Spoiler Or Not A Spoiler, That Is The Question

I recently wrote about The Night Manager that aired in the UK earlier this year and it's starting up on the other side of the pond so I decided to investigate what the Americans think of it. When I say investigate what I mean is that I was procrastinating at work and wandered onto IMDB. I didn't end up getting much information about their thoughts and feelings towards the series but what I did witness was a lot of people complaining about the amount of spoilers on the boards. I've had this discussion with friends extensively in the past and actually wrote about it a little in regards to Game Of Thrones, but can you really call information about something that has aired/been released a spoiler?

In the past regions have had to wait months/years for foreign television shows/films and we've come a long way since then, sometimes we only have to wait a day after the country of origin airs it. It may not seem like a long time but that's still an extra day for the episode to be spoiled with memes, message boards, friends Facebook posts etc. but do you have a right to get mad because it's spoiled the episode for you? In short, no. When an episode/film/book has aired or has been released all the information is out there and no longer a spoiler. It may not feel fair that you don't have access as early as others to eliminate the reveals you wanted to wait for but sometimes it can be avoided so the threat of spoilage can be diminished.

First of all, you don't have to click websites links which relate to something that you've not yet caught up on because that's idiocy. There will likely be some information on there that's cropped up in the latest outing of whatever it is that you tell yourself you're trying to avoid. Why would you go ahead an knowingly read up about something that you don't want to know about? You need to use your common sense, don't be a fool. Also, you could avoid social media if you follow accounts associated with whatever media you are ingesting or simply unlike/unfollow them. I tend not to go onto social media that often now but when I do I make sure it's not around the time that [insert any show] airs an episode to avoid the risk. I'm being a little harsh though because even if you do avoid them there's never a guarantee, the people that are ridiculously annoying are the ones that go onto message boards and decide to cry spoiler constantly.

A message board is there for people to discuss matters, and if it's a message board for a television series then what do you think they'll discuss? Recent events that have occurred of course! IMDB is a website that allows spoiler tags but there is no need to be disgruntled if internet dwellers opt not to use them because they don't have to, they are just using the boards for what it is made for. Complainers in the camp against the board residents that are using the websites appropriately don't see that they probably partake in the practice that they are against, if a show premiered in the States first would garner discussions before it's premiere in other regions and wouldn't get half the complaint. Hypocrisy at it's finest. When you go onto a message board without being up to date on whatever it is that you're indulging in then don't complain if you come across spoilers.

That being said when a viewer decides to research the show/film and comes across tidbits that may be coming up, please use your spoiler tags. You can't just assume that it is common knowledge and people will have a right to be upset with you. I say this from experience, the amount of times I've been spoiled without intending to is ridiculously high and that's because of people who get a little too excited and tend to not give a damn about other viewers. Due to this I no longer frequent message boards and engage in discussions as I used to which is quite annoying because none of my friends are as odd cool as me and don't keep up to date.

In short, all internet dwellers world wide should just stop being dicks. Also if your friends spoil something for you on purpose then always assume you can thump them.

Live Long and Blog!