Statute of Limitations on Pop Culture Spoilers

[arthursimone]

This is coming from people complaining about giving away the ending to the series Six Feet Under. Rightfully so? I dunno.

At this point, after so much time, I feel people can, in good conscience, give away the ending to Citizen Kane, Dallas, Star Wars, Twin Peaks, etc., without fear of reprisal.

So, I guess the question I'm asking is, at what point does an ending-spoiler cease to be an ending-spoiler? Can we all talk about the Sixth Sense openly? The end of the Sopranos?

I challenge all of you to draw the line! Let's arbitrarily set it in stone!

[dirty baby]

Book of Revelations
1. great tribulation and b.s.
2. lamb
3. more b.s. but then banishment of assholes and dragons
4. new earth, new heavenly city, decent rentals

[Pdyx]

Spoiler, it's actually the Book of Revelation. Not plural.

[valetoile]

Also it's a statute, not a statue. Unless that's what you meant by setting it in stone, in which case I applaud you.

[Lants]

This is coming from people complaining about giving away the ending to the series Six Feet Under. Rightfully so? I dunno.

Whoah! For REAL?! Based on the Monday Night Mash last night? Where did this come from?

Anyway, that show ended 5 years ago and the bit that got spoiled (and believe me, there is WAY more to spoil in that show that what I let slip) happened even longer ago.

I do feel a little bad because I get so angry when people spoil things for me, but that's also why I try to keep up with things that are spoilable. If you've waited more than three years to watch something that most people you know have seen, you're running a huge risk of getting that spoiled. It just happens. Not everything can be a secret all the time.

Pop culture is time-sensative.

To answer your question more directly, I think the formula is probably pretty complex.

_Time Passed__
Weight of Spoiler > 5

[nick]

Haha, did somebody actually complain to you about that, Arthur?

Edit: Oh, I just reread your post, and clearly someone did complain. Sorry! It was pretty much all Lance's fault.

[ratliff]

I'm still planning to watch Six Feet Under, so I'm glad I wasn't there, but if I had been, I don't think I could get mad at someone for spoiling something that's been readily available to me for many years now. Movies are maybe a little different, in that they're one-shot events that you might plausibly go years without seeing . . . and also because with a movie the spoiler is more likely an actual spoiler. I mean, it's not like St. Elsewhere doesn't stand up to repeated viewings even though we now all know that the whole thing took place in the imagination of an autistic child.

Oops.

[Jeff]

St. Elsewhere... took place in the imagination of an autistic child.
Oops.

aw son of a BITCH!

[kbadr]

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~kwgow/crossovers.html

[arthursimone]

Whoah! For REAL?! Based on the Monday Night Mash last night? Where did this come from?

hehe, I got home last night to Drew and Brian Howard debating it in a way that only Drew and Brian Howard can debate.

I dig your formula

[arthursimone]

Also it's a statute, not a statue. Unless that's what you meant by setting it in stone, in which case I applaud you.

I'm afraid it was a typo and not an intentional play on words, but thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt.

[Asaf]

I think anything that has moved on to DVD over 3 months ago is a safe bet because frankly if it were sooooo important for you to know how that movie ended, you would have seen it by then.

[sara farr]

It depends on how long one's netflix list is.

Also, would it shake you up if I told you I knew the end of LOST! even before the first season started?

[bradisntclever]

Also, would it shake you up if I told you I knew the end of LOST! even before the first season started?

I'll bite. The LOST showrunners strayed from their original plans within the first few episodes, so I don't think they knew either.

To be honest, the show wasn't even created with the thought it would be successful. Once upon a time, there was an angry ABC Programming Head who knew he was going to be replaced due to an impending regime change. It wasn't going to happen immediately because of internal politics, so he had some time on his hands to scheme. The angry programmer decided to try and waste as much company money as possible by investing in a ridiculously expensive pilot and giving the show a green light before he could be replaced. He wanted something that required an exotic filming location ($$$) and special effects ("like a plane crash"). So he went through a stack of pilot scripts and found a show called "NOWHERE". A plane crash leaves survivors on a tropical island, but the script made it more like Desperate Housewives than the thriller many know and love.

The programming head asked JJ Abrams, fresh off the success of Alias, to consider the NOWHERE concept without actually reading the script (since it was pretty lame). Abrams was busy, so he enlisted the help of Damon Lindelof and they eventually hashed out the pilot for LOST. The show got pushed through quickly and the programmer was fired (as predicted) shortly thereafter.

Lindelof told that story at the Austin Film Festival with this look of "I still don't know how I wound up with job" in his eyes.

[mpbrockman]

I mean, it's not like St. Elsewhere doesn't stand up to repeated viewings even though we now all know that the whole thing took place in the imagination of an autistic child.

Oh yeah? Well; Screwtape eats Wormwood, Scheherazade becomes Queen, Rabo Karabekian has his greatest painting in that potato barn and Stavromula Beta is a nightclub.

Phbbbbt!

Keep this up and I'll reveal who the real Kwisatz Haderach turns out to be.