Spoiler Talk Part One: Who is Responsible for Getting Spoiled?

       

     

While on Amazon my eyes skimmed over a book in a series that comes after the one I am on. The first sentence of the former’s synopsis was a spoiler to the latter. I instantly exited the page, and pretended I didn’t see those words.

       When scrolling through my Pinterest feed, I saw the official artwork of a couple in a video game I am playing. The title of the pin was a spoiler about something that happens to the couple which is unrelated to the picture shown. I am sure whoever wrote the pin’s title wasn’t trying to spoiler anyone, but it still happened.

      The internet goes on and on about how it is an individual’s responsibility to avoid spoilers and I agree with this...to a point. When I was spoiled for the above book ending, I had no one to blame but myself. I saw the image of the book cover and should’ve looked away when I had the chance but didn’t. The publisher had good reason to mention the game-changing plot twist of the first book in the synopsis of the next one because it influences the plot. This wasn’t a spoiler because it was never meant to be seen by someone who hadn’t made it to that point in the series yet. However, when I saw the spoiler title for the pin on Pinterest it wasn’t my fault. Although the title of the pin was something that happens to the couple it was unrelated to the image shown which was official artwork released before the game hit store shelves and was meant to be seen by people who haven’t played the game yet.  

      I think if something has been out for a while a person who has yet to read/watch it should take precautions not to get spoiled, but another person who has seen and knows someone else hasn’t read/seen/played XYZ shouldn’t spew out plot twist like a snow blower. I think a movie can be discussed before a book/TV show/ video game because it is the shortest to finish. However, it is a good idea to ask someone if they have seen the film before bringing up any spoilers. Unless the person you are talking to won’t watch or read something before they know how it ends, then you’re doing them a favor by spoiling them.

      For TV shows I would wait a little bit longer because most people don’t have live TV anymore and don’t watch a show the night it airs. I don’t watch or read Game of Thrones, but I feel for fans who cannot watch the new episodes live, and twitter blows up with spoilers for the newest episode.

      I would wait a little longer to talk about spoilers in a video game. The video game I got spoiled for is over a year old, and people could say it is my fault for not buying the game when it first came out, but video games are very expensive and people don’t have the money to buy every new game at the time of its release. Also, they don't have the time to sit through a 400-hour game in three weeks. However, no one has the right not to be spoiled, but no one has the right to go around telling the whole world how a piece of media ends. I think if you talk about something with a spoiler to always give a spoiler warning, and if you see something online that could possibly contain spoilers you should avoid it.

     Most people aren’t trying to be mean when they spoil a piece of media for someone else. From my experience, whenever I was spoiled it was most often by accident and when I tell people they spoiled me, they apologize immediately. In the majority of cases, they didn’t realize I hadn’t seen XYZ and wouldn’t have said anything otherwise.

Photo Credits

http://themetapicture.com/average-movie-trailer/