A long time ago, on a planet just under your feet, movie spoilers came few and far between. The only way you were thwarted in your attempt for blissful ignorance walking into a theater was by overhearing a conversation about the film.
With the advent of movie blogs exploding ten-fold over the past decade or so, it’s become increasingly difficult to sit in a comfy chair without a working knowledge of a film’s plot.
The most recent story I can tell you is with Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I wasn’t spoiled, but my brother was.
He was scrolling Facebook and came across a news story that peaked his interest, but when he clicked on the link, it came to an image from Star Wars, showcasing a picture of a theater screen; a focal turning point in the movie. Just above the image, the perpetrator wrote a sentence or two, including an expletive stating their happiness with the spoiling.
No warning, no disclaimer. Just a horrid joke that most likely ruined a generational-type experience.
This is not to say the Internet is solely responsible (Darth Vader body actor David Prowse spoiled the Empire Strikes Back reveal in a newspaper two years before it premiered). There are plenty of movie news sites that go out of their way to let readers know that spoilers are a scroll away.
Movie spoilers have become such the norm, that news organizations put tag lines at the top of posts, alerting to readers of spoilers in the body of the story. Upsets have become so rampant, that Google Chrome released a program users could install that would alert them if any Star Wars news graced the homepage they were clicking on. Too bad my brother never knew of it.
The handful of ignoramus’ that get kicks out of ruining the fun for everyone make the week or two before and after film premieres an anxious time for the filmophiles.
