Today at lunch we had a big crowd, nine of us, so the discussion topics were broad and we ended up talking about spoilers. A spoiler is a key bit of plot information that can ruin a movie or book if it is learned in advance.

The discussion was about how long should someone expect others to avoid mentioning spoilers around them. Several of us had seen Serenity and were being careful not to reveal the spoiler. (BTW, you shoudl go and see Serenity. It's a great movie and you won't be disappointed.)

None of us could find the heart to support spoiler queens, but a variety of opinions abound.

Several different viewpoints were mentioned:

No Spoiler Freedom - This silly notion was only supported by one truly strange lunch participant. He believes that spoilers shoudl flow freely and makes no effort to conceal spoilers form others. Obviously a fringe belief.

Once a film is out of theaters - Also mentioned as a 'three month rule'. The concept that people be given a chance to see the movie without worry of spoilers. Once it's no longer in theaters, it's open game for discussion. " I mean, you had your chance, right?" Two people held this as correct.

One month after DVD release - A variation on the out of theater viewpoint. The idea here is that it s understandable to miss a film in the theater, but once it's on DVD, you have a month to buy/rent it before the spoilers rain down upon you. Two people thought this true.

No blanket policy - The idea here is that each situation warrants it own spoiler rules. An action film and a who-done-it need different spoiler policies. Three people (including me) felt this to be most reasonable.

That left one person undecided. Our co-worker Jasmin is from Germany and many of our idioms (like spoilers) don't make sense to her. I tried to explain. Here is the rough transcript.

Jasmin: What is the spoiler?
Michael: Well, it's like revealing the secret of a movie before it's time.
Jasmin: Huh?
Michael: It's like finding out that Darth Vader is Luke's father before seeing Empire Strikes back...
Jasmin: Darth Vader is Luke's father?
Michael: You didn't know that?
Jasmin: No...
Others at the table: *gasp*
Michael: But, umm, err. See I just spoiled that for you.

As you can tell, spoilers are a tough thing to deal with in groups. Jasmin's lucky I didn't reveal something important like the fact that soylent green is people...

So loyal Cruft readers, what are the proper spoiler rules in your humble opinon?

Posted by michael at October 10, 2005 09:40 PM