Spoilers or knowing the ending beforehand

[MacGuffin]

I am having a major fight on another board concerning movies, but this applies to any form of storytelling - plays, TV, novels.

Someone posted a link to a website that consisted of recapping current movies so you get the entire plot laid out for you. Kind of like a Cliff's Notes for movies.

I replied that I thought such a site was horrible, and subsequently I am the only one that thought spoilers are a bad idea in general.

I came up with only two reasons to know a plot without seeing the movie first:

1) You never will see the movie, and you are mildly curious about it.
2) You are hypersensitive to "suspense" (this condition exists - certain people overreact to things like scary movies and roller coasters) and need to know what is going to happen so that the movie is enjoyable.

Otherwise I don't see the reason.

Does anyone else like spoiling the plot?

I once read that Stephen King hated people that flipped to the end of a book to see how it turns out. He fantasized about leaving out the ending and requiring people to prove they read the book and then he'd send them the ending. Put me in his camp.

[Melody]

According to some guy(s) and/or gal(s) somewhere, we enjoy movies that we know. So, if we see a movie that follows a familiar plot flow, we will enjoy it more than a movie that is very original in terms of plot. Just what some guy(s) and/or gal(s) have said.

However, you speak of more specific plotting ish things, and I agree with you. But, if I was the writer of a book or creator of a movie, I would not care whether a person did or did not know the plot before reading/watching it. It is their choice, and I am happy as long as they pay for it.

[Jezebel]

I not only hate spoilers, I can't stand missing the first part of a movie even if it's only like 30 min. When I watch a movie, I like watching it from beginning to end, and not knowing what's going to happen beforehand. But I don't care what other people prefer, as long as they don't spoil it for me.

Another reason to want to know the movie plot first could be that it is based on a book or a remake of another movie, so you already know the story. Maybe there is curiosity about how this movie handles it without having time to watch the whole movie yet. Or maybe it was a movie someone already saw a while back and they can't remember something about it. There could be other reasons, so I don't think it's a horrible idea, even though I don't like spoilers myself.

[file cabinet]

I would prefer to not be spoiled

[ohnoaninfp]

What I hate is when people spoil the ending of a movie for me. For instance my brother always gives away the ending to a movie when he or someone else is talking about it. There are only two reasons why I would want someone to tell me the ending. The first one is, if it is late and I am too tired to watch the rest or the movie. The second reason is if the movie is really bad and I don't want to see the rest of it.

[int]

Hmm...what kinda board? Of all the ones I attend everyone's pretty good about letting us know it's a spoiler.

I'd hate to know an ending without asking first.

[Strephonade]

I prefer knowing whether a movie will end well or badly, but this doesn't spoil things for me at all. Watching how things unfold can be more interesting than a particular ending. Reading through a brief, one-paragraph synopsis is something I tend to do on a regular basis to determine whether a movie might be watchable to me, especially if it's a mainstream film.

In any case, it's entertaining to immerse myself in another existence for a little while--to experiment with/gain insight into various perspectives.

[Hunter]

I like to know if a movie is GOOD before I go see it. Like how I didn't hear much of anything about Battlefield Earth and it sucked. I don't wanna know how it ends and what not, just if it sucks or not.

I'm a bit more sensitive when it comes to video games though. I don't want plot at all until I play it, but I love to speculate, unlike a friend I have who will curse at you and produce all sorts of unfriendly names to call you should you even attempt to speculate in his presence.

[shaytana]

I hate them, absolutely hate them. I don't watch previews or even read the back of a book. I will watch a movie trailer once except if it is for a movie that I know is coming out and really want to see (like Matrix 2 or 3) then I wont watch it at all. Most of the time the information you get out of those spoilers is enough to be able to predict how the movie will play out. Now the movie has become predictable and I wont enjoy it as much.

[MacGuffin]

[quote="Jezebel"]I not only hate spoilers, I can't stand missing the first part of a movie even if it's only like 30 min. When I watch a movie, I like watching it from beginning to end, and not knowing what's going to happen beforehand. But I don't care what other people prefer, as long as they don't spoil it for me.[quote]
I am that exact same way. I sometimes get suckered into watching a movie I didn't see the beginning of, but I eventually stop cause I want to see the whole thing.

[MacGuffin]

Hmm...what kinda board? Of all the ones I attend everyone's pretty good about letting us know it's a spoiler.

I'd hate to know an ending without asking first.
It is a site dedicated solely to a detailed, plot point by plot point, single page description of the enitre movie. A reacap of the entire plot.

I could understand being curious about a movie one does not want to actually spend the time/money to see.

But otherwise, why would anyone want the entire plot spelled out before they go see the movie?

[Pati]

I'd prefer to have the choice whether or not I want to know the ending. I don't like it when it is revealed on the sly and removes my choice.
Sometimes it is good to know a bit before buying a book or going to a movie. For instance, I declined to see the mover version Horse Whisperer because I had read the book (library copy, so glad I didn't buy it) and thought the author entirely ran out of steam at the end. What a cheesy ending! I won't go into it in case someone hasn't read it and actually might. The ending to the book was so stupid that they had to write a new one for the screenplay.
I'm glad no one spoiled the Sixth Sense for me. But OTOH we watch movies like Titanic or Lord of the Rings and most of us know how those end. LOL

[BritainOphira]

Spoilers bother me, mainly because I tend to spoil whatever it is myself. I know I will be miserable if I read the end of a book while I am only in the middle, yet I do it anyway. I've even caught myself reasoning, "Well, If I only read the last two sentences, it won't really matter because I won't understand what's going on anyway..." I've gotten better recently and finally learned that this practice only causes irritation, but I do occasionally relapse.

[int]

But otherwise, why would anyone want the entire plot spelled out before they go see the movie?

No. We went to see The Village this weekend and I'm glad I was the only one in our group that was uneducated.

Normally that's a no-no for me but it was good enough for me to be simply entertained for a change.

[Crazy]

It makes very little difference to me, especially with mainstream books and films, because about halfway through the movie I can already tell approximately how it is going to end. Very, very few movies I have seen have surprised me at the end.

Life is about the journey, not the destination.

[Birnam]

I also extreamly dislike spoilers, though I do sometimes peek at the end of a book (esspesially if it isn't all that good and I just want to see how it ends).

I wonder do the rest of you really enjoy books that put a major twist in at the end, something so unexpected, yet logical that you would never have guessed? One prime example (I won't tell you the title so you'll never know which book it was until you finish it): A whole slew of charecters in this book that I thought were normal, ended up being escaped intelligent experimental animals from some scientist's lab. This was very carefully disquised, but after it was revealed, I thought back and, yes they did act like animals in some very strange ways that I overlooked as poetic license.
This has got to be my favorite type of story- ones that don't follow the same predictable, well worn routes.