Regarding spoilers, how long after a movie is out before one can stop the warnings?
Asked by
zenvelo (
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December 24th, 2015
Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been out for a week now, and most of the die-hard fans have seen it. While I have been very careful to not spoil it for anyone, how long do I need to be circumspect about it? At what point do specifics from a movie (such as dialogue) blend into the collective conscious of society? A week? Ten days? Two weeks?
And does it make a difference if a movie is based on a book? My daughter told me the story of a teenager who had the ending of “The Fault In Our Stars” on a sweatshirt she wore to the opening night of the movie, with “You should have read the book” on her back.
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10 Answers
It’s pretty safe to talk about it now.
There should be no wait time.
If spoilers “ruin” a movie for you, then the movie was shit to begin with, and you should be instead thankful for being prompted to not waste your money.
I guess it’s a different timeline but I say after maybe 3–4 weeks?
I’m a little more conservative in some cases than others.
For something with a real twist ending or a whodunit, I’d say wait until it’s out of theatres before talking about the end of the film, and if you’re having a one-on-one conversation, ask the person if they’ve seen the film before just saying “So, Snape killing Dumbledore. Crazy, right?”
However, some people absolutely spazz if you give away any minor detail, and those people should put on their big girl panties and get over it.
In the case of this Star Wars film, I’d say it’s OK to talk about what happens in general, but leave specific big-time OMG moments (all one of them, and even that one predictable) out of it until and unless you know your conversation partner has seen it.
If I’m not mistaken, the page just before the last chapter of “Moby’s Dick” says Spoiler Alert! ;-o
I try to never release a spoiler no matter how many years it has been out. For example: Sixth Sense has been out a long time yet I will never mention the spoiler: the butler did it. I do not feel the need to flaunt that I know the secret before someone else. If someone mentions it first I will discuss it in kind. Otherwise my lips are sealed.
Snape killed Dumbledore?!? Thanks a lot!
Statute of limitations on book spoilers is five years, bro. Half Blood Prince was released in 2006
Well, as with many things there is no hard line for spoilers. If a person expresses no interest in westerns they won’t care if people discuss the latest hot western movie because they will never go see it. I have had that happen to me, because of spoilers what little interest I had in Brokeback Mountain left me like a feral cat trapped in my garage when I opened the door. In general if minor spoilers or discussions on a movie are to happen it should be around the 6 month mark. Even if it is longer people can spoil something unwittingly, I only seen part of ”I am Legend” but not the end and someone discussing the movie revealed the ending, so now after all this time wanting to see it again to get to the ending it won’t have the same wow it would have had if I never knew it was coming.
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