Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Saturday, May 11, 2019

Spoiler Culture

Decent piece about how our obsessions with "spoilers" have ruined films and TV. We know that Hamlet dies, and yet we still watch the play.  For that matter, we all knew that the Avengers would undo the Snap, but we didn't know how.

I would add that the other thing spoiling our enjoyment of dramatic narratives is "fan theories."  If you have a theory as to what is going to happen in the final two episodes of Game of Thrones, you are almost certain to be disappointed when it doesn't happen. You've invested in an outcome and that outcome is almost certain not to happen.  Even if what happens is "entertaining," you will be letdown that your favorite pet theory didn't come to pass.  There were plenty of people who expected the Night King to win the Battle of Winterfell.  When he didn't (SPOILER!) that left them upset, regardless of how entertaining Arya's last second saving of the day was.

I love the internet in a lot of ways.  I love arguing sports with people around the country. I love that the world's store of information is a Google search away.  But in fundamental ways, the Internet is breaking us as a community.

UPDATE: As if on cue...

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