In a world (see what I did there?) of spoilers and leaks and
previews and all else, it's rare these days that anything slips past
those who might be looking for it. So when something is a surprise,
it's a rare treat.
I remember seeing “The Avengers” in
the movie theatre over July 4th weekend in 2012. The movie theatre
was packed; full of Marvel comics fans and those who had been dragged
with them. And I remember sitting through the movie, laughing at the
jokes and cheering for the home team. But then, after the credits
had rolled, there was a tag. And the audience got a glimpse of a
purple-y creature berating someone for not doing their job (at least
that's my memory of it). A hush fell over the audience. And then a
cheer erupted.
At the time, I didn't know who that
creature was; I had to have it explained to me by an enthusiastic fan
with whom we ended up sharing an elevator ride to the parking garage.
And even after it was explained, it didn't really mean much to me,
not really being a Marvel comics superfan. But I think that the real
magic of that moment was that, prior to that screening, no one in the
audience knew anything about the tag.
I think that many of them suspected
that there would be a tag; it has become a bit of a cinematic staple.
But they didn't know the content. And in this world of midnight
screenings and early previews, no one had leaked it yet. And because
no one had leaked it, everyone in that audience got to experience the
power of The Surprise.
Now, I will allow that spoilers have
their place. I will also contend that not everything that is
revealed about what happens in a movie is a spoiler. The phrase
“Spoiler alert: the good guy wins” grates me like no other. Of
course, the good guy wins! That is not a spoiler.
A spoiler is the oft-used “Darth
Vader is Luke's father” because it revealed something unexpected in
an action/hero movie. (These days it has become such a staple that
the villian and the hero will have some sort of familial connection
that it would be totally different if the screenwriters just wrote,
“Yeah, they're not related AT ALL.”) But the familial connection
in Star Wars was what is still (thank heaven) colloquially known as a
twist. And for good reason.
A twist is something that causes you to
“twist” the way that you've been thinking about and interacting
with these characters. Going back to “The Avengers”: If for
some reason you found out that Thor was the adopted son and Loki,
Odin's actual child, that might twist/skew the way that you look at
their world and interactions.
And because it's up to any good fan to
know the full plot of every movie, TV show or televised event, we
have spoilers. Which ruin twists. And that makes me mad. (Maybe
even Hulk-mad.)
My issues with this practice came into
focus for me after two events this past month. The first was that I
was reading the third book in Sarah MacLean's Rule of Scoundrels
series “No Good Duke Goes Unpunished” (which I talk a little bit
about here) and there is a twist. An ingenious twist, I dare say.
But what was so awesome about it was that I didn't expect it. I
didn't expect the “tag” (so to speak), other than the standard
epilogue that is part of any romance novel these days. But I also
didn't expect the content. So I got to be genuinely surprised. And
shocked. And yes, I may have even gasped.
Which was great! It was a great
feeling to be surprised. I think, with regards to our entertainment
media, we should all endeavor to be surprised more often.
The second thing that happened (and is
still happening) is that the promotion engine for “I Frankenstein”
is churning up. As a longtime fan of both the show “Chuck” and
Yvonne Strahovski, I've known about this movie for awhile. But
because it's a science-fiction movie and
an action movie, the promotion engine is going down a path that I
HATE! An exclusive scene here. An extended trailer there. And then
by the time you get into the theatre, you've seen the whole movie!
And
I know that there have been studies where studios have shown that
spoilers don't actually keep people from going to the movie or seeing
the show. I know that the pilot episode for “New Girl” was put
on iTunes well before it ever aired on television and that the
preview of the pilot did nothing to diminish the ratings for the
show. I know all of that.
But
I'm talking about me. When I go to the movies, I want to be
entertained. I do not want to be marking time between revealed
scenes. And if you can surprise me, so much the better.
I wait with baited breath.
- Sis
