# Thanks for spoiling the movie for me! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 6, 2005, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612 "2005-02-06T04:26:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/21 "2005-02-06T18:34:33Z")
> [@kung fu lola](#): > > To be fair to the waitress, she didn’t sound very sure about what she was saying. Just because she **thinks** that person is “the bad guy”, doesn’t mean he **is**. She could easily have been mixing it around with another film - it’s not like he’s never played a “bad guy” before. > > I already know the “twist” to that movie and it was just so remarkably stupid, with a big plot hole in it. Like, why didn’t the daughter tell anyone about how strangely her father was acting? It would have made so much more sense if “Charlie” had been the mother’s paramour; then it would have actually made sense that the daughter was going along with him. Such a small change to the plot, but it would have made a better, more solid story. Less lurid though, so I guess that’s why they did it the way they did. [spoiler]It also didn’t explain all the girl’s creepy behavior previous to that or why she wouldn’t have told her dad’s psychologist friend when she had the chance to escape with her (what deep insights from that woman too. “Trauma causes pain.” How profound. I thought the ending was even more annoying in that it didn’t play fair with Fanning’s performance prior to that. I thought Fanning was so preternaturally spooky and “mature” in those scenes that I was actually entertained by the way she was scaring the crap out of the other characters. The movie then just goes off into the twist and the Fanning character goes from creepy and interesting to be a standard, terrified kid in danger, horror movie cliche. I wish the film had had the guts to go all the way with an evil, disturbed kid reveal. Now that would have been a surprise. Even with all that, I thought DeNiro did a good job of making “Charlie” seem like a distinctly different personality from the “dad.” It showed a flash of the virtuoso that DeNiro is capable of being. Too bad it was wasted on such a stupid plot turn.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/22 "2005-02-06T19:35:30Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > I had a roommate in college who saw the Crying Game and said “It was good, but what was the twist everyone was talking about?” I told her and she said: > > “WHAT? Who couldn’t tell that was a man?!?!” I had to laugh because I thought the exact same thing. Me! _raises hand sheepishly_ ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/23 "2005-02-06T19:47:48Z")
Nobody who posts on this board would be surprised by the “twist.” It’s made pretty plain about 15 minutes into the movie, and every time anything happens, you get hints so broad that they’d be explicit to anyone over the age of six. Then you get to the last act, the “reveal” is given like it’s something you haven’t been fully aware of for over an hour. Suspense? Dramatic tension? Forget about it. Really, if this movie has been “spoiled” for you, it’s not going to effect your enjoyment of the movie a bit. If you screened it without ever having _heard_ of it, you would remain just as unsurprised. It’s built right in. That being said, there are some good performances- especially from Dakota Fanning. It’s just that the script is insulting. To make it worse, when you’re sitting there feeling disgusted that they thought you might _possibly_ have been surprised, they tack on the same formulaic epilogue that left you groaning at the end of De Niro’s _other_ third-rate thriller, _Godsend_. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/24 "2005-02-06T21:33:03Z")
My former FIL is terrible for spoiling movies. And it’s a trainwreck that you can see is coming but you can’t stop it. If it’s a movie you plan on seeing, don’t do anything to bring up the subject if he’s around. He’s almost 77 and he’s quite doddery in his old age. He’ll say something like: “Oh, you’re going to see _Flight of the Fictitious Film Title_? The end is so gut-wrenchigly sad.” Uh-oh! Then we protest, quickly trying to change subject. Us: “Don’t spoil the ending for us! What’s on the menu.” Him: “I _won’t_ spoil the movie. I only said it was very sad at the end when he dies.” Us: “Aaaargh!.. You just spoiled the ending.” Him: “What? What? No I didn’t! I did not! I just said he died at the end I didn’t tell you _how_ he died or anything. I didn’t say a word about rescuing his brother and getting shot!” Us: “AAAARRRRGH!” Don’t talk movies with doddery old men. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/25 "2005-02-06T21:50:47Z")
I actually figured out the twist in _The Sixth Sense_ before I saw the movie. Everyone was talking about the ending and how blown away they were, and I started thinking, “What if…” So I watched the movie with that in the back of my mind, and I think I was aware of nuances and giveaways that I wouldn’t normally have been. On the flip side, I pit myself for clicking on a spoiler box and seeing how Jack was able to fight Barbosa in _Pirates of the Caribbean._ How much more shocking that would have been if I hadn’t! ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/26 "2005-02-06T22:22:10Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Ahem…I never read it. I hope you didn’t just spoil it to me… 😉 Reminds me of a comedian I saw years ago. She was mocking her “dumb blonde” sister, who was reading a biography about Abraham Lincoln. She asked her sister, “Did you get to the part about his assassination yet?” and the sister threw the book at her and said, “Well, thanks for spoiling it for me!” ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/27 "2005-02-06T22:23:50Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > Well, I wouldn’t necessarily know the second sentence was supposed to be a surprise going into the movie. Of course, I wouldn’t see that movie anyway, since it looks incredibly routine and I’m tired of previews with children whispering earnestly. You see, who the spoiler is about is a big part of the spoiler. It would have been pretty stupid to say, “Oh, there’s a big spoiler about Specific Actor, and that spoiler is …” And **Larry Mudd** , I’m sure you didn’t mean to sound as bad as it came off in your post, but we cannot all be blessed with your genius. Sometimes I get what the twist is going to be and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes it’s fun to be really smart and deduce the end. Sometimes it’s fun to try to avoid that and be surprised. I have to say that I have stronger and more pleasing memories of being surprised by the twist in _The Sixth Sense_ and to a lesser degree in _No Way Out_ than in any of the films I oh-so-brilliantly anticipated the outcome. Even being cued to the twist in _Hide and Seek_: [spoiler]I still didn’t get the bit about the teapot heating up so fast until I was in the car on the way home. I didn’t get what the smudge on his hand was. I didn’t anticipate that his office hadn’t really been unpacked. Knowing fully what the spoiler was would make this nothing more than a pretty sad story about a girl who has a really shitty few months with crazy dad.[/spoiler]I suppose my posting privileges should be revoked. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/28 "2005-02-06T22:51:29Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > Then an ex spoiled “Unbreakable” for me. He says: > > “Okay, this is a movie you have to see, but you can’t know what the twist is. You can’t even know that there’s a twist, or you’ll guess it.” I can’t be the only one who would immediately start putting the clues together, however involuntarily. “Hmm… all I know if the movie is called Unbreakable. There is a twist I shouldn’t even know about, and yet all I know is the title… oh. Well damn. There goes THAT movie’s secret.” Mmm, not really. There’s more to it than that. Seriously, don’t read this spoiler unless you don’t care any longer. Late in the movie, you find out that Elijah Price (played by Samuel L. Jackson) is a Bad Guy, who assumed that because he is so fragile, there was some Hero out there who was Unbreakable. He set about engineering all sorts of disasters so that he could find his nemesis, and tada… ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/29 "2005-02-06T22:53:49Z")
I once got hollered at for spoiling _American Beauty_ by telling someone that Kevin Spacey’s character died at the end.The person hollered at me for mentioning that one of the first lines in the opening monologue is Kevin Spacey’s character saying “So I’m dead”. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/30 "2005-02-06T23:01:20Z")
I get really sick of people throwing a tantrum because anyone says anything about any movie, covering their ears, screaming “don’t spoil it!” Sure, sometimes people “spoil” stuff, but do you have any idea how pissy and annoying you are? One time someone threw a fit because I said… get this… that I had seen the new Star Wars movie. Not that anything happened it. Just that I’d seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2005, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/31 "2005-02-06T23:16:20Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > And **Larry Mudd** , I’m sure you didn’t mean to sound as bad as it came off in your post, but we cannot all be blessed with your genius. Uh, sorry, that does sound pretty bad, doesn’t it? I honestly didn’t expect that anyone would be surprised, though. I watched it with my mum, who is legendary for her inability to pick up on anything that isn’t spelled out pretty plainly. It’s part of the regular drill with her that you explain what just happened while the credits roll. (Love her anyway, of course.) The thing is, she guessed what was up with _Hide and Seek_ as soon as the thing with the cat happened, and blurted it out. Her verdict on the whole thing was “That was kind of stupid, it was so obvious.” I have _never_ heard her say that about _anything_. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/32 "2005-02-07T00:07:50Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > One time someone threw a fit because I said… get this… that I had seen the new Star Wars movie. > > Not that anything happened it. Just that I’d seen it. Thanks a lot, fucker. I was really looking forward to seeing that. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/33 "2005-02-07T00:12:40Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Thanks a lot, fucker. I was really looking forward to seeing that. :mad: Don’t worry, it was Episode I, not Episode III. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/34 "2005-02-07T00:24:48Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > Don’t worry, it was Episode I, not Episode III. Aaaauggghh!!! Shut up! Shut Up! [Hands over ears] ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/35 "2005-02-07T00:28:35Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Aaaauggghh!!! Shut up! Shut Up! > > [Hands over ears] Hands over EYES, actually. This is a visual medium, after all! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/36 "2005-02-07T00:34:49Z")
> [@chique](#): > > I once got hollered at for spoiling _American Beauty_ by telling someone that Kevin Spacey’s character died at the end.The person hollered at me for mentioning that one of the first lines in the opening monologue is Kevin Spacey’s character saying “So I’m dead”. Well, in all fairness, it’s easy to overlook or forget things like that if you get caught up in the story. I know the first time I read _The Pit and the Pendulum_, I got so wrapped up in it that the ending surprised me even though the beginning made it obvious. I can see the same happening for _American Beauty_ very easily. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/37 "2005-02-07T01:13:45Z")
So, what the cut-off point, where you no longer have to take pains not to spoil a movie? Is it a set number of years? Is it once a movie has left the theaters? Is out on DVD? Been on HBO? Been on broadcast TV? Yeah, yeah, it isn’t THAT hard to be courteous, but there’s got to be some point where you can assume it no longer matters and you can just say, “Okay, it may have worked for Dumbo, but trust me, believing you can fly won’t cut it if you jump off that roof.” ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/38 "2005-02-07T01:25:41Z")
I was watching\* The Village\* at a friend’s house, and I refused to tell them anything about the plot or what the movie was about, because it had been spoiled for me. Someone had ruined it for me, with only 3 words. They said to me: You had to look didn’t, you? Even though you really wanted it to be a surprise. Those three words ruined the whole thing for me, cause I figured out in the first 5 minutes what was going on. The Real Three Words: “It’s present day” Anyway, my friend said, "Yeah, like in The Sixth Sense, that was easy to spoil too because: its obvious the guy is a ghost I stared at him dumbfounded, and shouted: Motherfucker! I haven’t seen it yet!!! Friend: Oh. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![ethanwinfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/96bed5/32.png) [@ethanwinfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethanwinfield)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/39 "2005-02-07T02:38:18Z")
> [@chique](#): > > I once got hollered at for spoiling _American Beauty_ by telling someone that Kevin Spacey’s character died at the end.The person hollered at me for mentioning that one of the first lines in the opening monologue is Kevin Spacey’s character saying “So I’m dead”. Thanks for spoiling it for me. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612/40 "2005-02-07T02:46:04Z")
Seriously, though… hasn’t the fucking “split personality” twist ending been done A LOT, and even a lot RECENTLY? For instance, it plays into the end of Fight Club, and that movie set at a motel with John Cusack, and the Johnny Depp movie out last year. Is anyone really entertained by yet anothe fucking split-personality twist ending? I’d thank the waitress for saving me from seeing a wretched movie and seen something else, like Sideways. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-spoiling-the-movie-for-me/288612.md?page=3)