So, I'm sure most of us has a morning Internet routine by now- that ever-growing list of sites we hit before (or during) our morning cup of coffee. This usually includes, at least for me, email, favorite blogs, maybe rottentomatoes.com, and a series of far more embarrassing sites.
You see, My name is Beth and I am a spoiler junkie.
For those of you who have yet to grasp the world of spoilers and what they entail, a definition: A spoiler is a tidbit of information released from cast, crew, producers, or PR reps about a television show (my crack), movie, or other celebrity gathering. These are hungrily gathered by fans, websites, and, most commonly, entertainment mag/site gossip columnists (the most popular being Auseillo at TV Guide and Kristin at E! Online (who is notoriously WRONG most of the time). Now, some people are "spoiler-free," that is, they do not wish to know ANYTHING about the piece of entertainment they are about to enjoy (which I would love to discuss in another post). And I respect that...I tried to go spoiler-free once. It lasted about 13 minutes.
Now spoilers are often misleading, in a number of ways. First, they are a way for the producers of a show to purposefully "leak" information in an absolutely free format that will spread like wildfire amongst rabid fans. Secondly, the spoiler doesn't even have to be true to spread, and everyone knows- even bad/untrue publicity is good publicity. Third, most of the shows that are "spoiled" have such intricate plots that spoilers RARELY spoil anything at all.
Nick and I have a number of shows that we rarely miss: Arrested Development, The Office, Scrubs, Lost, Alias, and Grey's Anatomy. The two amongst these that I CANNOT handle missing spoilers for are Lost and Alias. (By the by, don't get me started on what a mindblowingly phenomenal show Lost is. And, be very careful, those of you who fail to agree...Morgan...) :)
The best site for these two shows (and twelve other biggies) is www.spoilerfix.com. It is updated almost daily by three fans who watch each of the 16 shows they cover every week, and also confirm EVERY spoiler they post before posting. This is not to say that spoilers are sometimes wrong (see above), but that's half the fun!
I am admitting this to you all in hopes that I will walk away from my iBook free of the hold spoilerfix has on me, but, alas, I doubt this will happen. In fact, if I had to be honest, I think I am secretly trying to spread this disease to at least one of you...Hey, at least I admit it!
Happy spoilering!
6 comments:
Do not heed the Siren call, watch your television with Pure Heart, Clean Mind, and some healthy snacks. Or just watch TV on DVD, way after the spoilers have come and gone, like after the show has been canceled.
I accept spoilers on some shows because I don't really watch TV anymore. (Bad channel selection, really.) So I listen to my brother's updates on the fourth season of Smallville (I've seen the previous seasons on his DVD sets), and I can look for spoilers on that sort of thing.
For movies...I sort of hesitate between two opinions. Because for some movies, I don't want to be prejudiced too much in advance. For others, I want to be sure they aren't screwing them up.
I used to flip to the end of books and read the last few paragraphs. I've managed to break myself of that, and the end of a book is even more at your fingertips than the spoilers for TV shows. So if you WANT to break the habit, you CAN break the habit! (That's your motivational speech.)
I can not handle spoilers! It's just a personal preference-I can totally see how people get into them. I especially have this with movies. I'm the guy who you'll find plugging his ears and humming loudly when others in the vicinity are even mildly DISCUSSING a movie. They don't even have to be revealing plot points. They could just be sharing their opinions but for some reason I feel like it'll taint my movie experience. I don't like to know much more than a title, main actors and maybe a little about the plot. However I DO like trailers. I really like trailers. Amost as much as I like movies. Well maybe not as much as I like full length movies. I like them as much as I like short films. At least as much as I like one minute films...As far as TV goes I totally support Karl's comment about watching the show later on DVD-that's just good times: no commercials, watch at your leisure, the colorful packaging and clever disc design, interactive menus (by far the lamest "special feature" I have seen advertised on DVD's) will the benifits never end!
This I cannot believe! Putting the carrot on the string and waving it in front of us like that!
I will remain spoiler-free, but in the interest of moral mutuality I will admit that I do like to partake in trivia on occasion. Like for all the shows I really really like. Alluding to Karl's post above, we watch a lot of TV on DVD (that way you don't have to wait a week, people, and no one's trying to sell you anything) and you'd be amazed how the trivia, speculations, and even academic commentary (yes, it's true, on the topic of Buffy the Vampire Slayer--don't make fun of me) live on long after the show goes off the air.
I never said anything against Lost did I? (other than the "isn't it a great coincidence that only the attractive people survived the plane crash?") It's my Alias comments that have offended you more I thought. I actually haven't watched Lost, but since everyone looks at me like I just killed their mother when I say that, I guess I better look into watching it sometime.
By watching TV on video, DVD, or Tivo, you also avoid being the obnoxious person who gets invited to hang out with friends and say, "Oh, I would, but [such-and-such a show] is on, and I have to plan my whole life around that time slot!"
Post a Comment