In Defense Of Spoilers
Back in the day, my younger sister committed a very very serious crime. She told me a spoiler. And it wasn’t just any spoiler. She told me that Bruce Willis’ character in Sixth Sense was actually dead from the start. Whoops, did I just spoil the movie for you? Perhaps not (it’s almost a decade old!).
You’d think I would kill my sister for blurting out the story’s twist, but I wasn’t really that angry. I actually didn’t care at first (I watched the film months after that shocking revelation). But from that point, my sister stopped “sharing” story lines in advance. It was I who was out for sweet revenge (yes, even eight years after) by kidding around with story twists and endings of popular movies. And whenever I open my mouth attempting to “share” she would cover her ears and mutter incomprehensible utterances in order to drown out my voice.
From that point on, I was somewhat desensitized with spoilers. Even if I hear people talking about major story plots or twists, I would take it with a grain of salt, and still enjoy the movie/television show/book even if I knew the ending. No suspense, you say? Well, I’m one of those who tend to think that too much suspense would spoil a story anyway. Let a story take you through the ups and downs of a storyline and pretty soon you’ll be left too exhausted to enjoy it.
Perhaps this is the reason I sometimes watch movies and TV shows twice in a row. I try to seek out details (including imperfections and bloopers) the second, third, or fourth time around. I even scour the ‘net for reviews and recaps.
Sometimes, even before I download episodes of favorite shows online (Bittorrent or iTunes), I check ahead for recaps from those who were able to watch ahead. Silly, some might think. But in my busy lifestyle, I have no more time to actually get shocked and excited over details. I like having them in advance, and watching out for them during the viewing itself. Sometimes people who write recaps and reviews have different perspectives and I find them mistaken (ah, the shock value is there after all).
Some people I know are quite averse to spoilers. When downloading episodes, they try to keep away from any spoiler sites or recap resources. They even turn off their Twitter and IM clients just so people won’t accidentally share any details with them.
But that’s them.
I’m okay with spoilers. Call me weird.
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