on spoilers

[martasfic]

Since Sherlock’s third series is about to be released in the UK next week but won’t be available to American viewers until mid-January, Pinterest is trying to figure out how to handle the spoilers question. Specifically, people are taking it upon themselves to post things like this:

For my non-fannish friends, a spoiler is a detail about a movie, book, TV show, etc. that people wouldn’t want to encounter before they’ve had the chance to see it themselves. It’s important when people discuss these things because no one wants to be the person who told a kid that Santa doesn’t really exist before they discover it themselves. So it’s customary, when you’re discussing something that’s just been released (or e.g. the later parts of a book that’s still having its movie version released serially like with The Hobbit or The Hunger Games) and when you want to discuss specifics, you put in a spoiler warning. Usually you type something like

SP
OI
LE
RS

or just put the spoiler-containing text behind what’s called a cut, where someone must click a link to read the rest of the entry. The point is to give people who don’t want to read such things a chance to close their eyes and scroll past what you’re about to say.

I don’t have any problem with this. It’s basic courtesy, I think. I actively sought them out for Sherlock’s series three myself since it gave me something to speculate about and helped me anticipate the show a little bit more. But I can completely understand why someone who’d waited TWO WHOLE YEARS and had a Brit give away the episode endings before it was even available in your country. I’d be rightly frustrated. I’d be a little less rightly frustrated (but still understandably so) if I was American and so was used to being the first to get this kind of thing. Add to that the fact that Pinterest, the site these images are appearing on, really doesn’t give you a way to insert spoiler warnings. It’s just a set of images with text at the bottom. No way to warn someone about spoilers that I can see, until they’ve already seen it.

So I have a lot of sympathy for American Sherlock fans worried about spoilers on Pinterest. I understand why they’d urge their UK counterparts (and those clever American fans who exploit viewing options of a dubious legal nature) to do what they can to hide spoilers. I can’t promise I won’t be one of those clever Americans, so I plan on taking some steps to mark my spoilers as well as I can. Posting a notice that the board may contain spoilers come January 1, changing the board name to reflect that, etc. Like I said, I’m on board with letting people choose whether they want to see spoilers or not. This meme, though, does something rather different. It tells people not to post spoilers at all – that doing that makes them a jerk.

And that’s just not cool.

It’s telling people how they’re allowed to use a public site, which strikes me as chutzpah in the extreme. It’s calling them a jerk, and name-calling of any sort just doesn’t sit well with me. And it’s doing a somewhat milder version of what those “jerks” who post about episodes before other people have had a chance to see them are doing. If anything, it’s crueller or at least cruel in a different way: if you think waiting three more weeks is tough, imagine having seen the episodes and not being allowed to react to them publicly.

I suppose on the scale of global atrocities, this is small potatoes. Still, it really does bother me because it’s some people telling others how they can use a public board. That seems really very manipulative, getting close to bullying to me. But then I sometimes think we bend over a bit backwards to accommodate spoiler-warnings. It makes sense to do that a bit because it really can be a huge letdown to look forward to something and in most contexts (not Pinterest, but other sites) it’s not so hard to slap up a warning.

Still, if you’re really that concerned about being spoiled there is a way to avoid that: unplug from the site for the three-week window when some people will have been exposed to the new series and will be (we can only hope justifiably) so over-the-moon excited that it’s physically painful not to share the wonderfulness. It’s realistic to ask for as much accommodation as the technology allows; it’s not to call people jerks for not using it in a way that works well with your situation.

Originally published at Faith Seeking Understanding. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[mrowe.livejournal.com]

Or, you know, people in the fandom could be considerate to all and do what some corners of the Game of Thrones fandom have done, and have 'spoilered' and 'unspoilered' boards/locations. In that situation the only jerks are those who deliberately post spoilers in designated unspoilered space.

[dreamflower]

I often think that sometimes (and only sometimes) fandoms place too much emphasis on the person in the know and telling them what to post or not post. Sometimes it's up to the spoiler-allergic person to take responsibility for avoiding them.

I'm one of those folks who not only doesn't mind spoilers, but in some circumstances will go looking for them. And yet there are times when I'd rather not know. In that case, I take steps to minimize my exposure to likely spoilery material. The onus is on ME to avoid looking where spoilers are likely to lurk.

BUT unless it's someone who very clearly has deliberately set out to spoil people (rather than someone posting in an excess of enthusiasm) I'm not going to get all mad at her/him.

Because, let's face it, that is the nature of modern communications and technology--spoilers are everywhere. If I get spoiled when I'd rather not be, then I may be annoyed or disappointed, but the anger some people show over it is all out of proportion to its importance.

Also, there is the fact of what some people consider "spoiler" material. To me that would consist of revealing a key plot point, or the resolution of a mystery. To others it even extends to pictures of an episode or the revelation of who is playing what role. I've heard some people who don't even want to see trailers for movies or shows.

Those who are that sensitive to spoilers are going to have to spend their life with their eyes shut, fingers in their ears, singing "la-la-la".

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

What really perplexes me about this is how thoroughly TPTB seem to fail to understand the international nature of fandom.

Does anyone actually think, that, after waiting for two years for the resolution of a cliffhanger and an emotional reunion on such a popular show, that American fans will actually passively sit and wait for two and a half weeks, just to see a version on PBS that's edited for length, ffs? Casual viewers might wait, but I don't think anyone who actually cares will, especially since those channels of dubious legality are so widespread and so easy to use.

(This particular American fan will be at a party specifically tailored to this purpose on Wednesday afternoon, thank you very much!)

And it's not just impatience for the show. It's unwillingness to totally disengage with the fandom for three weeks to avoid spoilers. Am I really supposed to unfriend all my Sherlock fandom friends in the UK for that whole time? Drop every Sherlock-related Tumblr blog? Block everyone on Facebook who also loves the show? And miss out on all those exciting early initial conversations and squee and feels and rage and fics and art? I THINK FUCKING NOT.

Sooner or later, it has to be acknowledged that different international release dates for something like this are just untenable. The makers of Doctor Who realized this when they made the 50th anniversary special available in theaters as well as on BBC America. PBS in particular are really shooting themselves in the foot here. If they want to draw in a younger audience - which they do, and Sherlock would be great for - the way to do it is not to alienate every viewer who knows how to use the Internet.