The new tV etiquette
When is a spoiler not a spoiler?
KRISTIN shot J. R. Newhart was all a dream. And that book the Kanamits are toting around on The Twilight Zone? It’s a cookbook!
I come to reveal spoilers, not to hide them.
Modern television viewing, which allows us to watch nearly any show ever made pretty much whenever we wish, has come upon us so quickly that social convention is still catching up.
The critical question still to be settled among polite society: Where does discussion end and spoiling begin?
Lately, it seems that the pendulum has swung to the favour of people who feel they should be able to approach a series unsullied, castigating those who might – however innocently – dare to try to discuss a show they are still watching, or even thinking about watching.
Who hasn’t tried to analyse the latest episode of Game Of Thrones with the office fan club only to be shooed away by a co- worker who isn’t caught up? Or been approached by a friend who has “finally watched House Of Cards” only to be scolded for revealing a plot point that comes after Episode 1?
A colleague recently was castigated by a reader for writing about Emily Kinney and “spoiling” that her character had died on The Walking Dead – seven months earlier.
I say it is time for the pendulum to swing back.
It is time to free the people who watch television to talk about their shows and for those who lag behind to accept that spoiling simply is a risk of a leisurely viewing pace.
Why do some viewers believe they must be extended the “courtesy” of universal silence by the rest of the world when it comes to fictional television?
Naturally, there are limits. I believe people can reasonably ask those around them for 48 hours of spoiler- free space after a new episode airs. For series from online sites like Netflix that arrive all at once, a month after the release date is an acceptable cushion, especially for the later episodes.
On the other hand, it is up to the procrastinators to steer clear of social media. Those spoiled by reading their Twitter feeds can only blame themselves.
There are certain elements we have an obligation to be circumspect about, for a few years at least. Plot twists that significantly affect the path of the story should not be blared out in mixed company. The solutions to murder mysteries should be protected.
Still, all this concern about spoilers is largely misplaced. A good television series is more than a plot; our enjoyment comes from how the plot is conveyed: what the characters are like, how the story changes them, how our emotions are affected, how the themes of the story illuminate our own lives.
Does knowing that Miss Bennet marries Mr. Darcy make us like Pride &
are full of spoilers. Prejudice any less? Were you able to watch The Empire Strikes Back a second time knowing that Darth Vader was Luke’s father? I’m guessing you know how Janet Leigh’s shower turns out in Psycho even if you haven’t seen the movie. That doesn’t make it any less great of a film.
And so it should be with a television series. Learning of an important plot twist ahead of watching a show doesn’t ruin anything. It removes the element of surprise from a very small moment of a long experience.
A 2011 study from UC San Diego even concluded that spoilers increased readers’ enjoyment of literature.
So let’s ease up on the demand to be spoiler- free. If you are late to a series, accept that you might learn a plot point or two in advance. It might make things better. – The Orange County Register/ Tribune News Service HERE are 10 “spoilers” discussed in public without Listed in reverse chronological
1. Dr. McDreamy gets care on Grey’s Anatomy. Actor feuds with producers extensively about his desire show. How did we think turn out?
2. Walter White dies Breaking Bad. And Hamlet end of Hamlet. It’s what the conclusion of a tragedy. important is how Walt his death means.
3. The girls of Orphan clones. Yes, it is an important in Season One. Then again, didn’t figure that out weeks the reveal, then this show your head.
4. Matthew Crawley of Abbey is a bad driver. The Dan Stevens’ character the worst- kept secrets in history. Stevens quit the make movies months before Three played in America. knew he was going to die, could have predicted the his demise was worked
5. Eddard Stark gets executed Game Of Thrones. The entire rests on Eddard being killed end of Season One and
It’s what Game Of about. “Spoiling” this is that Star Trek takes place future.
6. There are no answers Before anyone invests 100 so in watching Lost, they aware that the many riddles the first six seasons will answered in the seventh. 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 signify? island lure the castaways? Walt so important? You find out.
7. The Sopranos cuts difficult to be alive in the and not be aware of the of HBO’s groundbreaking