When does a spoiler stop being a spoiler?

Hey everybody. Although I know I'm not teeming with readers I apologize all the same for not putting up anything for as long as I have. Life just seems to get on top of you and, well, things have gotten a bit simpler now that my family has moved into the current decade and we've finally had wireless internet installed. This is why I am currently writing this at a ridiculous hour in the morning. (02:54am GMT) and nothaving to  wait til I have time to mooch internet from elsewhere.

Anyway for a while I have been thinking about SPOILERS. Anybody who's a fan of Dr. Who and has been watching the past season will know that it's been a rollercoaster of twists and turns. Don't worry mein readers I won't spill a single bean about it, btu any of you who do know anything about the latest series will know that one of the recent main characters is prone to saying a particular phrase every now and then (not a catch phrase per se). But well, "Spoilers!!"

One of the biggest terms that has come into use through the means of the internet is that of the term "Spoilers" 'When one runs the risk of revealing an item item of interest that the other does not wish to see or hear, they will announce that it is a Spoiler so as to warn them of said information."

Most of us have come up against the blockade that is a spoiler alert. When you're at work and you want to talk to everyone about the latest episode of Lost  or Breaking Bad but that one person hasn't seen it yet, that one person has forcefeilded that juicy bit of story that you are itching to talk about. It's the worst. Almsot as bad as when you are that person. Haven't had time to catch up or to see that big film in the cinema so while everyone is talking about it you have to exclude yourself, because you don't want to know yet. It sucks. But the questin that's been picking at my brain for a while is When do Spoilers stop being Spoilers?



*************May contain revealing Spoilers*****************

One of the big examples that I can talk about is from the film The 6th Sense. This film contains one major twist towards the end, which by now everybody knows, that Bruce Willis himself is a ghost. This is a spoiler that a lot of people managed to keep to themsleves after watching it only using it urge anybody else who hasn't seen it out of their seats and go see it. If anything at least it was a maginificent self marketing machine. Waves upon waves of tantalized and eager audiences would crash down on cinemas and video stores to see what the big deal was. This is when everybody knew that it was best to keep their lips sealed on the matter and let anyody else who wanted to see it experience the unravelling. But when is the cut off point? When can you begin to talk about this twist openly and freely without any objection.

For instance I love to watch tonnes of old movies, The Birds, Casablanca, Sunset Boulevard or Double Indemnity  and a host of other stuff. When I talk to people about wanting to see any old movie that they may have heard of or watched, I have had to, on several occassions, interrupt their sentences shouting "Spoiler Alert!!!" It's frustrating. Is it my fault that I was born on the wrong decade so that people can still safeley assume that when I talk about these movies that I don't want to know every detail going into it? It's so bloody frustrating!!! Even when they use some sort of weird referntial advert to Psycho and you finally watch it, and you know because of that ad that It's all Norman. I can understand that people reference the things they love but it's difficult to avoid these things when you don't know it's going to happen. It's difficult to know that a certain show or ad or whatever will spill beans on films you eventually want to watch. I think because of an off hand comment in Veronica Mars  I know a big twist in Citizen Kane, and I haven't even watched it yet. I desperatel want to but I am waiting to forget that little bit of information.

I guess the only rules we can maybe emulate is that of Television. For instance, British show Misfits finished with a big twist at the end of season 1. However in the season 2 marketing campaign they showed an advert on E4 repeatedly where they revealed the twist that Nathans power was that he was immortal. Personally I thought that this was a serious mistake on the marketers but from what I noticed more people seemed to have watched season 2 than they had season 1. So maybe they did do something right, but did revealing that entice the extra viewers? Did it wipe a clean slate that allowed people to safely walk into the new series knowing everything they had to?

Many shows eliminate any new viewers beecause of adverts and such, they reveal major previous twists. I have witnessed many people who say they want to catch up from the start but know to much to walk clean in. From my experience lets use Buffy for an example. I am a huge Joss Whedon fan, I have watched Firefly and Dollhouse at least a half dozen times and I love it but I have been urged by friends to watch Buffy if I enjoy his stuff so much, but why? If a season works towards something, all the writing, the shocks, the twists, the turns, all work towards one big reveal then isn't it a bit pointless when you already know that twist. My own friends who are trying to get me to watch it are revealing major details while they themselves rewatch it. So i know going into that, Sunnydale is at the edge of Hells mouth, or that Willows a lesbian or that Buffy dies and comes back and that Willow trys to destroy the world and Xander stops it by talking. No semblance of spoiling has come across any mind while they tell me this and I can't stop it because I have no context of how major or minor the reveal is.

It's the same with when I was trying to get into One Tree Hill. I'd get urged by people and as they were watching it I'd find out that Hayley's pregnant or that Lucas goes with Peyton and Brooke. So when I watch the 1st seaon I know the twist that Hayley and Nathan get married. I know that twist the person Peyton thinks is her brother isn't, I know that Keith dies. Losing them a potential fan. How is anybody supposed to get into these things when this keeps happening? Do you have to wait until the whole thing is dead and finished and watch it like an archiver discovering a little story of the past?

However I'm tired so I'll try and conclude this. I think personally we have to play it by ear. Be considerate of the fact that maybe sombody hasn't watched Casablanca so doesn't know that they don't end up together. Ask if they've seen up to season 2 of Breaking Bad to know that Walter watched Jesse's girlfriend die or not. Some people may be a little behind. People have the capacity to catch p, so let them without ruining it.

Or maybe we should consider the Soap Opera for a minute. Plenty of new generations tune into Eastenders or Coronation street, or even to our American cousins General Hospital or Days of our lives, they don't watch through the back catalgue and find out who's killed who or what blew up when. They walk in blindly and find out as they go along or some friend or family (usually elderly) fill them in. So if people can do that with soaps why can't they do it with everything else?

It is now 04:43am GMT, let the debate begin.