It’s an almost universally accepted fact that spoilers are bad. It’s understandable that audiences want to keep the element of surprise for themselves when the expected story unfolds, especially when they’ve spent months or even years waiting for a release. However, in recent years, the level of anxiety and hysteria surrounding spoilers now often seems comically overblown. And it’s fueled a spoiler culture in which die-hard fans of certain franchises go to great lengths to keep their films from being spoiled.
But if they delve into this spoiler phenomenon, they may find out that science looks at things differently. They may simply find that the key to a deeper and more enjoyable connection to their favorite stories lies in accepting exactly what they have been taught to fear.
Spoilers are a fairly modern phenomenon.
Humanity has been telling fascinating stories for thousands of years. And for most of our storytelling history, we were hardly bothered by spoilers. In fact, ancient Greek tragedies often gave away most of their story, including the ending, in the opening prologue. And many historical novels and plays were based on historical tales that were already known to most people. However, there have never been any complaints about spoilers. Even before the 70s, spoilers weren’t considered much. In fact, in 1976, George Lucas ruined his entire upcoming film series. star Wars, discussing all the characters, plot elements and even the ending in startling detail.
One of the first uses of the word “spoilers” dates back to 1971, when an article titled “Spoilers” in National Lampoon Magazine revealed the denouement of popular detective films and novels. The article says: “Spoilers! What are they? Just a gimmick that ends in every detective novel and movie you’ve ever seen. Saves time and money!” However, the word “spoiler” peaked in popularity after the advent of the Internet, where it soon received a cautionary companion word, “alert”. On forums where favorite shows and franchises were discussed, polite netizens made it a habit to turn on a spoiler alert if their discussions revealed any important plot points or twists. And now spoiler warnings and the fear surrounding them have come to dominate much of the discourse surrounding the media.
Scientifically speaking, spoilers don’t make the story less interesting.
But for all the panic and anger that spoilers cause, scientific evidence suggests that spoilers don’t really spoil the story. On the contrary, they can increase the enjoyment of the viewer. In 2011, an experiment was conducted in which two different groups of subjects were given stories to read. For one group, the ending was ruined, while the other group enjoyed the element of surprise. At the end of the session, each group was asked to rate how much they enjoyed the story, and the group that knew the ending seemed to enjoy it more than the group that didn’t. And it was not just a one-time result.
The same experiment was carried out in three different genres - traditional detective stories, stories with ironic twists, and fiction with laconic resolution. And in all cases, spoilers enhanced the impression of the story. Of course, this doesn’t mean that everyone should look for spoilers or that they are always helpful, but it does mean that the fear of spoilers is often exaggerated. The notion that one plot reveal can “ruin” the whole story is simply wrong. Anyone with even a slight eye for pop culture knows that Darth Vader is Luke’s father even without watching the movie, but that doesn’t mean he can never enjoy Episode 4.
The study went on to show that when participants are aware of the ending, they don’t need to waste their energy trying to guess how the story will end. Instead, they can simply focus on the performance of the story, allowing them to enjoy the subtle elements that the creator has placed inside for the enjoyment of the viewer. While some stories do depend heavily on unexpected endings or twists and turns, the vast majority of stories are much more complex and multifaceted. A good story is more than just a destination; it’s about the journey, the characters, the themes and the emotions it evokes. Spoilers may reveal one aspect of a story, but they can never fully convey what makes it great.
Spoiler Hysteria destroys pop culture
If anything, the constant obsession with spoilers only reduces the collective enjoyment and acceptance of pop culture products. The harm of spoiler culture is that it greatly exaggerates the importance of the shock factor, pushing all other elements of the story into the background. Spoiler culture takes away the fascinating nuances of any art form and reduces them to simple raw information - which character dies? Who is the killer? Is it all a dream? And so on. Needless to say, this is not the way to enjoy history. Undoubtedly, in any story there is something more than just a shock factor. And if it’s the shock factor alone that makes the movie special, then it’s worth asking if the movie really deserves your viewing.
Since the discourse around spoiler culture has become so huge, it’s foolish to think that the inflated meaning of spoilers won’t seep into the writer’s room. This overemphasis on spoiler culture gives writers the wrong incentive to add unnecessary plot twists. It is this emphasis on the shock factor Game of Thrones’ The final season was infamous as the writers decided to scrap all character development and the show’s ground rules in favor of shock value. In fact, the best stories are the ones that can’t be spoiled just by spilling raw information. How would you ever spoil All Everywhere All At Once or Old people don’t belong here or even Titanic in this respect? You just can’t, and even if you did, it wouldn’t ruin anything for the viewing experience.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that the plot twists are cheap or that they don’t add any value to the film. But a good plot twist is one that sets a solid foundation and gives the viewer enough clues to hint at a big reveal. The end result makes the story even better when viewed in retrospect. This gives the viewer a powerful “Aha!” the moment when all the previously unsuspecting dots connect seamlessly in their head, causing a feeling of euphoria. That’s why films with grand openings like Sixth Sense And Fight club offer a separate kind of enjoyment from repeated viewing. As the audience already knows the surprise, they pick up on the seemingly obvious clues left by the story and smile with delight.
Source: Collider
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