Sep
17
I love spoilers. I almost always spoil movies months, if not years, before they’re released. I want to know what I’m getting into — “set expectations,” as they say. I don’t think I’m “ruining” the movie for myself. By that logic, you shouldn’t read any Harry Potter books before seeing the films. The filmmakers always leave something out, granted, but they don’t deviate too far from the source material. I’ll guarantee you that Dumbledore is not long for this world in the film version of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.”
Most people like to remain spoiler-free. I can see where they’re coming from. It was definitely easier to remain unspoiled before the Internet took off. But at the very same time, movies have generally gotten worse. Or, maybe I’ve either become more sophisticated or more of a schmuck…or both! At any rate, I’m of the opinion that it’s not the destination, but the journey. A movie’s ending should wrap things up nicely and have a surprise or two. Thing is, filmmakers almost always screw that up. It’s why DVDs sometimes have a half-dozen alternate endings. It’s practically interactive cinema, a lame choose-your-own-adventure approach to storytelling.
To hell with that. Do yourself a favor, and ruin the ending for yourself way ahead of time. Ruin every inch of the movie. Then go in and see how much better the experience is when you’re not only one step ahead of the movie, but the audience, too. You’ll enjoy the film more, knowing what’s coming. You’re no longer worried about whether you’ll like the movie. Instead, you’ve already prepared yourself well in advance for anything that’s problematic. And, sometimes, the spoilers come from an earlier draft of the script and have since been changed. So you’re in for surprises nonetheless.
Who could’ve seen that coming?
-Brad Lohan
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