I hear rumours that the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has leaked onto the Internet and that spoilsports are going around the place saying what happens at the end. Now, having sometimes discovered rather more than I’d have liked to have known in advance about some Doctor Who episodes from internet discussions, I’m wondering about stopping visiting any forums where someone might give the game away altogether until Saturday.
The phenomenon of “spoilers” is an interesting and varied one. The fun side is discovering scraps that whet the appetite beforehand. This is particularly appealing when all the details are kept so closely guarded, as with the last Harry Potter book. For example, on one forum someone revealed the title of chapter 7 of the last Harry Potter book, which didn’t give anything much away, but only enough to get the imagination going with new possibilities. That’s the kind of information I don’t mind, even enjoy, discovering. These aren’t so much spoilers in the genuine sense so much as teasers.
Similarly, with my occasional watching of Doctor Who being filmed, it’s fun to get a hint and a flavour of what’s to come, such as seeing gas-mask zombies shuffling through the smoke on Barry Island. There’s also the feeling of achievement of investigating something, especially if you’re the one to unearth some previously unknown titbit.
But by contrast, there are some spoilers that really do spoil. Someone overheard the Doctor’s line “Just this once, everybody lives!” during the filming of that episode, which I got to hear about, which spoiled some of the tension of the episode for me. That’s just too much information. After I’d been to the Doctor Who series 2 press launch, I had some rather odd requests by email asking me to spill the beans and tell all about the episode I’d seen. Needless to say, I didn’t do so, and I really don’t understand the mentality of someone who wants the whole game given away on the Internet rather than enjoying the story as intended.
So why do people leak information that spoils stories? In fan circles, there’s an added dimension of the power and status conferred on the bearer of spoilers. The one with the most encyclopaedic knowledge is the Truest Fan, and the one who can reveal spoilers about the future is elevated to the status of prophet and priest. Having been to that press launch, I know the temptation of teasing fans online, but dropping cryptic hints is a somewhat sordid and trivial pleasure.
Others try and spoil for money, such as this guy trying to flog a Doctor Who script. I can understand the fannish thrill of uncovering secrets, something that comes out of a love for a book or television series. But to manipulate other people’s enthusiasm for your own greed is just reprehensible. Similarly annoying are those who think it funny to tell people information they dn’t want to know, the type who created “Dumbledore is Dead” t-shirts shortly after book 6 was published.
So spoilers are a very mixed bag, on the one hand harmless teasers, and at the other extreme, the information age’s equivalent of crack cocaine. Remember kids, just say NO! (And remind me to do the same!)