Escapists Uncensored: Reader’s Guilt or Spoilers Abound

Escapists Uncensored

Escapists UncensoredFor the record, I am not one of those people who watches a movie and ruins the end for everyone else. However, I consistently wonder why there is such animosity to saying ‘well if you read the book…’ when discussing a film or TV show based on a novel. Anyone else receive those glares from passerby? It’s as if reading the predecessor somehow nullifies your argument or opinion.

How many of us simply choose to stay quiet for fear of judgement?

Now I’m not talking about spoiling everything for your friends. Take Game of Thrones for example. There was a reaction of epic proportions regarding the red wedding episode. Everyone remember how the internet practically imploded with tirades, YouTube reactions and related memes? I have never read any of the books that inspired the series simply because I was too young at their initial release and then didn’t want to ruin the show for myself once there were mutterings of the series being televised. However, as a lifelong history buff and fantasy reader, I was shocked that anyone found the episode to be shocking. Stunned in fact. When I chimed in on Game of Thrones discussions, my opinion was all but ignored simply because I am an avid reader, and I saw that I wasn’t the only one.

Is this fair? Not in the slightest. How many years do readers keep quiet while their friends and family finally come around to see the events which unfolded in the books?

So today I say no more. I will actively seek the opinions of other readers, and show at least my circle of friends why reactions are valid no matter if they are from book or screen. I won’t let people assume I’ll simply say the book was better. Instead, I’ll politely share pros and cons of both. I won’t judge them for not reading the book while encouraging others to not judge for the opposite. All in all, each discussion would be better if it is truly that- a discussion, not simply a one sided conversation.

What about you? Have you experienced the same thing? What do you do?

About Natassia 143 Articles
I am a performer by trade and have been an avid reader for as long as I can remember. My bookshelves are full of many genres but I have a love of fantasy, SciFi and steampunk which have only spurred my performing dreams to help one of these fabulous worlds come to life. I tend to read books with a lot of edge and grit; if it's got zombies, space battles or fantastical steam inventions, I'm in. When I'm not reading or off making my own adventures, I can be caught watching movies of every era, gaming, and being scandalously political like any good steampunk heroine.

2 Comments

  1. I try to keep quiet on spoilers for as much as I can. Movies, TV shows, books, video games. My roommate hates spoilers with a fiery passion, which gives me some pretty good motivation to keep my lips zipped. And I can totally get that. Sometimes the fun of a thing involves discovering it for yourself, not just someone telling you how they discovered it. I like that feeling too, and then when I do encounter something that another has kept quiet on, we get to have fun discussions of it all later. And if someone does give me spoilers for something, I usually end up spending my time reading/watching and thinking, “Is it going to happen now? Maybe after this scene.” And then when it comes it’s not nearly so exciting, because I already knew it was going to happen and spent so long waiting for it to be over with so that I could enjoy more stuff that I didn’t know in advance was going to happen.

    I’m in favour of keeping spoilers under wraps. It’s pretty much respectful, by my way of thinking.

    That being said, if I go seeking spoilers, then it’s my own fault for having surprises spoiled. If I, as someone who’s just reading Game of Thrones for the very first time, hops onto a website that’s discussing stuff that happens past my reading point, then I pretty much had it coming to me if I excounter spoilers.

    I don’t think that spoiler tags are unreasonable, if you are going to announce stuff. Especially when it’s not in an out-and-out review. I figure some spoilers are par for the course in reviews. But discussions? Nah, discussing spoilers is cool, but making sure to warn people ahead of time so they can avoid it if that’s their preference? I think that’s the best compromise.

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