Now playing on dirty.radio: Loading...

  Dirty Forums > treatment.

Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 04-17-2006, 03:07 PM
b.miller
Gentleman Loafer
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: austin, tx
Posts: 461
Send a message via ICQ to b.miller Send a message via AIM to b.miller Send a message via MSN to b.miller Send a message via Yahoo to b.miller
Spoilers and when to warn about them
So it seems like we have a debate about whether or not spoiler warnings in this forum are needed about once every other month. One side urges us to warn against ruining any surprises the movie has in store for us while the other side insists that we don't have to click on the thread if we don't want to.

The other side is, of course, wrong.

What happens if you want to read a thread to help decide whether or not you want to watch a movie, or if you're excited to see it but can't yet so you want to read what other people think. You should be able to do this without spoiling any potential enjoyment of your viewing experience.

There have been more than enough threads posted on here with *spoilers* in the title or at the head of individual posts to establish precedent. Typing the word "SPOILERS" just took me about a second. If you honestly don't care about giving away pertinent information about a film, think about the series of angry posts you will have to endure afterward instead.

Now that we have that established, you may be wondering what exactly constitutes a spoiler and when it's necessary to warn others.

I'll quickly define a spoiler as a piece of information that, knowing before learning within the context of the film, lessens any sort of surprise, twist, turn, climax, or character arc of a film. Any time you feel yourself about to type something that fits in this category, warn us.

Example: This movie is really great. Tom Cruise is so dreamy in it.

Non-Spoiler. Safe for everyone, even Scientologists.

Example: This movie is really great, even though the motel owner's mom is actually him in drag and i hate fags.

Spoiler! Knowing that Norman Bates cleans up after his own twisted murder rather than his homicidal mother's is a twist so big that it changed how people go to the movies forever! Knowing that ahead of time is just not cool.

So, now that you know what it is and when to use it, what's the "how"?

Well, there used to be a full-on spoiler tag that made the text the same color as the background, hence making it invisible unless you selected it. I'm not sure if/when that's on this incarnation of the site, but a safe alternative is the trusty all-caps *SPOILERS*, which you can put anywhere before your actual spoiler (NOTE: that's important. BEFORE the spoiler). If you've typed that, or any variant thereof ("spoilers ahead", "spoiilers - don't read", or even "Ahoy there be spoilers in this here paragraph" if you're not into the whole brevity thing), you're covered.

So, to sum up... it's OK to post about spoilers after you've seen a movie and want to talk about it, just warn those of us who haven't seen it yet beforehand. This applies to both threads and individual posts. Thanks!



The real question for debate is when is a movie old enough to not warrant spoiler tags. I would say, due to the international following on this site, that it should be at least a year past initial wide release.

example: Bruce Willis is a ghost.

OK now, not in 1999.
  #2  
Old 04-17-2006, 03:37 PM
cured
sikk
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: the \/\/
Posts: 554
Re: Spoilers and when to warn about them
well, the 2 "posters" in the thread about "The Inside Man" look to be a random flamer, and they have nothing better to do. I think most dirties understand the idea of how not to spoil a film...just a pity we had to deal with some riff-raff (I unfortunately read a little too much of one of the posts).

Just a *SPOILER ALERT*





and the spoiler hidden cleverly down somewhere here will give the reader enough time to stop and skip without the eyes being uncontrollably drawn to the all-tempting sekret sauce.

  #3  
Old 04-17-2006, 04:12 PM
adam
blue
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Vancouver
Posts: 873
Re: Spoilers and when to warn about them
One of the spoilers in that thread is actually misleading, and one isn't, so if you haven't read the whole thread, I don't think the movie is really ruined. Just don't keep reading it. And go see Inside Man. I enjoyed it.
__________________
everybody makes mistakes...but i feel alright when i come undone
  #4  
Old 04-17-2006, 04:19 PM
b.miller
Gentleman Loafer
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: austin, tx
Posts: 461
Send a message via ICQ to b.miller Send a message via AIM to b.miller Send a message via MSN to b.miller Send a message via Yahoo to b.miller
Re: Spoilers and when to warn about them
yeah it doesn't ruin the ENTIRE movie in the case of Inside Man, but it does tell you something you don't know ahead of time...

it just seemed to me that this type of stuff comes up frequently here on treatment... usually from new users so it might be useful to have something posted.
  #5  
Old 04-17-2006, 05:06 PM
grady
fac321
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 1,160
Re: Spoilers and when to warn about them
Perhaps it would be worth adding to keep this thread locked and also make a few additional points like searching before posting a new thread and things like that.
  #6  
Old 04-17-2006, 05:10 PM
Tom
BttKBtKt!
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 367
Send a message via AIM to Tom Send a message via MSN to Tom
Re: Spoilers and when to warn about them
Stickied, and the offending thread has been edited of all spoilers.

I'd be waving a ban stick right now if I could.
__________________
The sigs here suck.
Closed Thread

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 08:04 AM.


Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.