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I don't think I'm typically bothered by spoilers, but The Usual Suspects stands out as an example of where it definitely hurt my enjoyment of that movie. I mean

I don't think I'm typically bothered by spoilers, but The Usual Suspects stands out as an example of where it definitely hurt my enjoyment of that movie. I mean, I still liked the movie, but man, I can only imagine how much more I would've enjoyed it without the spoilers. Also, by this point The Sixth Sense is ruined for me, so I'm not sure I'll ever get around to seeing it.

rflrob 15y ago
I can only imagine how much more I would've enjoyed it without the spoilers. Ah, but you're arguing a counterfactual. The study suggests that you wouldn't have enjoyed it more without the spoiler. Similarly, with The Sixth Sense, you might enjoy seeing how Shyamalan puts the story together and imagining how a naive viewer would try to reconcile things.
- RobAtticus 15y ago
  The study suggests something that is true in general for people, it doesn't apply to every person in every case. Like I said, in most cases I'm not bothered by spoilers. However, in this particular case, I felt a diminished sense of enjoyment of that movie. I base this off of my experiences of other twists of similar or lesser magnitudes and how much enjoyment I got out of those. I liked the movie, I liked the characters, but I was missing the punch at the end and I knew it. It felt like a letdown. Hell, I would've probably liked the movie more if it hadn't had the twist because knowing the twist and knowing I wouldn't be surprised made the movie end rather flat.
- knshaum 15y ago
  I did that with 'Psycho'. The publicity for the original release was full of pleas that people not give away the ending. By now, is there anyone in all of western civilization that doesn't know that Norman Bates was the killer? (If so, sorry about that.) Yet I had fun watching it, seeing how Hitchcock let the audience _think_ that the movie was all about Janet Leigh's character, then slamming them into a narrative brick wall with the shower scene. Spider Robinson once described having read a novel twice, once for the story itself, then again 'to admire the carpentry'. With a spoiler ending 'ruined', I tend to wind up doing that on the first pass.

rflrob 15y ago

I can only imagine how much more I would've enjoyed it without the spoilers. Ah, but you're arguing a counterfactual. The study suggests that you wouldn't have enjoyed it more without the spoiler. Similarly, with The Sixth Sense, you might enjoy seeing how Shyamalan puts the story together and imagining how a naive viewer would try to reconcile things.

RobAtticus 15y ago
The study suggests something that is true in general for people, it doesn't apply to every person in every case. Like I said, in most cases I'm not bothered by spoilers. However, in this particular case, I felt a diminished sense of enjoyment of that movie. I base this off of my experiences of other twists of similar or lesser magnitudes and how much enjoyment I got out of those. I liked the movie, I liked the characters, but I was missing the punch at the end and I knew it. It felt like a letdown. Hell, I would've probably liked the movie more if it hadn't had the twist because knowing the twist and knowing I wouldn't be surprised made the movie end rather flat.
knshaum 15y ago
I did that with 'Psycho'. The publicity for the original release was full of pleas that people not give away the ending. By now, is there anyone in all of western civilization that doesn't know that Norman Bates was the killer? (If so, sorry about that.) Yet I had fun watching it, seeing how Hitchcock let the audience _think_ that the movie was all about Janet Leigh's character, then slamming them into a narrative brick wall with the shower scene. Spider Robinson once described having read a novel twice, once for the story itself, then again 'to admire the carpentry'. With a spoiler ending 'ruined', I tend to wind up doing that on the first pass.