Ruining Shows with Spoilers

[Greenday]

On another forum, we have a large group who enjoy discussing The Walking Dead. This one asshole has come in and will post spoilers. The other day, he posted a picture showing the demise of one of the main characters. Tonight, right after the show, he ruined what is going to happen in the finale. There's no forum rules against it, he's not posting spoiler alerts, and even though I reported his latest spoiler, I doubt the crappy mods will do anything about it.

The Walking Dead is the ONLY tv series I watch anymore and it's being completely ruined for me.

[Jaden]

I feel ya, except in my case I keep seeing a show ruined for my friends. I've read the entirety of Song of Ice and Fire multiple times, but for various reasons like time and lack of attention span, most of my friends won't buckle down to read it. Still, they love the show, Game of Thrones. So even though I know what's gonna happen, I am very careful about spoiling things for them. Too bad the same can't be said about one friend of mine, who even though he knows they aren't "caught up" as far as how much further the books are than the show, will gladly spout out spoilers in their presence and not even care. It pisses me off a lot.

[anakhouri]

Spoiling things is a serious dick move, especially when it is brand-new (an FB friend posted an Avengers spoiler THE NIGHT IT CAME OUT). And obviously you should try to keep it to yourself if you're around friends who don't want to be spoiled.

But in the case of AGoT/ASoIaF, the first novel came out nearly 20 years ago. And while there are differences in the show (what did they do to my Hound?!) the series follows the original story closely. So I can understand people being accidentally spoiled pretty easily. I did it myself on Facebook to someone; at that point the first season had been over for more than three months, and since most of my friends have read the series, I figured it was fine. Still, these days I am more careful about what I post.

But as I understand it, TWD has diverged drastically from the graphic novels' plot. In this case I would call it an original story and spoiling it would almost have to be on purpose, and thus a douchebag thing to do.

[Jaden]

If it was accidental, I wouldn't care, really. But this is just careless, coming from a guy who knows they want to remain spoiler-free and just doesn't seem to give a fuck. Since my other, GoT loving friends have actively avoided information from the upcoming seasons that anybody who read the novels would know, it's a pretty dick move, I think.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

One of my friends has developed the habit (that we all are appreciative of) of going,

"Oh, I'm about to say a spoiler... do you care?"

or

"Oh, spoiler.. uhm... are you going to bother reading the book/seeing the show?"

I have answered yes and no to both forms of these questions, but the fact that he asks first is good. He used to just spoiler without meaning to (he's a bit socially awkward), so training himself like that was really nice.

[Peppergirl]

Is there a way to block the dickhead so that you don't see his posts?

Do people call his ass out on it?. Then again, it sounds like he gets off on it.

[Greenday]

Is there a way to block the dickhead so that you don't see his posts?

Do people call his ass out on it?. Then again, it sounds like he gets off on it.

There's no way to block people. A few other people also called him out on it, but it looks like the mods aren't going to try to stop it.

[Rapscallion]

Only advice I can give is avoid the forum the day or two before the show, watch it, go to the forum and catch back up on the posts.

If the mods won't do anything, you'll have to do something.

Rapscallion

[Greenday]

If the mods won't do anything, you'll have to do something.

Track him down, teach him why not to spoil my shows?

[Rapscallion]

I was thinking more along the lines of things that don't get you arrested.

Rapscallion

[Ginger Tea]

The net made it worse for us in the UK who might be getting season one when America is already on season three of any given show.

It's always been like that, movies come out at one point 6 months later (a whole year for seasonal themed movies) now about 3, but the home video was out by the time we got it on the big screens, but that was a bonus for the bootleg scene, you couldn't smuggle in a 90's camcorder as you can a phone sized HD cam now, but even if someone did, who would pay for a cam when you could get an NTSC to PAL conversion.

So unless you avoid at all costs forums and websites for the fan base, if you are a season behind due to them not optioning the rights abroad for a while, you are forever going to be confronted with spoilers.
Maybe not in your face posters, just casual remarks, hell I was put off watching 'Thrones which I have season one on DVD since chrimbo, it's still on my todo list, but lower now due to a thread on the escapist about what episode killed your viewing of a show.
Knowing eff all about the show really, I was only piqued about it due to a YoGPoD with the guy who plays Hodor and and Lewis and Simon talking about it, that and Simon's Sean Bean impersonations being funny (and bad), but I digress.
The bit that killed it for me was skimming through said thread that was mostly bitching about BSG and the finale (hard to quit a show on the final episode) someone said "As soon as Sean Bean's head was shown on a pike, I only watched that show for him.", well in a way that was my only reason too, I might find more of it enjoyable to stick with till the end of the box set, but if it doesn't grab my attention save for Bean, knowing he dies early in the 2nd (I think) why bother.

Adaptations and semi faithful remakes are spoilers abound, so you know what to expect going in if you have read/seen the original.

Myself I got Pratchett books as hand me downs and I gave up reading them as the first two or three books had all the good jokes spoilt by my brother and father discussing them after my brother finished reading it.
I did not laugh once during those three books, it's hard to when the punch line has been spelt out to you before hand.

[BlaqueKatt]

I seriously don't understand how people can be so emotionally invested in a television show that "spoiling it" is a reason to threaten violence.

IT. IS. A. TELEVISION. SHOW. NOT. A MATTER. OF. GREAT. IMPORTANCE.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

I seriously don't understand how people can be so emotionally invested in a television show...

Then you've never seen a truly great TV show or read a truly great book.

If the writer is doing his or her job, you will become emotionally invested in what happens and will cry, grow angry, or run through any other emotions that the writer wants you to.

[SongsOfDragons]

I seriously don't understand how people can be so emotionally invested in a television show that "spoiling it" is a reason to threaten violence.

IT. IS. A. TELEVISION. SHOW. NOT. A MATTER. OF. GREAT. IMPORTANCE.

QFT.

It ain't half amusing to watch, though.

If I come across a spoiler for something I'm watching/reading, it makes me more excited about it, because I want to see how it gets there and the context in which the spoiler's event occurs!!

The most recent one I saw, about this time last year, was the twist in ADOD (the fifth book in ASOIAF) - I was all and I think I read until about 3am just to get to that point to see how it happened. I wasn't disappointed.

[fireheart17]

The net made it worse for us in the UK who might be getting season one when America is already on season three of any given show.
.

Pretty much the same case over here too. TV networks are trying to combat this slightly by "fast-tracking" shows over from the US, but not for every show. Some shows, such as reality shows, I can understand us being a season or two behind (especially because the winner of said shows doesn't affect anything over here) although those are starting to catch up too. (At last count, we are up to the most recent series of the Amazing Race, but only episodes behind, not a whole series, while we're about a season behind on Hell's Kitchen)