Spoilers // Current

What we know about Doctor Who: The End Of Time - big spoilers!!!

Beware: there are spoilers here for the Doctor Who Christmas specials, as we look... more

atomiclegion
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6 days ago
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The Sex and the City 2 leaked script: All the details

NY Post is reporting Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth has published details on the... more

knowandtell
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10 days ago
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Activision releases statement on controversial Modern Warfare 2 opening (SPOILERS)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 isn't released until November 10, but a leaked video... more

PsychoAlan
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27 days ago
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What is this Modern Warfare 2 level about?

Possible SPOILERS, first of all. Secondly: what you see above may be a leaked... more

PsychoAlan
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27 days ago
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Worst. Surprise. Endings. Ever.

TONS of spoilers, of course, but Huffington Post picks out nine movies with the... more

ADuralde
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1 month ago
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100 TV Spoilers: Emmy Edition

100 television show spoilers including this year’s Emmy nominees for Best Drama and... more

thefinebros
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2 months ago
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The -est List! Die Hard (Part 2 of 3)

"It's a movie about growth." The -est List is a new, weekly movie talk show web... more

TheEstList
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3 months ago
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The -est List! Die Hard (Part 1 of 3)

“Thanks, Moonlighting.” The -est List is a new, weekly movie talk show web... more

TheEstList
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3 months ago
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The -est List! Cutting Room Floor Footage

"You know what? We're going to edit that." The -est List is a new, weekly movie... more

TheEstList
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3 months ago
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The -est List! Movies and Music

SERIES PREMIERE! The -est List is a new, weekly movie talk show web series from... more

TheEstList
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5 months ago
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The -est List! When Good Sci-Fi Goes Bad

"There's gonna be fucking sex." The -est List is a new, weekly movie talk show web... more

TheEstList
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4 months ago
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The -est List! In The Movie In My Head...

"I wanna see two dudes beating the shit out of each other." The -est List is a new,... more

TheEstList
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4 months ago
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The -est List! The Best of the Worst

“Chevy Chase isn’t funny unless you can see him.” “Is that when he’s... more

TheEstList
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3 months ago
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The -est List! Baddest Bitches

"It's a talk show! About movies!" The -est List is a new, weekly movie talk show... more

TheEstList
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4 months ago
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Spoilers Aren't Intrinsically Evil

Mark Fisher writes, "When I wrote a blog a few days ago about theatrical deaths, a couple of readers complained that I should have included a spoiler alert. There was merit in what they said: death is usually a big event in a play, so if you talk about it you're likely to give away key twists in the plot. Sorry if I ruined your night.

But how much information is too much? What balance should a writer strike between safeguarding the joy of discovery for those who haven't yet seen a play, and talking in such generalities that the writing becomes meaningless? Before I give examples, I have to give a spoiler alert. If it troubles you to know too much, don't read on, but I can't write about spoilers without spoiling things.

Let's take the case of 'Orphans,' Dennis Kelly's thriller at the Traverse theatre in Edinburgh. This is a play that depends for its tension on the is-he/isn't-he enigma of a character called Liam, played by Joe Armstrong. He starts off as a good samaritan who has helped a man in distress, but it's not possible to say how he ends up without giving away the plot.

In her Guardian review, Lyn Gardner keeps it enigmatic, giving away little more than "one bad decision leads to another". Joyce McMillan in the Scotsman, however, cuts straight to the chase: "The clearer it becomes that Liam's original story of helping a wounded man is a lie, and that he has in fact carried out a brutal racist attack, the more Danny wrestles with the question of whether he should call the police."

McMillan appears to believe that once a play has opened its plot is in the public domain, and therefore fair game. If you regard the job of a reviewer as little more than a consumer's guide, this belief is contentious. If, on the other hand, you want critics to engage fully with a work, then they must be free to talk about what happens, and what it signifies.

The answer is not clear-cut – it varies from show to show and writer to writer – but it raises a second question: how much damage can a spoiler actually do? Examples of a show asking the public not to give away its plot are rare: the West End play The Mousetrap, the book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and the film The Sixth Sense rely heavily on suspense. There must be millions of people who enjoy those works on repeated sittings, even when the element of surprise is gone.

A work that depends on surprise alone is shallow indeed; so how much are you really put out if you know the details in advance? As a feature writer I'm often privy to this kind of information – after I've prized it out of artists who believe their work's power depends on a secret plot twist – but I rarely wish I'd been kept in the dark when it comes to seeing the show.

As an act of consideration, I won't reveal the coup de theatre in Silviu Purcărete's Faust, opening at the Edinburgh international festival, but even telling you that such a coup exists will alert you to it and subtly change your experience. Is that so bad?"Mark Fisher writes, "When I wrote a blog a few days ago about theatrical deaths, a... more