Film Spoiler Etiquette?

Jon Starr

Jon Starr

Veteran
Something has been bugging me lately. I've noticed a few people don't put a spoiler warning before any spoilers they may be revealing in a discussion thread. I'm not singling people out, and I'm not saying they're wrong to do so, it's just brought some concern.

This is a film DISCUSSION board. As my film studies teacher once said "if you're discussing films, you're going to run into spoilers. You can't discuss a film without assuming the people have already seen it." So it's perfectly understandable and they have every right to talk about any big plot twist or event occurring the third act.

But I, as well as many DVXusers, go onto these boards for reviews. I trust a lot of people on these boards for their opinions on worthwhile films. Also, we tend to view these threads for a long time before the release for previews about the film, trailers, news events, etc.

Unfortunately 2 films have already been spoiled for me. I would scan a newly created thread, or old thread on opening weekend/week and a major plot point, or even the ending, had been revealed to me in a quick and simple line. "I knew he was *insert plot twist*!"

I thought it was a given to put "spoiler" before anything that may spoil a film... but some individuals don't seem to be aware of this. Also new members may not be used to this idea. So should we have some sort of etiquette put into place? Maybe even a guideline/rule? How should we go about avoiding these problems? Maybe create a "discussion" thread and a "Review/preview" thread? Put up a sticky?
 
It can be troublesome and hard to avoid, I have taken to not looking at movie threads on here until I have seen the movie, or if it is a long way from release.


@@@@@could be potential but most likely not SPOILERS for the sting, fight club, soylent green, sixth sense and murder on the orient express, but not really just giving away that there is some thing to give away@@@@@@@@@@@

I've also had many movies ruined for me by commentaries and special features, lawrence bender gives away a key plot point to the sting in the reservour dogs features. the worst one for me was on the fight club commentary Fincher is talking about how Rossie O'Donnell or someone gave away his twist like a day after it was released, but then he proceeded in the same sentence (I think) to give away the end to murder on the orient express, oh and don't get me started on soylent green and popular media (simpsons, futurama) that movie was ruined before I was 10.

But it would be nice if people or boards would adopt some universal etiquette towards these things, as we all only get one chance to experience a movie for the first time, and i hate when that experience gets tainted by another.

side note: this is my issue with some of these movies though, if you hinge too much on one twist and if that is revealed it can ruin the movie, the sixth sense was given away to me as well, and as a result of that I thought it was a horrible movie... could just be me but the whole experience was tarnished, perhaps this should be a lesson to screenwriters trying to utilize the twist.
 
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I personally think if a movie is any good, knowing the end shouldn't matter. Everyone knew the ending to All the Presiden't Men. And if all a film has going for it is a twist ending, I'm not interested (insert M. Night Shyamalan joke here).
 
Very true done right it shouldn't matter, hinging your whole movie on a twist however is not a good idea.
 
Batutta said:
I personally think if a movie is any good, knowing the end shouldn't matter. Everyone knew the ending to All the Presiden't Men. And if all a film has going for it is a twist ending, I'm not interested (insert M. Night Shyamalan joke here).
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I throw my hat in with this. IMO if a film is ruined because a plot point is revealed, it's a gimmicky film. I think we should be able to discuss films on a filmmaking forum as openly, honestly, and directly as possible without any distracting hoops. If you're in a thread for a particular film, you're there at your own peril in regards to being 'spoiled'.
 
Yes but the give away can seriously effect a good movie still, for example murder on the orient express, soylent green, and the sting, while watching these no matter how hard I tried I could not forget where everything was going and as I said it effected my viewing experience and took me out of the story. Now it didn't make them bad movies in my eye like sixth sense, though it did seriously hamper my viewing experience of these movies.
 
S. Matthews said:
Yes but the give away can seriously effect a good movie still, for example murder on the orient express, soylent green, and the sting, while watching these no matter how hard I tried I could not forget where everything was going and as I said it effected my viewing experience and took me out of the story. Now it didn't make them bad movies in my eye like sixth sense, though it did seriously hamper my viewing experience of these movies.
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Well, why stop there then? Surely, some trailers contain important plot and character points and can be considered 'spoilers'. How about interviews with cast and crew? These have been known to contain 'spoilers' too. So right there you're hacking out any pre-discussion in order to dance around other people's sensibilities. Why else would anyone read and post in a thread pre-release at that point other than to say, "Whoa, I think I really want to see this movie even though I won't see the trailer"?

OK, so a film is released and people want to talk about it. Why would anyone one who wants to remain 'spoiler free' want to read that thread? To find out if it's worth seeing? Fair enough, but there are plenty of other better ways to find that out. If people are going to talk about a film they've seen, surely that must involve plot to some degree. So what's not a spoiler, then? And when is the cut off date of when a film is free to talk about?
 
Film discussions do just that - discuss the film. You cannot have a discussion about a film without going into story details. Consider any thread with a movie title as its title to be a spoiler thread.
 
trailers do give away far too much... but you seem to be misunderstanding me, as I said in an earlier post I am very careful not to read threads regarding new movies/ movies I have not seen as spoilers can and will happen i have no problem with that.

Understand these are my opinions on the subject as I am very picky about how and when I view a movie or show, I prefer to go into it without any knowledge or info and go for a ride, but that is just me and very hard to do, so I understand if others do not do this as well.

all I was saying is that yes there are spoilers everywhere, the OP is the one with the issue of it on these boards not me, I have an issues with spoilers in general especially from people complaining about others spoiling their stuff while simultaneously giving away another movie (I can't stay mad at Fincher though..)

and yes for movies I really like, and know I'm going to see I will avoid trailers and all info about it, that's just me though and a few of my friends. thing is some people are not very slick and tend to give away movies without even directly stating it, so as I stated I tend to avoid these conversations wherever possible when regarding a movie I'm excited about.
 
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S. Matthews said:
trailers do give away far too much... but you seem to be misunderstanding me, as I said in an earlier post I am very careful not to read threads regarding new movies/ movies I have not seen as spoilers can and will happen i have no problem with that.

Understand these are my opinions on the subject as I am very picky about how and when I view a movie or show, I prefer to go into it without any knowledge or info and go for a ride, but that is just me and very hard to do, so I understand if others do not do this as well.

all I was saying is that yes there are spoilers everywhere, the OP is the one with the issue of it on these boards not me, I have an issues with spoilers in general especially from people complaining about others spoiling their stuff while simultaneously giving away another movie (I can't stay mad at Fincher though..)

and yes for movies I really like, and know I'm going to see I will avoid trailers and all info about it, that's just me though and a few of my friends. thing is some people are not very slick and tend to give away movies without even directly stating it, so as I stated I tend to avoid these conversations wherever possible when regarding a movie I'm excited about.
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Whoa, I wasn't attacking you. Just bouncing off what you said for one of my many stream-of-consciousness rants. It's sorta my thing.
 
Erik Olson said:
Film discussions do just that - discuss the film. You cannot have a discussion about a film without going into story details. Consider any thread with a movie title as its title to be a spoiler thread.
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Fair enough, but we use this board for more than just discussion. We use it for reviews, we use it for previews before it comes out (or during). It's more than just discussion after the fact.

Or am I wrong about that? Should we just no longer review films for others, or preview a film before it's release?
 
I agree with Jon. Wouldn't hurt to have some sort of spoiler function.

It's not just about ruining films because of twists, it's because of ruining the emotional journey you're going through that's set up by the filmmaker from the frame the screen goes black before the company logo to the credits song.

As filmmakers, we should appreciate that.

Personally, I never read the synopsis on the back of the dvd cover because they usually give away too much of the plot.
If it's a movie by a director like Darren Aronofsky I don't need to watch the trailers, read a review or know the premise. I can just go in and experience the hell out of it. Unless someone's spoiled it for me by telling me too much.

If it's a hit or miss director, I read a few reviews by critics I trust and listen to the word on the web. So I go in and check threads on forums like this. If someone decides to spoil a film six months before it opens where I live, that kind of ruins the experience and films opening here six months after the US premiere is not uncommon at all. That's how films are distributed.

So what's wrong with flagging for spoilers if you want to discuss important plot twists? Why not do that?
 
All we need is this at the start of a spoiler post, not too much to ask I think; SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a huge UFC fan and the worst thing in the world to me is a poiler for an event.
 
tmnt said:
All we need is this at the start of a spoiler post, not too much to ask I think; SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I think it's that simple too. I just think it should at least be TOLD, say in the guidelines. It's been an unwritten rule on these forums, but obviously some aren't aware of this unwritten rule.

And I agree with Jawa. It doesn't matter if the film still holds up with the end revealed. I knew the ending of the 6th sense before I viewed it, and to be honest it didn't have the punch I hoped for. The Usual Suspects wouldn't have been as good if the ending had been revealed.

Mind you these are two movies with twist endings, but I think the same applies for other films. We watch for the ending, to find out what happens. It may still work by knowing the ending, but it will never be as good of an experience. This is why we despise predictable films.
 
I get exactly what Matthews is getting at, The worst thing that can happen to a film lover is having a great movie with an incredible twist ruin by someone before you see the movie. This may not apply to you techies out there who don't appreciate story but those who do can appreciate a good plot twist. Yes if a movie is great, the plot twist shouldn’t affect the greatness of the movie but it sure adds to a wonderful experience you will never get back because like someone mentioned, you as the viewer only get to experience that once. Can you imagine if someone gave away that twist at the end of Se7en? I would go nutz.

I really enjoyed that movie, and the fact that I got to the end without knowing that big revelation, it was just the icing on the cake of a great movie. Now, I can still watch the movie today knowing that twist and still enjoy it the same as the first time I saw it, but that first experience was something incredible. And I know Se7en was a book first, but I didn't read the book.

But this Forum has been really good on Spoiler Alerts in my opinion, I don't think I've ever had a movie ruined for me by reading these threads, though I tend to stay away from the threads the first 2 weeks a movie comes out. If it's a movie I don't care about, I read the threads but if it's something I truly want to see then I avoid Threads.

Most of my Spoiler experiences have happened with random knuckle head friends and co-workers. Though I do favor a Spoiler Filter, I think we all should have common sense in here to put SPOILER ALERT and our discussions being that we are all filmmakers and not just film watchers.
 
capitalP said:
I know Se7en was a book first, but I didn't read the book.
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This is Off Topic as hell, but Se7en was never a book. It was a spec script by Andrew Kevin Walker that he wrote while working for the production company that made Brainscan instead of writing a movie they wanted him to write called Abusement Park about rides that eat people.

Irrelevant to this discussion, but still funny. :)
 
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