To Spoil or not to Spoil?
 

Whether 'tis nobler in spirit to have some nice surprises, or to have some nasty surprises ruin what should be a great experience?<P>Okay now I'm not so sure. I found out a Gollum spoiler that would have been a nice surprise. But <B>then</B> I found out an Éowyn spoiler that was definitely a nassty, cheessy surprise.<P>So I have a little over a week to decide. What does everyone think? Is forewarned forarmed or will that just spoil the movie?<P>RUNNING TOTALS<BR>Spoil: 0<BR>Not Spoil: 0<BR>No Clue: 1

I think it really depends on the person. For example, I tend to salivate over a movie more if I read or see spoilers about it. They're just a form of extreme, teasing torture to me. For others, however, it spoils the movie (hence the name, I'm sure ). <P>Anyway, my vote: FOR SPOILERS

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>But then I found out an Éowyn spoiler that was definitely a nassty, cheessy surprise.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Ah, & which one was that ? Incidently, I think I'm a little stuck inbetween. For instance:<P>1. I have visited most Spoiler-related threads, but-<P>2. I decided <B>not</B> to visit the one major thread that was put up recently (the name escapes me), so I'm really IN BETWEEN .

RUNNING TOTALS<BR>Spoil: 2<BR>Not Spoil: 0<BR>Unsure: 1

Oh,why not. Spoilers can be fun. It's a teasing effect, like eating the icing off a just made cake before it's served. It's seems almost illegal. Hey, at the least if it's someting quite unsettling you won't be jumping in the theatre. Gotta maintain the cool factor, ya know.

I've read all the spoilers I can get my eyes on because it's just fun for me to do...it might be torture for other folks. But I'm a fanatic about the books...I adore them. I've read them about 8 or 9 times. For me, the books are the last word. The movies, while highly enjoyable, just don't hold a candle to the magic and imagery of the printed words.<P>Now if someone had told me how the book ended before I read it, I might have murdered them.

After my experience with TTT, I would say that forewarned is definately forearmed. I enjoyed the film first time round, but was somewhat preoccupied with the changes and wondering which favourite moments would be in and which would be out. And that did slightly impair my enjoyment. My enjoyment of the film was significantly greater on my second viewing when I could just relax and take it in. <P>So I have been looking at all of the spoilers that I can find. Being aware of the changes that have been made (some of which surprised me) gives me a chance to come to terms with them before I see the film next Thursday.<P>And I do not think that it will really spoil the experience. Although I pretty much know the storyline for the film and what changes have been made, and despite having seen many images from the film, everything that I have read convinces me that I will still be delighted and overawed by the sheer impact of it when I see it on the screen. With a film such as this promises to be, it seems to me that all the spoilers in the world will not spoil that.<P>Having said that, I was slightly miffed that Shelob featured in the main trailer (albeit briefly). I had been hoping that her image would not be released before the film is released. It seems to me that it is the King of the Dead and the Grey Havens that New Line is holding back. I have seen no images of either.

I like spoilers. They may reveal some detail in the creative choices the director has made (though never enough to make a solid judgement about them), but they rarely convey the editing or pacing (P.J.'s favorite word!) of the final film, which are what give it the most emotional impact as a whole, I think. After all, I already know the basic story. I knew Shelob was a great big spider, I knew Ents looked like trees that talked, etc. So the spoilers aren't really spoilers. They just whet your appetite for how things are going to fit together on film.

I'm ALL about the spoilers. I seek them out with a vengance. I mean, since I've already read the books it's not like I'm going to have the story ruined for me if I find something out (usually ). Actually it's really just due to a lack of patience on my part that makes me so desperate for spoilers. I simply can't wait for the movie to come out- I just have to know everything I can about it!<BR>So that's a big YES for spoilers.

Its all about the spoilers baby. I cant get enough of them. Bring it in on. I dont care if i ruin the movie for myself or others. Its like a drug to me. I cant get enough. They're my precious....

I'm with Saucepan Man and Cinderella. I know the story anyway, and I need to know what to brace myself for so that I don't sit there seething in the cinema. (I'm going on *Wednesday* so I beat you there Saucepan Man!)

Well, I've read every spoiler that I can get my hands on, some more true than others I'm sure. They give away a lot, but that also raises the level of anticipation, for me at least.<P>Vote: FOR!!!

I have visited most spoiler related threads, and I'm listening to the ROTK soundtrack, but in retrospect, I think that I really should have stayed away from many of the spoilers that I've read. I'm glad about some of them, but others I would have preferred to see in the movie. Thus, I am staying as far away from the movie reviews and the movie summaries because although forewarned may be good because I am then prepared, I don't want to sit in the theatre and be thinking at a crucial part 'Oh why did PJ have to change _' and thus miss out on part of the experience. <BR>My vote is for <B>Not Spoil</B>

Genrally, I love them. When I see the big old **SPOILERS** warning I can't help but take a look. But then again, recently I looked at some video clips from RotK. If it had been months and months before the movie I'd have watched them all, but because there's only a week to go I decided not to look (the first time I've ever refused spoilers, except for the EE DVD). I didn't want to be spoiled for that because there are only 40 minutes of new scenes, as opposed to 3 and a half hours of movie. But I didn't watch the video clips because, as I said, we're so close and all I've been spoiled with so far are pictures and roumers.<BR>So really, I'm on the fence, but leaning considerably towards the pro-spoilers. Make sense of that, if you can!

Spoil me Mister Platypus.

Definitely *FOR* spoilers. It just makes it all so much more exciting!<P>Abedithon le,<P>~*~Aranel~*~

Good lord!!<P>RUNNING TOTALS<BR>Spoil: 13<BR>Not Spoil: 1<BR>Just a Platypus: 1

Perhaps those who prefer to avoid spoilers have been put off by the title of the thread.

Yes, ....and no. Let me explain. <P>First the yes part..... I want to know everything about changes in the plot and characters so I can be forewarned. I wasn't thrilled with all the changes in TTT, but once I knew they were coming I could concentrate on the things in the movie that I really did enjoy. For that reason, I went over to The White Council a few days ago and read all 60 pages of Marty's spoiler thread! ....at which point I fell off my chair in exhaustion.<P>The 'no' part has to do with the visual images in the movie. For the most part, I am very positive about how PJ, helped by Lee and Howe, has visually translated Middle-earth onto film for us. I am fairly certain that the visuals in RotK will continue to intrigue and please me. For this reason, I've made a point to stay away from trailers and pictures and even the sound track. I want those things to be fresh for me when I see the actual movie. I'm not sure if visual images technically qualify as spoilers, but in my own mind they do.

<B>Child of the 7th Age</B>, I believe you have perplexed us lesser ghosts. So does your answer count as both yes or no, or neither?

I believe that's a <B>yes</B> to plot spoilers, and a <B>no</B> to any other spoilers. I wholeheartedly agree, that's an excellent position to take.<P>Many times I have thought that I would have enjoyed this all a lot more if PJ and Co hadn't made a movie, but had just released the still pictures! Crazy, I know, but they really did do a fantastic job on costumes and props. No, more than fantastic... incomparable, mindblowing, sublime, beautiful... but when it comes to the dialogue and the plot... <B>yeeeuch</B>!!<P>Saucepan, you may be right about the Non-Spoiled people avoiding this thread. After all, I've yet to see a survey that wasn't biased in some way or another! Congrats by the way on your continued inhabitation of the downs, and your excellent PT. Clang! Clang!<P>RUNNING TOTALS<BR>Spoil: 13 1/2<BR>Not Spoil: 1 1/2<BR>Will Spoil Next Week Before Watching: 1<P>Child, could you please post a link to the spoiler that has no pictures on it?

I am personally very anti-spoiler. I've religously avoided trailers, commercials, making-ofs, pics, spoiler threads, etcetera and so on for all three movies (and any movie that I really want to see). I even go so far as to avert my eyes in the theater when the trailers come on. <P>My aversion to spoilers is also a big reason why you don't see much of me in Movies. I don't want to stumble upon any nasty spoilers, which is all too easy to do -- sometimes even thread titles are spoilers. I think no-spoiler types like myself haven't necessarily avoided this thread in particular -- they avoid the forum in general. I clicked on it from the main page. <P>I can sort of see the "forewarned" reasoning with LotR, but in general I don't understand the spoiler mentality. Why on earth would anyone want to read, for instance, a bootlegged copy of the script for the new Indiana Jones rather than seeing the finished product with fresh eyes and ears?

I loved being spoiled! I don't know whether it is better or not, but it is definatly too tempting, with all of the information right there, not to look at it. <P>I think that with a big epic like LOTR it is better to have an idea of what the changes are, just so you can follow along. However, for books it is better not to know the ending before you finish reading it. <P>For those of us who have finished reading ROTK, we already know how it is going to end, so any more spoilers can't hurt us too much. I think that its the people who haven't read the books that should not be reading spoilers. Most of the time they don't make much sense unless you have read the story. Things like they are not doing such and such will just confuse the movie fans.

Plot spoilers: Spoil me, absolutely! The primary reason is, deviations horrify me upon first revelation, and it takes me several hours to remind myself "Relax, it's just a multimillion dollar AU fanfiction." Then I'm okay with it and can really enjoy the AU fanfic (except for Frodo's diminishment, but that's another thread.)<P> I'll listen to the soundtrack early. But I agree with Child about visual spoilers and letting the visuals be fresh. It's nicer to be astonished by the visuals. The first time I saw FotR in the theater, when Minas Tirith appeared, I cried, it was so magnificent.<P>For Non-visual spoilers: if you can't face all 40 of Marty's pages (I couldn't) AND you can stomach repeated use of the eff-word, check out Lindil's link in the other spoiler thread. It's not Nazgirlish, much; it's pretty "effing-trashmouthed"; but she's got a sharp sense of humor and knows the books quite well, and I thought she did a great job of summarizing the deviations that would set a book-lover's teeth on edge. Too bad she's so fond of the eff-word.<p>[ 5:00 PM December 11, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

The two best spoiler threads (for those so inclined):<P><A HREF="http://forum.barrowdowns.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=4&t=002462" TARGET=_blank>*SPOILERS* All questions you could basically ask about ROTK answered </A> - click on the second link given by Gorwingel (on 30 November) for Marty's questions and answer session.<P><A HREF="http://forum.barrowdowns.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=4&t=002477&p=1" TARGET=_blank>Lord of the Rings: Both sides of the argument </A> - click on the link given by lindil on 9 December for the article referred to by mark12_30 above (but heed her warning).<P>Marty's comments are less judgmental, but take a while to trawl through. However, you can get a good feel from just skimming his posts or even just looking for questions on points that particularly interest you. <P>Edit: As far as I am aware, there are no images on either of these spoiler sources.<p>[ 7:25 PM December 11, 2003: Message edited by: The Saucepan Man ]

<B>WARNING: This post contains a few mentions of spoilers, albiet ones 99.99% of the movie fans have already heard of, so read at your own risk </B><P>The main thing with spoilers (for me), is that I'm at least prepared for n major changes that will come rolling my way (the Scouring being cut, Saruman's revamped death sequence being cut, etc.); that way I will take them a <I>bit</I> easier & they don't nag at me for nearly as long. In FotR, Arwen being sent over Glorifindel caught me off guard, & I was wondering why the heck she was even there half of the movie. Certainly the same deal with Faramir ...the second I saw him take the hobbits to Osgiliath, it was a little hard for me to get my mind back in the movie. So, although sometimes spoilers give me more information than I want, I think I still lean towards them .

Right now currently I am really in a non-spoiler mood. I think it is because right now I know enough and really don't want to know more. All my questions will be answered really soon.<P>I know I started the thread with Marty's comments, but actually some of the stuff he gave away I thought was too much. Those were spoilers that actually made me kind of mad. And it was the first time that I had been made mad because of a spoiler. I really didn't want to know the very ending of the film.<P>I think, right now I would have to go with NO SPOILERS, but usually I am a Spoiler kind of gal

<B>Finwe, </B><P>Doug Platypus got it right! I'm half in one column and half in the other. <P>I had read the review that Helen mentioned, and it did a good job of summarising things in a succinct way. Marty's thread on White Council is filled with tons of information, but there's a lot of repetition and the informaton is scattered here, there, and everywhere.<P>Child

A while ago I was eagerly devouring any and all spoilers I could find, but now I want to wait and see the film. I think spoilers should be posted, but always with a warning for those who do not wish to be spoiled.<P>My vote: For spoilers with warnings.

Alright, I'll admit that I look at spoilers. However, I don't just look at all of them. I pick and chose. I don't like to know everything that's going to happen becuase I like to guess.<P>My vote: Not to spoil.

I, like Rose Cotton, pick and choose my spoilers. I'm a sucker for a really good spoiler and I love 'em <B>but</B> there are some that are a bit too much for me. For example, I don't mind hearing bits and parts of what is going to happen in ROTK but I don't want the entire thing laid out for me scene by scene before I watch it.<P>My vote: Spoilers that aren't extreme

Thanks to my wife having a prior engagement last night, necessecitating my attendance at home on child-sitting duty, I have not yet (as at 4:45pm GMT) seen RotK.<P>Although I have been a keen explorer of spoilers in the months and weeks leading up to this film, I really don't want, at this stage, to see my fellow Downers' reactions to the film, since I feel that would give away just a bit too much. Plus I suspect that the discussions there will be rather too detailed. So, I am studiously ignoring the countless "reaction" threads piled up in the Movies forum, tempting though it is to peek at them.<P>My, but it's frustrating though. It's like having to work upstairs while everyone else is enjoying themselves at a party downstairs. <P>Still, only 3 hours to go 'til I'm sitting in the cinema.