I have to declare it. I am a spoiler lover.
Since I dislike wasting 16 or more hours of my life to watch something with a disappointing ending, I have the habit of reading reviews, recaps and comments on the last episode, to find out whether I’ll be disappointed or not, before deciding to watch a drama.
However, I want to choose when it’s important to me or not to know. Sometimes I can guess how it will go from the synopsis and by watching the first episodes, so I don’t care to know the exact details.
And of course I know that there are people who really hate spoilers. For them, the plot is everything, and they wouldn’t watch even the best made film or drama if they already knew the ending. (It’s probably the people who never rewatch a movie or read a book twice) And yes, there are dramas which are not that well-made, so the plot is the only thing that holds the viewers’ interest. Sort of like paper dishes, good for only one use, to be thrown away afterwards.
Therefore, I do flag, chastise and report those who spoil on a drama’s main page.
How about you? Are you an ardent anti-spoilerist or not?
Here is a very interesting article: a scientific study showed that people enjoy books more if they know the finale. Yes, even in crime mysteries! When they are less baffled, they can be more relaxed and enjoy.
https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/archive/newsrel/soc/2011_08spoilers.asp
And this one: “Spoilers don’t hurt good films”
One of the commenters wrote:
To be clear though, spoilers don’t ruin the movie itself, but “spoils” the first-time viewing experience of the movie for many of us. So, Gunn and the studies are right in a sense, as Garth said it, knowing the twists of a great film in advance does not detract from the work’s impact. A good film will hold up. Still, doesn’t mean I want to know all those twists and reveals before I see the film.
With great movies I end up owning and re-watching them for years and years, learning all the beats, musical cues & great lines by heart, but I love that first thrill of going into it blind when the theater lights go down and I’m chewing on my strawberry Twizzlers.
Here is a Quora discussion, titled: Why people hate spoilers?.
And another one, with many anti-spoiler replies.
Dear people who hate spoilers His examples involve games rather than shows but he has an interesting attitude.
Anti-spoiler article: Scientific explanation for why spoilers are so horrible