4 ms·

Reminds me of the Snape Kills Dumbledore spoiler initiative that happened in 2005, where people would drive around bookstores with people yelling in line and sp

by tombert 6mo ago

Reminds me of the Snape Kills Dumbledore spoiler initiative that happened in 2005, where people would drive around bookstores with people yelling in line and spoiling it. Admittedly, kind of a dick move, but I have to admit I did find it kind of funny at the time. https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/snape-kills-dumbledore https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/snape-kills-dumbledore

shermantanktop 6mo ago
Can you describe what you found funny at the time? I'm genuinely curious what motivates behavior like this.
- wormpilled 6mo ago
  It was people that didn't like reading or nerdy kids, trying to spoil their interests.
  - tombert 6mo ago
    I actually liked reading and I was a nerdy kid. To be clear, I never actively participated in the spoiler stuff, just read about the reactions. I mean, keep in mind I was fourteen when this happened, and fourteen year old boys are very often assholes and I was sadly not an exception to this. I guess I just found it funny how much of a reaction people had with it. I liked the Harry Potter books too, I was reading them like every other fourteen year old was, and the plot being spoiled for me didn't really bother me very much, cuz, you know, it's just a book. Some people really got upset. Again, definitely a dick move to do that, and a dick move for me to find it amusing. Kids are douchebags.
    - rkomorn 6mo ago
      Did you also find videos of guys waiting in line at stores to buy consoles, then smashing them in front of the people who were still in line funny?
  - morpheuskafka 6mo ago
    I doubt that. Someone who doesn't like reading wouldn't think of "spoiling a book" as a prank category that comes to mind or understands it to be a serious upset rather than just slightly annoying. Also, they'd likely feel that going to a bookstore and shouting things relating to a book serious is "cringe" or whatever you want to call it, if they aren't the type to even go to a bookstore in the first place.
    - wormpilled 6mo ago
      All it takes is one person to go "I did this" and then the others have a good troll/joke to use. Doesn't take a lot of effort and people were more outgoing back then.
- ethanrutherford 6mo ago
  Finding something funny doesn't necessarily imply you endorse the behavior, believe it to be harmless fun, or even that you don't feel sorry for the victim. There's entire categories of entertainment media that use "unfortunate things happening to strangers" for comedic effect.
  - jasomill 6mo ago
    "Ow! My Balls!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWfOMeLk6m0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWfOMeLk6m0
    - LocalH 6mo ago
      "go way i'm batin"
- deleted 6mo ago
  [deleted]
- dfxm12 6mo ago
  I don't know if I think it's funny, but I'm probably equally curious about two points. I do think that the journey is as important as the destination. I spoil things for myself all the time, mostly because I'm just always out of step with pop culture. It doesn't really impede my enjoyment of a well made book/game/film if I know some plot beats ahead of time. If you're just in it for the major plot twists, why not just read the wikipedia synopsis? Also, there's the assumption that it was a real spoiler. It's not immediately verifiable. What if people were yelling "Snape kills Harry"? Why did the people in line assume the guy yelling into the night was being truthful, or that weirdly cropped images of pages weren't just photoshopped?
- bryanrasmussen 6mo ago
  lots of modern comedy revolves around people who should know better being petty little jerks and doing stupid things that actually don't cause any real damage but just makes everybody wonder "why is this idiot such a pathetic asshole?!?"
- drawfloat 6mo ago
  It’s about 20 years old, so the likely answer: they were under 18
- wellthisisgreat 6mo ago
  Not sure about funny, but the schadenfreude from spoiling a plot like this may come from spoilers seeing themselves as being “other” or feeling excluded from a group where the fascination with the media (Harry Potter fans) is the common trait. You may not want to be a Harry Potter fan, but seeing people obsessed with it and gathering around it may make you feel isolated
rectang 6mo ago
A mild reminder that humans tend towards inflicting pain on their fellow humans when there are no consequences.
- tombert 6mo ago
  I feel like "pain" is a strong word here. It was a book spoiler. I wasn't laughing at people being punched or hurt or anything. I acknowledge it's a dick move, but it really is just a spoiler for a book, not exactly life ruining and really shouldn't even be day-ruining. I had the book spoiled for me too and it was just something I moved on from, somehow.
  - lobf 6mo ago
    Maybe you forget the absolute hysteria around these books. People were passionate about learning what happened next, and incredibly excited for the reveal to happen organically. This was done because it was the easiest way to massively distribute pain to people about a known weak spot. It was mean spirited, anti-social, and honestly indefensible. If it isn't what's the defense?
  - rectang 6mo ago
    To be clear, I'm not sitting in judgment of you or any of the other spoiler trolls, not back then and certainly not now. This is an instance where the Potter-philes couldn't fight back, and to my mind that's inevitably going to bring out the worst in human nature. Elsethread, you mention that "some people really got upset.". In some sense, the more upset they get, the more successful the troll and the funnier it gets, right? At least, it feels funny to me, at the same time as it also feels bad to imagine upset kids, at the same time as feeling that upset kids learning that other humans are cruel is a necessary part of growing up.
  - add-sub-mul-div 6mo ago
    You're not equipped to know what the right word is for anyone but yourself. You go through life curious about the vast diversity of mindsets rather than assuming they're homogenous.
  - 6mo ago
bitwize 6mo ago
My wife and I have decided there is one thing that it's universally okay for us to spoil to one another in a book, movie, etc.: if the cat/dog survives till the end.
Neywiny 6mo ago
I think a truly good piece of media is one where even if you have things spoiled you can still get a reaction. All things considered the main character pretty much always wins/lives and the main villain pretty much always loses/dies. And one I've noticed a lot is that the first even possible romantic interest is most likely who they'll end up with if they end up with anyone. It's not foolproof but I'd put a bit of money on it. It's the in between that matters. To go a step further, sure he killed Dumbledore but without knowing why, and without knowing the real why that's revealed later, only a small part of the fun is lost. That's what makes it re-watchable to me. I'll remember the twists and the endings, but the emotions and the minutae are what keep me watching.
buzer 6mo ago
The funnier version was people doing it during the next book's release.

by tombert 6mo ago

shermantanktop 6mo ago

Can you describe what you found funny at the time? I'm genuinely curious what motivates behavior like this.

wormpilled 6mo ago
It was people that didn't like reading or nerdy kids, trying to spoil their interests.
- tombert 6mo ago
  I actually liked reading and I was a nerdy kid. To be clear, I never actively participated in the spoiler stuff, just read about the reactions. I mean, keep in mind I was fourteen when this happened, and fourteen year old boys are very often assholes and I was sadly not an exception to this. I guess I just found it funny how much of a reaction people had with it. I liked the Harry Potter books too, I was reading them like every other fourteen year old was, and the plot being spoiled for me didn't really bother me very much, cuz, you know, it's just a book. Some people really got upset. Again, definitely a dick move to do that, and a dick move for me to find it amusing. Kids are douchebags.
  - rkomorn 6mo ago
    Did you also find videos of guys waiting in line at stores to buy consoles, then smashing them in front of the people who were still in line funny?
- morpheuskafka 6mo ago
  I doubt that. Someone who doesn't like reading wouldn't think of "spoiling a book" as a prank category that comes to mind or understands it to be a serious upset rather than just slightly annoying. Also, they'd likely feel that going to a bookstore and shouting things relating to a book serious is "cringe" or whatever you want to call it, if they aren't the type to even go to a bookstore in the first place.
  - wormpilled 6mo ago
    All it takes is one person to go "I did this" and then the others have a good troll/joke to use. Doesn't take a lot of effort and people were more outgoing back then.
ethanrutherford 6mo ago
Finding something funny doesn't necessarily imply you endorse the behavior, believe it to be harmless fun, or even that you don't feel sorry for the victim. There's entire categories of entertainment media that use "unfortunate things happening to strangers" for comedic effect.
- jasomill 6mo ago
  "Ow! My Balls!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWfOMeLk6m0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWfOMeLk6m0
  - LocalH 6mo ago
    "go way i'm batin"
deleted 6mo ago
[deleted]
dfxm12 6mo ago
I don't know if I think it's funny, but I'm probably equally curious about two points. I do think that the journey is as important as the destination. I spoil things for myself all the time, mostly because I'm just always out of step with pop culture. It doesn't really impede my enjoyment of a well made book/game/film if I know some plot beats ahead of time. If you're just in it for the major plot twists, why not just read the wikipedia synopsis? Also, there's the assumption that it was a real spoiler. It's not immediately verifiable. What if people were yelling "Snape kills Harry"? Why did the people in line assume the guy yelling into the night was being truthful, or that weirdly cropped images of pages weren't just photoshopped?
bryanrasmussen 6mo ago
lots of modern comedy revolves around people who should know better being petty little jerks and doing stupid things that actually don't cause any real damage but just makes everybody wonder "why is this idiot such a pathetic asshole?!?"
drawfloat 6mo ago
It’s about 20 years old, so the likely answer: they were under 18
wellthisisgreat 6mo ago
Not sure about funny, but the schadenfreude from spoiling a plot like this may come from spoilers seeing themselves as being “other” or feeling excluded from a group where the fascination with the media (Harry Potter fans) is the common trait. You may not want to be a Harry Potter fan, but seeing people obsessed with it and gathering around it may make you feel isolated

rectang 6mo ago

A mild reminder that humans tend towards inflicting pain on their fellow humans when there are no consequences.

tombert 6mo ago
I feel like "pain" is a strong word here. It was a book spoiler. I wasn't laughing at people being punched or hurt or anything. I acknowledge it's a dick move, but it really is just a spoiler for a book, not exactly life ruining and really shouldn't even be day-ruining. I had the book spoiled for me too and it was just something I moved on from, somehow.
- lobf 6mo ago
  Maybe you forget the absolute hysteria around these books. People were passionate about learning what happened next, and incredibly excited for the reveal to happen organically. This was done because it was the easiest way to massively distribute pain to people about a known weak spot. It was mean spirited, anti-social, and honestly indefensible. If it isn't what's the defense?
- rectang 6mo ago
  To be clear, I'm not sitting in judgment of you or any of the other spoiler trolls, not back then and certainly not now. This is an instance where the Potter-philes couldn't fight back, and to my mind that's inevitably going to bring out the worst in human nature. Elsethread, you mention that "some people really got upset.". In some sense, the more upset they get, the more successful the troll and the funnier it gets, right? At least, it feels funny to me, at the same time as it also feels bad to imagine upset kids, at the same time as feeling that upset kids learning that other humans are cruel is a necessary part of growing up.
- add-sub-mul-div 6mo ago
  You're not equipped to know what the right word is for anyone but yourself. You go through life curious about the vast diversity of mindsets rather than assuming they're homogenous.
- 6mo ago

bitwize 6mo ago

My wife and I have decided there is one thing that it's universally okay for us to spoil to one another in a book, movie, etc.: if the cat/dog survives till the end.

Neywiny 6mo ago

I think a truly good piece of media is one where even if you have things spoiled you can still get a reaction. All things considered the main character pretty much always wins/lives and the main villain pretty much always loses/dies. And one I've noticed a lot is that the first even possible romantic interest is most likely who they'll end up with if they end up with anyone. It's not foolproof but I'd put a bit of money on it. It's the in between that matters. To go a step further, sure he killed Dumbledore but without knowing why, and without knowing the real why that's revealed later, only a small part of the fun is lost. That's what makes it re-watchable to me. I'll remember the twists and the endings, but the emotions and the minutae are what keep me watching.

buzer 6mo ago

The funnier version was people doing it during the next book's release.