In recent years, the term “Spoiler Alert” can be found in nearly every single review or recap of any episode, and for a while, it drove me insane. I didn’t understand it because I was one of those people who would, on occasion, flip to the back of the book to find out how everything ended, and then read everything else in the middle to find out how to get there. I liked to think that I invested in the story enough not to let the ending affect me, and I was baffled and appalled by people who overreacted to finding out which characters in Game of Thrones died.
Simply put, I scoffed at them because they were consuming the story for plot, and not for craft. They only wanted to know what happened next, and they didn’t care about how the plot was constructed or how the foreshadowing led to the end. They were only interested in the events of the story, not the telling, and that enraged me.
Plot matters of course, but how a story is told is also important. The point of view matters, the tone and the style matters, and even knowing when to drop hints about an event matters. Focusing on the spoilers, or large plot points diminishes the work as a whole because the reader merely zooms in on the events, not the artful descriptions or the witty dialogue that also give the story its character.
And yet, sometimes, not knowing is half the fun. It’s fun to guess who the murderer is, and to resist flipping to the end to see whether you are right or not. It’s far better to be unaware of what happens on your first viewing or reading of a movie or a book so you can experience the emotions that come with every different ending.
I try and respect other people’s decisions to not find out any “spoilers,” but with the big deal everyone is making it, it’s hard not to troll them. I liked trolling my colleague by saying, “Hey, the ending of The Force Awakens is…” just to see how averse he was to my nonsense. But who am I to judge when everyone consumes stories differently?
You read what you read because you like it for myriad reasons, no one should question how you read it. It still won’t stop me from flipping to the back of the book as and when I feel like it, and it shouldn’t stop you from shunning all social media until you watch the next episode of Game of Thrones or whatever it is you happen to be watching.
Image via Jason Taellious
For me I think I’d want to see how everything plays out from beginning to end without knowing spoilers. For instance if I’d not known a lead of a show I had followed faithfully was going to be killed off I would have still not watched. Once I knew, however, I felt betrayed because of the time and emotions invested in watching the character.
I actively try to avoid social media on Wednesday mornings because I don’t want to know what happens on a series I’m watching until I get a chance to watch it and experience the storyline for myself, otherwise I’d feel “robbed” of the full experience. Haha.