This Side of Paradise question (spoiler)

How about we simply let emergencyfruit know that the board rules don't require spoiler designations for things that old, and just move on without calling it "laughable"?

 

Greg, I agree, and the funny thing is I think it was the father who hadn't seen it, and he may have been around in 1933 for the first run!

Oh and I read 'spoiler' and laughed, so it was laughable, but i meant no disrespect to the OP, for the record.

 

Nor do I. As has been ably demonstrated by some of the posters on this board, there's very little respect for spoilerific information on sites like Facebook and even in threads on this board. I much prefer to err on the side of caution and always appreciate it when others do as well, no matter how old the film or tv show being discussed is.

I mean, the twist at Psycho is something that was ruined for me before I saw the film. That sucked. Alternatively, imagine something less important like the Yoda reveal in Empire Strikes Back or who Keyser Soze is in The Usual Suspects or the twist at the end of The Sixth Sense.

If I had my druthers, we'd always include spoiler tags for such things because there's just no way to know who has seen what by when, and frankly it's not all that much extra work to include in a post.

Your mileage may vary of course and I know there are those who disagree with me, but I stand by my opinion on this.

 

^ wow, i acknowledge your opinion on this, though I think the ship has sailed long ago on this. Media outlets, let alone yokels on the internet routinely 'spoil' things, with the approval of the producers. Last week Letterman was chatting with a guest and spoke as if it were common knowledge regarding characters in his upcoming movie. I had already guessed the contents of this conversation but, damn, now THAT was a spoiler for someone who cared and didn't know.

A plot point, not even the punchline of the episode, of a 45 year old episode on a board full of people who worship it, hardly needs a spoiler.

 

Well, I suppose the difference is simply whether or not it's a spoiler about something you've (the general you) seen already or not.

I'd rather not be spoiled myself, and get supremely irritated when I do, inadvertently because someone else didn't have the momentary consideration to use a spoiler tag or warning. But like I said, that's just me.

Either way, I think it's a bit much to be teasing a newbie poster about it after their first post on the board.

 

I agree, and no teasing was intended from here.

There must be a fun site with classic 'non spoilers' **BTW, Truman beats Dewey!** and the like.

 

"It's a COOKBOOK!"

 

If you don't want to be spoiled on a 45 year old show then don't read a forum about a 45 year old show. If you had to post spoilers for TOS every single post would be one big spoiler tag.

Spoiler: shocking event

OMG Kirk isn't really dead in Amok Time!!!!

I got spoiled on Enterprise because I looked at the forum a couple years after it was over, before I'd seen it to the end. Guess whose fault that was.. mine.

OP, I think it is sweet you erred on the side of caution. It's a big forum and when you're new it's a little nerve wracking to figure out what is acceptable and what isn't at times.

 

One possible exception* to that rule is if a poster is doing a watch-thread, and invites participation from others, especially if they have never watched a particular series (in this case, perhaps TOS?). I have participated in a few threads like that, and as we follow along on the show with the OP, it's best to not tell them information about upcoming episodes. Sure, TOS is 45 years old, TNG is 25, DS9 and Voyager are 15 years old at this point, but if you're watching them all at once, it's still new to you.

*Just an exception to the rule. Doesn't stop spoilers from being posted in other people's threads, obviously. Abandon hope all ye who enter, blah blah...

 

Yes I agree tighr that is the exception. The poster usually requests no spoilers and people are good about reminding each other and editing posts if something slips through. That's a specific thread set up that way and it works well. Wouldn't work for a whole forum though, I can't even imagine how irritating it would be to discuss stuff if you had to spoiler tag constantly.

 

Oh my...

Thanks for the diversity of opinions, everyone! To be clear, I know that no offense was intended, and none was taken. It's suprising sometimes what different forums expect from participants, and while I knew it was probably unnecessary, I wanted to err on the safe side rather than risk getting blacklisted (redshirted?) on my very first thread.

I am myself relatively new to Trek, and am currently finishing up the third season of TOS for the first time, and while I have the sense not to click on a thread discussing an episode I've not yet seen, let's not forget that curiosity in the face of danger was central to the Enterprise's mission. Despite the passage of 40-odd years, people like me stumble into the strange and wonderful world of Trek all the time, and sometimes we can't resist wanting to share the excitement, even though we've barely gotten our feet wet. So if this really gets under anyone's skin, just consider the tag a shout-out to all those new initiates, past, present, and future.

 

You know, way back in the eighties, I caught a college showing of PSYCHO. As the movie neared its conclusion, I was shocked to realize that several members of the audience didn't realize (52-YEAR-OLD SPOILER ALERT!) that Norman was the killer and that there wasn't really a crazy knife-wielding old lady in the basement . . . .

So I guess you can't always assume that everybody is familiar with even the most classic movies!

 

Not wanting to be "spoiled" is why I stay out of most of the TrekLit threads. I haven't read most of the novels that were published during the past 15 years simply because I couldn't afford them. I'm concentrating on my Classic Trek fanzine collecting these days, so I'm still not ready for the TrekLit novel-specific threads. Someday, sure. But until then, I'd rather not know every plot twist and ending.

And people can jump into new fandoms at any age, so here's a from one older fan to one younger fan (in terms of "fan years")! I got into Star Trek in 1975, at age 12. Welcome to the wonderful multiverse of Star Trek!

I rarely watch movies anymore, even on TV, and have never seen any version of "Psycho". Yet I've always known this. It's part of the popular culture, as something it's almost impossible not to know. OTOH, I have no idea what you mean by an old lady in the basement (and never will, since I still have no wish to see that movie).