The Filipino Group discussion

Let's talk about that thing that can ruin friendships: spoilers.

What are your general rules on spoilers?

What are the things that can be spoiled? What do you qualify as a spoiler? (Example: deaths, marriages, identity reveal, etc..)

If it's an movie or tv adaptation of a book that was published many years ago, can you freely discuss particular plot points without the fear of spoiling?

Can you spoil about real life events? For example: you saw someone reading a biography or autobiography, can you say how the subject of that book died without getting punched?

Discuss! :)

GENERAL RULE: Absolutely no spoilers. I find that it takes away the thrill and excitement of finding out about the book's plot and twist on my own, and more often than not, when I hear spoilers, I lose interest in finishing the book.

Things that can be spoiled: I guess, in general, how the book would turn out in the end, but mostly significant stuff, for example, a character's death. (Hello, Game of Thrones.)

Movie or TV adaptation, it's the same if I haven't seen either.

I don't think you can spoil real-life events, because these are things that have happened already? But if real-life events inspired fiction, reading about the former might be spoilers for the latter. (Again, hello, GOT.)

I usually don't mind spoilers but I try to avoid them as much as possible. So if I want to avoid spoilers on a TV show that I'm watching, I won't go online until I finish the recent episode (this seldom happens though because I generally don't watch a TV show while it's on air unless it's an interesting season of Survivor). Let's face it, the internet spoils everything. One should know what to do.

Things that can be spoiled depend on the book's genre. For mysteries, thrillers, suspense, sci-fi, etc., plot twists and identity reveals are definitely spoilers. For literary fiction, spoilers do not matter (at least for me). Characterization/Writing > Plot. A few notable exceptions would be those that have set their structure as a key point of the novel (e.g. Atonement).

For movies/tv shows that have aired years ago, I think everyone should be allowed to discuss them. They are already past their prime, what more can be spoiled? It's already like vultures pecking on what remains of their carcasses. Let everyone have a feast!

To conclude, my general rule is this: ask the person if they have read such and such book. If yes, discuss. If no and if you insist on discussing, ask the person if they mind spoilers. If the answer to that is yes, manners. Don't feel entitled to go barging on them and telling them spoilery stuff. They also have the right to enjoy the book as much as you did regardless of the book's genre.