Spoiler Alert: Follow these tips to preserve thrilling moments in artistry

By: Noah Forker

Whenever you finish a video game, book or movie before a friend or family member, there is always that temptation to spoil the ending, or even an important climax. However, think of yourself in that person’s shoes. How would you have liked it if you had the ending spoiled? Most people, however, don’t think about this and instead decide to spoil, but they shouldn’t.

In certain video games, the ending is so shocking, so unexpected, that you have to tell someone. However, if that person is playing the game for him or herself, that might not be the best idea.

Consider if you were in reverse roles. If you were a bit behind and your friend spoiled the ending, would you want to keep playing the game? For me, I personally would because I never “give up” on games, but most people would stop playing until they have forgotten the spoiled details.

Another main way to spoil video games is to be watching a let’s play, which is when someone on youtube plays through a game and explains how to beat it, and you don’t realize you want the game or have the game until it’s too late. In this situation, there is not much you can do. This is mainly caused when you look up the help but forget to stop watching. To avoid this, just ask a friend in real life for help or find your own way to beat it, unless you don’t mind the spoilers.

With books, the endings are almost NEVER expected. Very few books have predictable endings. So, when you’re near the end or at the very start and someone spoils a very big climax, it basically ruins the entire the book.

For me, I try my hardest not to spoil unless I’m asked. I tell a friend what I know and try to leave out spoilers. When talking to others, if a spoiler is coming, I stop my friend to make him or her realize they’re about to spoil. My style of reading is that I read the last page early on, and as I read, it triggers things that could lead to that point, but I’m usually wrong, so that’s what makes it fun to keep reading. If an ending is spoiled, I usually like to keep reading so that I can see what leads to it. When talking about a book to a friend, make sure he or she is either not reading it or doesn’t plan to read it before you spoil.

Movies, however, are very easy to spoil. This is because not many people think of movies as a huge thing, so they tell people about them. In fact, many reviews are labeled with “Spoiler Warning” if need be, so watch the video at your own risk.

This same thing applies to animes and TV shows in general. Say, you’re behind by a bit, speaking from personal experience, and your friend decides to tell you one of the biggest, game-changing events. You, of course, get depressed.

Of course, to avoid this, you could always calmly tell your friend that you’re behind and to try to avoid spoilers.

No matter what you’re talking about, books, movies, anime, TV shows or video games, never spoil. If you’re ever tempted, think of the roles flipped, and the spoiling is being told to you. Would you like that? Would you want a book or such to be spoiled for you? If you answered no to either of these questions, then you should not spoil. If it slips, it slips, but never purposefully spoil.