Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
If you use an @yahoo.com email or any related Yahoo services, they have blocked us also due to "user complaints"
-UE
When you can barely discuss a work without spoilers
Especially to the point where approximately all you can do is describe the basic premise (if that).
Take Umineko no Naku Koro ni. The Witches (...yeah, I'm not even going to bother spoiler tagging that one) do not appear till the epilogue of Episode 1, which is 10-15 hours long, give or take. However, you can't discuss Umineko without mentioning them because they are so critically important to the plot.
In another VN related case, there's Ever17. Every single character bar one (a bit character who appears in one ending for all of 30 seconds and is never mentioned again) has multiple major spoilers relating to them, making talking about the game next to impossible unless you're talking to someone who's already read/played it.
Comments
How it feels discussing A Song of Ice and Fire with...anyone, but mostly my friends on Facebook. Fortunately we all seem to be able to piece together exactly what we're all referring to from just the vaguest details.
What Alkthash said. I've been so desensitised to spoilers, in fact, that I now tend to quickly read over the plot of a movie (or an episode of a TV series) just before I actually watch it for the first time.
Oh, yeah, Spec Ops and FarCry 3 are this for me. Also Portal 2 to a small extent.
I dunno, I personally feel that an experience is ruined for me if I know how it's going to play out. I can't invest in a fictional emotional experience if I see it coming.
It really depends on the kind of movie we're talking about.
Personally, because stories work by causing an emotional response on you, I feel that the knowledge of the future events causes them to work less. Kinda like knowing the punchline to a joke. At the same time, that knowledge can be used to trigger new emotions that can be equally compelling (See: Greek Tragedy)
And sometimes you'll find information on a work, not expecting to actually read/watch it, only to end up doing so later with certain spoilers still in mind (in my case, the most recent examples would be Adventure Time and Pluto).
Of course, other times you'll know one piece of information and something else will be a complete surprise (for instance, Bastion: I was aware of the Restoration/Evacuation branched ending, but the sequence where you save Zulf threw me for a loop).
If it's a good joke with good delivery, then chances are that the audience will still enjoy it even if they've heard it before. Same goes for a good story that's told well.
Well, when it comes to stuff like The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, while they are pretty good movies on their own right, part of the intended experience hinges in not knowing some of the spoilers. Still, while spoilers don't detract too much from most works, I'd much rather come in blind.
^^Just because it's still good doesn't mean it's the ideal viewing experience.
I think it comes down to the type of story. Some stories can't be spoiled because everybody knows how it ends. Some stories if you know the shape of things, you can predict how things will go. And some stories absolutely rely on the surprise to work.
Well, yeah, but it's not going to be as funny as if you hadn't know the punchline and as if you weren't expecting it. (Provided the joke works on surprising the audience, that is)
The big trouble with spoilers is that some works have drastic changes very early on. For example, should the following be considered spoilers?
* Chrono Trigger: going to 2300 AD and discovering the Day of Lavos video
* Final Fantasy IV: the Mist Dragon is Rydia's mom, and the package is a bomb ring
* Castlevania: Symphony of the Night: that Richter has become
LORRRD OF THIS CASTLE!!lord of Castlevania* Super Metroid: the baby Metroid is stolen, and the first statue comes to life
Also, late arrival spoilers:
* Nanoha: Fate Testarossa does a heel-face turn
* Golden Sun: Felix's group is not lost, because the second game plays from the perspective of the first game's opposing party
Some things you get interested in, and the mere learning about those things causes spoilers. It's inevitable.
See: Rosebud.
Rosebud is pretty irrelevant to the story of the movie anyway.
It's mostly cause Rosebud gives you some insight into Kane's mind but it hardly makes up for the whole picture.
Well, maybe saying it's irrelevant is going too far, but it's not like there's really a lot of suspense built up as to what it will turn out to be or anything like that.
I was agreeing, for the record.
Since this thread got brought up on IRC, I feel like adding another relevant piece to the puzzle:
What about spoilers that don't make sense unless you know a little already? This might be what Kraken is talking about. By this, I mean things that aren't spoilery unless you have context.
Usually, this means name-dropping things or talking about details in terminology that makes no sense out of context -- for example, instead of saying that Cecil turns away from his dark past, saying that Cecil has a class change.