Over at the r/AskReddit area, I posed the following question:
What's your opinion of movie reviewers who include spoilers in their reviews?
The answers I've gotten so far, misspellings and all:
1.
I think people get entirely too worked up about “spoilers”. Unless it’s an actual twist that’s means to be unexpected, knowing where a story is going doesn’t ruin my enjoyment of it.
When I went to see Titanic, I always knew the ship was going to sink at the end. Didn’t “ruin” my enjoyment
Reply: I agree. The Sixth Sense had a spoiler, The Matrix did not.
2.
Well what do u rlly expect they are reviewing the film ?
3.
Depends.
Posting Kill Bill spoilers most certainly won't ruin the experience, because the spoiler is the name. Bill dies and was always going to. You watch for the journey to that end, the same way for Titanic.
A TV show such as Midnight Mass (not a movie but still applies), yes you will ruin it. It's a mystery, the joy is being in the dark and slowly finding out what is actually going on.
Not all films/shows are about plot twists, mystery and suspense, so not all films/shows have major spoilers. But the ones that do, you'd be best not to mention it (unless it's a warning to triggering topics; suicide, self harm, abuse, traumatic stuff).
But then what's the point of the review? Is it to give people a vague idea of what to expect, or is it to spark discussion? Gotta take that into account too.
4.
I love spoilers but i never check review’s for movies
5.
As long as it's labeled as a spoiler review, it's fine.
6.
There should be a respected, unspoken regulation regarding this. In my opinion, if it’s been at least a month or two if released via streaming before spoilers. For theatrical release, 6 months or whenever it’s been on stream for a couple weeks.
Edit: I just kinda threw these numbers out there, but my point is there should be some kind of agreed upon unspoken code that everyone respects and adheres to. Kinda like, “don’t stick your bare feet through the airplane seat.”
7.
I don't read movie reviews 🤷♀️ I like to form my own opinion about a movie because people have different tastes.
Reply: So how do you choose your movies?
Reply: By seeing the title of the movie, thinking that looks interesting and watching it to form an opinion of it 🤷♀️ if it's shit then I'll turn it off and find something else
Reply: Interesting. So you don't go to theatres? It's just if it is on TV? Do actors or directors influence the decision?
Reply: Of course I do but I don't need to read a review before I go to see a movie. The reviews could say that the movie was terrible but I might like the movie 🤷♀️ as I said, people have different tastes.
Reply: Sure, I get you. Just interested in what informs your choices instead.
Reply: Movie trailers help me make a decision but they aren't reviews
So that's the conversation I sparked thus far. Remarkably civil. I usually label my reviews with a spoiler warning, but sometimes, I forget to do so.
The replies aren't from me, in case that wasn't clear.
I'm in the camp of appreciating the heads up if there are spoilers. Then I can decide whether to proceed or not. Most of the time I do. As the Reddit folks noted, it probably doesn't make a difference anyway for most films.
ReplyDeleteOne of the above comments touched on this, but it depends on the point of the review. The root of the problem is that the term "review" actually covers a wide variety of writing with possibly conflicting aims.
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand, you have reviews that are trying to help people decide whether or not they want to see a film. These reviews generally don't contain spoilers and are usually accompanied by a rating of some sort, whether that be a point rating or a simple thumbs up/thumbs down.
On the other hand, you have reviews that are more in-depth examinations of films and the themes and issues they deal with. On the rare occasion that I write a review, it is almost always of the latter type, mainly because I don't care what other people do with their time and am more concerned with hashing out my thoughts on a given work. My reviews--and reviews of this type in general--almost always have "spoilers."
The other side of the coin (also mentioned above) is whether a given film can even be "spoiled." You can certainly reveal details about any film, but will that make the viewing experience worse? I think I could safely tell you that Andy escapes at the end of The Shawshank Redemption and you would still be able to enjoy the film just as much as if you hadn't known that going in. The last review I wrote (if I remember correctly--and, yes, I am too lazy to go look it up right now) was for Free Guy, and that review contained massive "spoilers." But would they ruin a viewer's experience of the film? I don't think so. Like The Shawshank Redemption, Free Guy wasn't the kind of film that can be ruined in that way. I think I might actually prefer this type of film to the type of film that can be spoiled, because the latter relies on some twist about which the filmmakers are trying to audiences in the dark. That often ends up feeling kind of gimmicky to me. Not always, of course--detective films, for example, pretty much always work this way--but often.
So, to bring this all together, I think a more nuanced approach--rather than always giving "spoiler warnings"--would be for a reviewer to use his or her judgment. You might say, "This review reveals important details about the plot of the film, but I don't believe that knowing them will ruin your enjoyment of the film. You make the call." -or- "This review reveals important details about the plot of the film that will absolutely change your viewing experience; if you intend to see this film, I would advise you to do so before reading this review." This sort of nuance would be more helpful, I think, than just a blanket "spoiler warning."