Attention Spoilerphobes: Shut the Hell Up
Movieline contributor Lindsay Wolfe goes deep on the new spoiler culture, including this totally immutable truth: "These days, TV's going the way of the family dinner. What used to unite whole households and even communities in discussion now has us fragmented. It's whenever you have a minute to spare, whatever you want to watch, and solitary. [...] If a show is lower priority, and is one you can't get around to watching for several weeks or months or perhaps several years after it airs, then just because you have the opportunity to watch these things at your leisure, please, for the love of god, do not assume the conversation is going to halt while you catch up." A-effing-men. [Brain Rot Defense]
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Fine. We live in a world of internet conversations and immediacy. We also live in a world of Tivo and DVRs. There is a way of appealing to both, like the simple, "Spoiler Ahead". It's unfair to assume because it's part of your job to be up-to-the-minute about every show/movie that every one else in the world is too.
I have to agree with TJO86. I kept getting real close to writing a huge diatribe to you guys at Movieline on this subject. I guess since the subject has been brought up, I write a somewhat short diatribe.
This used to be one of my favorite movie based websites (heck, I was even one of the persons who signed up for the email announcement on when the website would go live), but now I don't come as often... why? Cause I'm tired of finding out who got kicked off of Project Runway while I'm out of town working and don't have time to watch it live. How about not having a picture and announcing in the headline who it was? And I love your writing ST, but seriously? Thumbing your nose at people who have busy lives and telling them to quit complaining because we don't have time to be up to date at all times on every interesting show on tv? Thanks. That's awesome. And it makes a ton of sense... for the Movieline staff at least. How about just a "RECAP: Project Runway" headline with a generic logo for the picture and then if people want to read the recap they can click through. Too crazy? Or too sane?
Too crazy. That's not the way the Internet works. If nobody read or discussed the posts you are upset about, then we wouldn't write them. Instead, everybody reads them, comments on them, and thus the conversation continues.
It's not like we're attempting to be outwardly hostile to you or anyone else (and I _do_ appreciate your readership and compliments). However, let me just be unambiguous and say there is the world you live in and the world we cover. To the extent they overlap, awesome. To the extent they don't, there's not a lot we can do about that. Overall I think we're pretty conscientious bunch!
Dear MovieLine: Please refrain from including a synopsis below the headings of each of your entries. I prefer to scan the headlines at lunch and then decide which I will read in full once I come home in the evening. Reading these teasers detracts from my full enjoyment at the dinner hour.
Also, do not post comments until I have the ability to comment in the p.m. I often have a witty rejoiner only to discover someone else has already made a similar pithy remark.
--Thank you, Working Man on Whose Schedule Everyone Should Follow
My question to the spoilerphobes is when is the cut-off? What is the acceptable amount of time to elapse for us to have conversations about things we've watched in public and for Movieline or whoever to put whatever picture they want on the front page? A day? A week? A year?
As an early adopter/watcher, I use my common sense and absolutely try to be sensitive to other people - I'm not going to talk about the end of Mad Men in a room full of strangers for instance. But yesterday, I read a post on io9 about Funny Games, and commenters were bitching about that two-year-old movie being spoiled. Can we all agree that that is ridiculous?
I absolutely agree with you. In fact, there should be no timeline/cut off. You can begin talking about anything immediately. All I'm looking for is a "SPOILER ALERT" (which you mention is something that you are sensitive to in a crowd of strangers, so thank you for that). But is a spoiler alert too crazy to ask for? That and for the spoiler not to be in the headline of the article or in the photo of the article. If people complain that you are talking/writing about something "too early" then they are lame. "SPOILER ALERTS", people. That's all it takes to solve this problem.
i'm a spoiler phobe and i'm sorry that i have a social life and a job and can't watch tv and movies as quickly as the spoilerphobephobes.
Actually, there is something you can do... quite easily. Not put spoilers in headlines and give people a simple "SPOILER ALERT".
Ahhh. Now everyone can be happy.
You nailed us, M.C. I personally had to quit my 10 hour a day job and cut off all my friends so I could find six hours in a week to watch tv.
I remember a time, long ago when spoilers didn't even exist...at least not in television. Wanna find out who shot J.R.? Watch Friday at 10. Missed the series finale of M.A.S.H.?...I heard some town lost their power that night due to a storm and the citizens drew a petition to have CBS rebroadcast it. CBS told them they were shit out of luck. My point is this...with all the outlets available now to see something, if you are a true fan...YOU WILL SEE IT ASAFP! This pertains only to T.V. Movies are a whole other matter.
This. This is exactly what I mean.