Flave

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/...urrentPage=all

Commentary on how difficult it is to keep secrets in our wired world. He asks the same question many of us have asked: Why on earth would anyone want to read a spoiler and ruin the experience?

He mentions Lost only in passing:

BTW, despite the warning at the top of the article, there are no spoilers in the article (unless you're playing Super Mario Bros 2).

dgmayor

I just read this in the print mag yesterday actually. Good article. I like how even after saying you agree with his stance, you still ended up spoiling what game he was playing .

Flave

Well, I don't think the name of the game is a big secret. The spoiler is that he tells you how to solve the final level.

slop101

I agree with him. Though sometimes I don't mind spoilers, I never seek them out.

I think the problem is that the general public (AKA: Sheep) prefer comfort out of their entertainment and would prefer to know what they're getting into rather than be genuinely surprised or challenged. And for the most part, major studios know this and are complicit.

Check out this trailer:



You get the WHOLE fucking movie in that trailer - nothing is left out. But the people who'd go see it don't care, as they're gonna get exactly what they're expecting, as they should, since this type of movie was made for them.

The problem with JJ Abrams' movies and TV shows is that he has a sort of crossover fan-base comprised of those people who seek such comfort and the hard-core nerds that want to go in completely fresh.

GoldenJCJ

I will admit, in this day and age keeping their Cloverfield secret has to be one of the most - if not THE most - impressive feats in Hollywood in the last few decades. Whether you liked the movie or not those few months of not knowing anything about it were really great!

redrum

if someone told me how lost ended i would beat their moms ass

Groucho

This from the guy who publicized the big casting spoiler for Fringe all over the media.

calhoun07

If somebody told me what the last scene in Lost was, I doubt it would make any sense to me.

DthRdrX

This article is funny considering I've read two interviews in the last year from Lindelof and Cuse in which they threw out two relevant things pertaining to the final episode of Lost. Of course, I read them before I even knew what was coming at me. I'd bet they have stuff planned that we won't see coming for few miles away as well.

Here they are. Read at your own risk.

calhoun07

Seriously, not much of a spoiler. They already let us know that all questions will be answered by the end of the series (that pertain to the island itself...I don't know if they are going to answer questions fans want to see covered that they consider dropped, such as Libby's back story and such) so it's fairly obvious these two things are going to be covered before the series' end.

DthRdrX

It is if you think about what I wrote ...

calhoun07

Fair enough. But I still say it's the journey getting there that's going to be the best part. I can tell you in July I will be in another state and another city, but you don't know why or how I am going to get there. All Lindelof and Cuse threw out were two teases in where they are going in the journey to the end of the series. We still don't know how or why it's going to happen, though. That's the main part of it that's not spoilerized.

JTH182

Wow, I'm surprised he didn't start crying.

That long winded rant sounded like nothing more than the ramblings of a bitter man-child who couldn't beat a video game I beat when I was 8.

Some people like to find out spoilers and some don't. Boo fucking hoo.

And yet, somehow, the world goes on.

Unclejosh

Personally, I don't mind spoilers. For me it isn't so much about "what" happens so much as how that "what" is executed. I frequently read scripts in advance of seeing movies and always watch previews for next weeks TV show. While I generally don't seek TV show spoilers out, it doesn't bother me in the least if I find how it advance an upcoming plot point. And I will always click on any spoiler tagged info on these threads. I am probably in the minority though. None of my friends agree with me. HAHA

FatTony

That pretty much sums it up for me. Discussions about spoilers always bring to mind The Sixth Sense for me. The first time I saw it I thought it was awesome, but any time I've watched it since (or tried to, rather) I've hated it. It's a movie whose quality hinges entirely on the twist ending. I'm not saying I would have wanted the ending spoiled for me, but I have learned that I generally don't care for twist storytelling because the twist often overshadows the rest of the story.

DthRdrX

I hated the movie, but that was because I figured out the twist during the first five minutes. I agree 100%.

DarkestPhoenix

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuure you did.

DthRdrX

reubs82

Maybe he could use his patented form of time travel or skipping ahead two years in order to prevent this from happening...

Goat3001

It's been awhile since I've seen the movie but...



Also the big twist of the movie had nothing to do with the end. If you went into the movie without any knowledge of the film whatsoever the twist would have been finding out about the kids gift.

rfduncan

Well but didn't that make the last few episodes more interesting if you knew it? The guy this past week who accuses Bell of being responsible for all the stuff they're been seeing then claiming that he himself is Mr. Spock? The joke is better if you know who is playing Bell. Also in the previous episode when you hear the voice... surely people would have derived that even without the spoiler.

I think the point is that those who "like to find out spoilers" use that knowledge to purposely ruin things for people who DON'T. And that just sucks. I don't care if you're one or the other, but to deliberately spoil something for someone who doesn't want to know is just sucky. A bell cannot be unrung.

Jimmy James

Well put. I have a dozen half-entertaining ideas floating around my head at any given time, but I couldn't pull them off for shit. The people who can pull stuff off are the people I'll watch anything from. The ones who can't won't get my eyeballs no matter how cool their premise looks.

I seek out spoilers from time to time because I like reading about where something is going, using my imagination to play it out in my head, and seeing how the professionals do it.

Michael Corvin

To be fair, wasn't Fringe still on the bubble for renewal at that point? I doubt spoilers have anything to do with it. That was clearly a publicity stunt to get as many viewers possible in the final episodes.

What's worse are the people that pass off spoilers as 'theories.'

Jimmy James

You are right, but I think there is room for criticism on the other side. Some people (mostly in the context of genre shows) believe that all advance info should remain strictly unrevealed. That's just nuts. Sweat the important stuff, not what reality TV guest will be making a sweeps-month cameo.

Jimmy James

Yep. That's just lame. Craving adoration of people on the Internet who care that you "guessed" right about some show is pathetic.