Is spoiler culture good or bad?

SPOILERS INFORM THE AUDIENCE | Amanda Blackman

In a golden age of storytelling—with popular movies, books, and TV shows in constant release—spoilers are bound to happen. They have almost become a new normal, but many people still try to avoid them at all costs. However, this mindset focused on aversion has flaws. Instead of letting a simple piece of information ruin what could have been an enjoyable viewing experience, knowing a spoiler can give viewers a greater understanding to the creator’s intent behind the story.

Knowing that there is important information being withheld tends to put viewers on edge and pulls them out of an immersive viewing experience. For example, the film The Sixth Sense contains one of the most well-known spoilers in the history of film. New viewers of the film, who are fully aware of the hidden piece of information, have no distraction from the true meaning of the film. Instead of knowing that the movie is trying to convince the viewer of a false narrative, the viewer is fully immersed in the hidden meaning of the story and able to notice hidden details and messages.

If a viewer goes into a movie-watching experience expecting a plot twist, they will likely spend the viewing experience searching for the truth. For those going into a viewing aware of the director’s intent, the story is clarified. Instead of critically managing a handful of theories throughout the film, the viewer knows, in one concise viewing experience, the true meaning the director intended.

After learning a shocking twist to a film, it’s easy to want to immediately watch the movie all over again to find the details the director hid throughout. When the spoiler is known going into the movie, it only needs to be viewed once. The viewer is able to notice the details that were hidden in the story.

In a time where spoilers are regularly advertised without any warning, they are bound to be seen. But instead of letting these spoilers ruin an experience, people should learn to embrace them. Knowing a spoiler reveals the creator’s hidden agenda and lets the viewer enjoy without having to second guess themselves throughout the process—resulting in a more informed and engaging viewing experience.

SPOILERS RUIN THE EXPERIENCE | Dilkush Khan

There are a lot of questionable things on the internet, but one of the things that a lot of people despise is spoilers. For some reason, people find it amusing to ruin a film, TV show, or book plot by sharing detailed information about it. If a person didn’t ask for a spoiler, don’t ruin it for them.

Spoilers are unnecessary and a nuisance, for a number of reasons. Unlike the opponent of this argument would say, a simple piece of information can indeed ruin what could have been an enjoyable viewing or reading experience. When the re-adaption of It was getting ready for release, trailers and sneak peaks were spooky but secretive enough that it didn’t spoil the plot for those who are not familiar with the movie or book, which is how it should be.

The director specifically made the film with the first-time viewer in mind. So if spoilers are exposed ahead of time, it ruins the viewing experience for those who wanted to watch the story as it was intended to be experienced. If someone wanted to know what happened at the end of It, for example, prior to watching the film, they would look it up.

A lot of the time spoilers are exposed to people in unsolicited ways, which is unfair. A person who does not actively engage in looking for spoilers should not be subjected to them. Though some might argue that it’s easy to avoid spoilers, it isn’t. Often, when browsing a website or innocently checking social media, lo and behold, a spoiler will appear, and the months of waiting to watch or read that particular piece of media was for nothing.

Spoilers don’t keep viewers more engaged while reading or watching something, but instead get rid of that element of surprise. Not everything needs to be disclosed in advance. A lot of students have several shows on queue on Netflix and try really hard to avoid spoilers. When a spoiler appears out of nowhere, it ruins the experience since they know what’s going to happen.

Don’t be the party pooper of the internet. Instead of ruining a movie, TV show, or book for everyone else, people should just keep their mouths shut.