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AIBU?

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Original poster

To ask if spoilers are still spoilers if the series / film was preceded by a book?

57 replies

newsecretidentity · 18/04/2014 07:50

Just that, really. A friend has taken umbrage because somebody posted a GOT spoiler on his facebook page. But having read the books years ago, I was a little surprised that anybody didn't realize that particular event was coming.

I can understand if you're watching a series that's new to everybody, that you wouldn't want to spoil it for people who haven't had a chance to watch it yet. And likewise, when the HP books came out, people were careful not to tell what happened for people who hadn't read that far yet.

So, is it still a spoiler if the information has already been out there for years, albeit in a different format?

OP posts:
coffeeinbed · 18/04/2014 11:26

Pumpkinette, why would a remake of a film not be seen as spoiler and a book on which a film or series is based would?

ICanSeeTheSun · 18/04/2014 11:36

I had to bite my tongue for 2 years over the ending on HP part 2.

DH struggles to read, reads 1 page and it takes him so long that he has forgotten it.

I would say it is a spoiler because not every one enjoys reading.

ICanSeeTheSun · 18/04/2014 11:38

Titanic spoilers would have been jack dying in the end, or rose and jack having sex in the back of a car. The sinking is an historical fact.

DrankSangriaInThePark · 18/04/2014 11:42

I find it utterly bizarre that people get so involved in a TV programme or film that they would even consider getting humphy if the ending were revealed.

Especially if it's over something that's been in print form for about a hundred years.

But then I'm a weirdo who always reads the last page of a book first. Grin

Chocoholism · 18/04/2014 11:44

I too think it would be a spoiler, I'm watching the series have not read the books and would be put out a bit if I knew of things that had happened as when I have watched certain bits now I'm totally shocked and love it, that's a good show/story/book for me. I thought it was bad when on the one show a couple weeks back they had some actresses on from GOT and they said that something happened
In season 1 that was a shocker, I thought that not good as some people haven't seen it yet that at intend to see it and that part will get spoilt for them already knowing.
(Did u see how I tried not to do any spoilers myself there, haha)

MasqueradeWaltzer · 18/04/2014 11:47

Not sure what the hell happened there...try again.

an app for that [[http://news.sky.com/story/1243583/the-app-that-hides-game-of-thrones-spoilers]]

noblegiraffe · 18/04/2014 11:47

Yes it's a spoiler. The show is vastly more popular than the books, and the books haven't been around that long.

Romeo and Juliet is a stupid comparison as the story has been around for hundreds of years and has been covered in many art forms. Especially stupid if you are in the UK where a lot of people studied it at school.

Pumpkinette · 18/04/2014 12:04

coffee more people are likely to have seen a movie than read a book (sad but true)

Upcoming remakes of movies are -
Annie, Robocop, Carrie (I know also a book), Mad Max, The Crow, Childs play, Dirty Dancing, An American werewolf in London, The Neverending Story.

I imagine the majority of people will have watched all (or at least most) of these movies, where as there will be a huge number of people who don't read for pleasure that would not have read GOT.

Just like when the Spider-Man movies came out I suspect a lot of people who watched the movies had not read the comics and didn't notice how far from the original story the movie actually was so to it wouldn't have been fair to share spoilers. Now the Spider-Man movies have been remade I expect there are few people who don't know what happens as they would have watched the original movies.

LucyTheValiant · 18/04/2014 12:12

DP has a colleague who purposely asks people if they watch/read Game of Thrones and where they are up to, and then then tells them what happens in the next book. That's out of order.

Accidentally spoiling something is different I think, but I do think that there's a difference between Game of Thrones and something that's been around for ages - DP and I are watching the west wing at the moment and we are trying to avoid spoilers but it's clearly unreasonable to expect the whole internet to reflect that we are woefully behind the times and haven't seen past series 2.

limitedperiodonly · 18/04/2014 12:16

Sometimes the book isn't superior to the film.

The Godfather for instance. I think it was wise for Francis Ford Coppola to leave out the sub-plot about a character's cavernous vagina which could only be filled by her boyfriend's enormous dick.

I haven't read the GoT books but I don't feel like a dullard because I like the TV show.

LeBearPolar · 18/04/2014 12:22

How can it be a spoiler when the story is out there in the public domain in some form?

Didn't see the Gatsby thread but can't believe someone got arsy about that. As others have said, that's like whinging because someone tells you that in the new Hamlet film, he dies Hmm

noblegiraffe · 18/04/2014 12:23

They are remaking The Crow? Shock

Would you have posted on Facebook about the twist in Fight Club while it was still at the cinema? No, unless you're a dick, and that was also a book first.

Lots of people are currently sitting down to enjoy GoT for the first time, so surprises shouldn't be dropped into general conversation without a spoiler warning.

NatashaGurdin · 18/04/2014 12:23

Drank

But then I'm a weirdo who always reads the last page of a book first.

That's not weird, I do that too! Grin

TheGirlWhoKickedTheVipersNest · 18/04/2014 12:26

A girl in the year above told me the ending of Anna Karenina when I was reading it as a teenager, and I was still annoyed even though it's 100+ years old!

I think with GoT it's fairly reasonable to be annoyed by spoilers as there are going to be a lot of people who haven't read it and only know what's happened so far in the series. Likewise Lord of the Rings etc when the films first came out, as obviously there are going to be a lot of people who haven't read the books and have no idea what happens. But after a film/tv series has been out for a while then of course people are going to be talking about it, and it becomes the potential spoilee's responsibility not to look at things that are likely to give away plot points. Spoiling things deliberately is still mean though, however long something's been out!

MmmIceCream · 18/04/2014 12:31

I'm still gutted at two friends telling me about a big Breaking Bad spoiler. It was really mean of them, I think. I came to the show late and am watching as quickly as having 2 young kids allows, but am still on Season 3, so feel cross at being penalised for not - by no fault of my own - being in on it earlier.

I think some people just spoil stuff because they like the authority that comes from telling someone something they don't already know

TheDoctrineOfSnatch · 18/04/2014 12:31

Sangria and Natasha, one of you must be my mum. Which one Grin?

limitedperiodonly · 18/04/2014 12:47

I used to get free cinema tickets from a friend who was a film journalist. I ended up paying to go without her because she'd invariably seen the film before and would tell me the end no matter how much I asked her not to.

She claimed knowing what was going to happen was the professional way to watch a film.

BloominNora · 18/04/2014 12:49

I normally like to read books before watching films, or in the case of things like Lord of the Rings watched the first film then immediately went and read all of the books as I was too impatient to wait two years for the films. I am incredibly impatient and dislike surprises (usually) so like to know what is going to happen asap.

However GOT is the first series adaptation where I am not sure whether I want to read the books. It is so well made that I am thoroughly enjoying being shocked and surprised by events. I am half way through the first book, but don't know if I am going to carry on.

So yes, I would consider posting things from the book a spoiler either because you are ruining both my (potential) reading of the book and the thing I am enjoying most about the series.

Many many more people watch tv and films rather than read books and so so many books get adapted these days, to say that it isn't a spoiler because it is in book form is ridiculous - especially when it is a series.

However, I would say that two days is an acceptable amount of time to talk about an episode after it has aired, although I always check with people where they've got to before launching into conversation. I think it is particularly cruel when you know someone is in the middle of watching / reading to give spoilers. My mom is currently reading The Hunger Games and I would never dream of giving away spoilers just because its been out for a couple of years already.

SarahAndFuck · 18/04/2014 12:51

I'd say it's a spoiler.

The books (any books) might have been out for ages, but if I haven't read them yet I don't want someone to tell me the end.

I'm still miffed by a murder-mystery book I bought in a charity shop years ago. Two or three pages in, the previous owner had written "his wife killed him" in the margin and ruined the rest of the book.

The GOT books are becoming more well known because of the relatively recent TV series. I haven't watched the series but I heard about the books because of it, I hadn't heard of them before even though I read a lot. You can't read everything no matter how hard you might try Grin

And so yes the information is out there but it depends on what your friend said on his status.

I don't tend to post the plot of the last book I read or books I have read ages ago on my Facebook status regardless of how old the book is or how well known it's plot may or may not be, mostly because not everyone I know will have read the book yet.

limitedperiodonly · 18/04/2014 12:55

We're so civilised over on Telly Addicts.

There are currently two GoT threads - one for the latest TV series only and one for people who've read the books too and want to talk about spoilers and differences.

It works very well.

If only other posters could get it right.

limitedperiodonly · 18/04/2014 12:59

sarahandfuck not quite as bad, but I wanted to kill the person who'd annotated my library copy of A Clockwork Orange with translations for the slang Alex and the Droogs use.

I wanted to work it out for myself.

BloominNora · 18/04/2014 13:14

The most amusing spoiler story I ever heard came from someone who attended the Reading festival the weekend after HP 6 book came out. Someone sent a text message to one of those big electronic screens simply saying 'Dumbledore dies'. Apparently there was an audible groan from the audience.

I was Grin but would have been Angry if I hadn' t read it.

SpringBreaker · 18/04/2014 13:25

"Some exceptions are movies based on true stories (like the Titanic - it sinking at the end would not be considered a spoiler)"

Sadly it was a spoiler to my stepdaughter... I don't think history is her strongest point!!

happygirl87 · 20/04/2014 09:28

I think it should be ok on dedicated fan sites, but not on general Facebook etc- on MN I would write SPOILER FOR THOSE WHO HAVENT READ THE BOOK in the title.

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