was the frequent refrain of River Song in Doctor Who whenever the Doctor tried to read her diary of the future. It’s fairly obvious that she was a mouthpiece for Steven Moffat, who dislikes spoilers intensely and that is indeed a trait common in many writers. The latest prominent writer who’s spoken out against the internet spoiler culture is Dan Slott, writer of the excellent Amazing Spider-Man which is due to end with issue #700, and replaced with Superior Spider-Man which is starting at issue 1. Stuff happens in #700 that Slott didn’t want spoiled, and sadly it happened. Unfortunately searching for “Superior Spider-Man” I saw said spoilers and no, I’m not going to repeat them because it would be a dick move to someone that’s worked very hard on setting it up for so long. I’ve gone and spoiled big Hollywood movies for myself before but there’s something a bit more personal about the comic book that would make me feel very bad if even for a second I thought about telling another soul about what I read on the net.
I am a massive spoiler hound, however, and on other occasions when I’ve heard about spoilers I’ve gone for them like the wind as I just have to know. If it’s a video game that I’m of two minds about, or a movie that I’m going to be spending £12.50 and two hours of my life sitting through, I ask myself “do I want to see that” as in the past I’ve been burned by things that were hyped as “awesome” and then turned out to be a complete and utter waste of my time. Searching for spoilers on the internet is a way of life for me, and although some creative types may disagree I’ve personally found it to be actually part of the entertainment experience. When I was waiting for the 2009 Star Trek reboot I obsessively searched out spoilers as I just needed to know the how/what/why of it all and I couldn’t wait. It was kind of like when I used to peek inside presents I found lying around before Christmas, and it just made me even more excited.
But, over the years, I’ve actually developed a spoiler etiquette. I used to just blurt out spoilers to all and sundry and I realized that I was being a dick to others. Not everyone enjoys going into a film knowing the key cool bits and excitedly anticipating how they’ll actually look – some just like to be surprised right out of the blue, and I learned to respect that. So here’s my attitude – I’m quite willing to “spoil” it for myself, although it’s not “spoiling” at all – just getting myself a fix before the main event. However, I now try and avoid telling others who may not want to know about it as to do so is just plain rude. And in the case of #700, after reading Dan Slott’s tweets and seeing how much effort he’s put into the storyline, it would be a dick move because as I said, it’s a little bit more personal than just spoiling Transformers: Dark of the Moon (spoiler: it’s bullshit).
So, what am I saying here? Basically, if you’re a spoiler hound, go right ahead. There’s nothing wrong with reading advanced info for yourself, and yourself alone. Just don’t be a dick and ruin it for those others who don’t like the idea of peeking under the wrapping paper before Christmas Day…
The Answer's 42 