveal the kinky sex Oedipus Rex engaged in. I really feel restricted in what I can say in what could often be fascinating discussions. What rules are generally accepted?
[QUOTE=C K Dexter Haven]
When do you need to warn of spoilers?
* Obviously, if the material is new, some people will want to experience it for themselves without knowing the plot. Remember that a TV show you see on the U.S. east coast will not be seen for several hours later on the west coast. And perhaps not for weeks or months in a different country.
* Although a work may have been well known for quite a while, some folks may still be unaware of particular plot points. Agatha Christie has been dead a long time, but there are still new students and others coming to her mysteries for the first time, who don’t want to know that the butler did it. On the other hand, anyone who doesn’t know that Dorothy could have gone home anytime by clicking her heels, well, the hell with ‘em.
It should be evident from these examples that we can’t give hard-and-fast rules about when to use spoilers. Instead, we have guidelines that involve common sense and courtesy: if you’re revealing a major plot element that could ruin the first-timer’s experience, then DON’T. If it’s a brand new work, be careful about revealing minor plot elements, as well.
Also, please don’t put a spoiler in a thread title. “This week’s episode: Raymond dies!” is NOT a nice thing to do.
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From here.
My take is that it’s simply polite to hide spoilers, no matter how old the work. Politeness has no statute of limitations.
Unless there’s a clear “Open Spoilers!” warning on the thread title, I’d say that common courtesy would demand keeping major surprises spoiler tagged. Just because something is old doesn’t mean that everyone knows the surprise or has seen the work in question. I knew that “rosebud” was something from Citizen Kane, but I didn’t know what it actually was going into the movie, and was quite satisfied to have correctly predicted it before the end of the movie.
If swapping in and out of spoiler tags annoys you, just put your entire post in the tag.
In addition to what lissener and Sage Rat said, don’t assume that, because you don’t mind being spoiled or actually think being spoiled adds to your experience, it is okay to spoil a work for others.
As was said, politeness is key. Err on the side of caution when it comes to spoilers and you can’t go wrong.