On spoilers.: seanan

On spoilers.

So Chuck Wendig posted his thoughts on spoilers recently. I agree with many of them. There are entire media empires I have chosen to have no truck with because they were spoiled for me so thoroughly before I could start embracing them, as often through the intent of the people doing the spoiling as by accident. There is a whole subculture on Tumblr dedicated to bootlegging new movies the day they hit theaters, so that the very first spoiler-laden animated .gifs can be created. It can get really, really frustrating. While I understand the joy of having an open and enthusiastic discussion of a thing you love, part of me goes "not everyone can go to every opening night, watch every show the second it airs, read every book in ARC form three months before publication." It's just not possible, and in those cases, spoilers can steal a lot of the joy in enjoying a piece of media.

(Not for everyone, naturally. I know people who adore spoilers, and find them an exciting roadmap to what's ahead. I am just as likely to go "welp, that was the greatest hits version of the story, let's go enjoy something new.")

But saying "spoilers are bad" and "spoilers are wrong" seems very...I don't know, privileged? At least to me. I have friends who cannot watch rape. Cannot watch any threat of sexual violence. Cannot handle the use of date rape drugs or other such devices in fiction. I know people who are so severely afraid of spiders that even spiders in movies are not safe for them, or who can't deal with certain forms of bodily harm (eyeballs, sure, but no fingers, no teeth...). Most, if not all, of these people have really good reasons for their fears, and if they don't go around wearing shirts that list them off for your comprehension and enlightenment, that's because it's nobody else's business.

So they seek out spoilers. They look for them everywhere, because a little loss of surprise is worth it for the comfort of knowing a piece of media is safe. I was lucky enough to see Thor 2 early (I love you, Disneyland Annual Pass), and while I refused, for the most part, to be a source of spoilers, one person asked me a very basic "this thing will be triggery for me, does this thing happen" question, and got an answer. Because my desire not to put spoilers out into the world is not stronger than someone else's need for mental peace. I knew why she was asking. Refusing to answer at that point would have been policing someone else's choices, and saying I knew what she needed better than she did.

I will absolutely roll with "involuntary spoilers are bad": I don't want to get spoiled for everything in the universe the second I turn on my computer in the morning. I will roll with "there is a statute of limitations," and while we haven't all agreed on what it is, I stop getting grumpy after a week or so for minor things (it takes longer for big, shocking, "this changes everything" revelations). But we have to remember that for some people, spoilers are safety and self-defense. Spoilers are what makes it possible for them to enjoy media, just like everybody else.

Sometimes, providing spoilers is the only kind thing to do.

codevixen

December 12 2013, 17:13:24 UTC 3 years ago

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I was pretty alarmed when I watched "Hemlock Grove" because of triggering reasons. I myself don't have those kinds of triggers, and it is labeled horror so I expected the violence, gore, nudity and sex, but there was absolutely no warning for the incest and rape scenes. I was left wondering what people who have those triggers can even *do* to find out what they can and can't watch comfortably.

seanan_mcguire

December 12 2013, 17:15:07 UTC 3 years ago

Mostly, ask trusted friends, and have people who understand that sometimes, you're just gonna get up and flee the room if there was no safe source for spoilers.

apocalypticbob

December 12 2013, 18:38:10 UTC 3 years ago

Oddly, I have also found that IMDB's Parent Guides pretty useful if I need to know if a movie has triggers before going. They aren't always there and accurate for the opening night of a movie, but for movies that have been out for a little bit, it's a good resource. My roommate has issues with rape portrayals, and a quick peek at it has enabled me to help her make informed decisions more than once.

full_metal_ox

December 12 2013, 23:08:50 UTC 3 years ago

Another useful film review site is Kids In Mind ; clicking on the "Complete Content Analysis" bar for a given film will yield extraordinarily detailed synopses that seem to be attentive to a vast range of possible squicks and triggers.

And this film review site addresses the specific topic of animal death, while doing their best to avoid spoiling other plot details: http://doesthedogdie.com/

(One rating category they could add--although it'd be a rare one--is "Fate of a pet is uncertain"; I'm thinking specifically of The Raven [1963], in which [ROT-13 for spoiler]: va gur pbhefr bs gur pyvznpgvp zntvpny qhry, gur ivyynva navzngrf fbzr fgbar tnetblyrf; gur ureb'f qrsrafr vf gb genafsbez gurz vagb phqqyl chccvrf. Nf vf fgnaqneq bcrengvat cebprqher sbe guvf xvaq bs zbivr, gur ivyynva'f pnfgyr fhpphzof gb synzvat Ynve Pbyyncfr hcba uvf qrsrng, naq jr arire svaq bhg jung orpnzr bs gur chccvrf; gurl qba'g nccrne va gur rcvybthr onpx ng gur ureb'f ubhfr. Gur gvghyne enira--npghnyyl n zntvpnyyl genafsbezrq uhzna--qbrf fheivir gur cebprrqvatf.)

December 12 2013, 23:12:36 UTC 3 years ago

Ma'am? I realize that I'm a stranger here (I wandered here from a link on LJ's Homepage), but I just posted a comment containing a couple possible helpful review sites and got spamblocked.

December 13 2013, 03:08:33 UTC 3 years ago

Posts with links automatically get screened. She usually unscreens them when she gets time.

December 13 2013, 18:16:52 UTC 3 years ago

All posts containing links or "gibberish" (which is how ROT13 is interpreted, which is why I discourage its use) are auto-screened by LJ, and will be manually unscreened when I have a chance.

December 13 2013, 19:40:40 UTC 3 years ago

My apologies; I've resumed that old USENET habit after failing to figure out LJ's revised white-out function. (I suppose I ought to have Lurked Moar to get a better sense of the lay of the land.)

December 14 2013, 16:34:16 UTC 3 years ago

It's okay! I love ROT13 when it's on a site that doesn't get pissed about it (LJ does, because LJ's anti-spam efforts are weird). All is well.

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