 The last couple of weeks have blissed us with three very important cultural juggernauts. We've had Game of Thrones, we've had Avengers Endgame, and we've had, last but not least, Bachelor in Paradise Australia, very important. But obviously with every major cultural event comes major spoilers. So today we are debating, are spoilers ever okay? No, never. Yes, they are. Welcome back. Films, TV shows, big cultural events hold a lot of emotional value to the audiences that are watching and consuming them. So I just feel like spoiling something like that through social media and the means that we get spoilers, media outlets, etc. Without kind of advanced warning of telling someone that there's a spoiler up ahead. It's wrong. I would say that when it comes to Twitter, part of a cultural event is talking about it. So there's a show, which is very important, but there's equally the conversations that everyone's having online, which I would say gives you almost as much joy as the actual thing. Therefore, to say no spoilers and not allow conversation online is hindering a significant part of that experience and that cultural moment. But that's not necessarily needed to be done as a show is airing live because you're just seeking validation. Like, you don't need to spoil a moment for someone else. That could potentially be living in a different time zone that may not have live cable TV or Sky or satellite network, so they'll be watching on demand or catch up. And also not everyone can afford to go pay £16 at the cinema straight away. We should be able to discuss things online. I maintain that that will be part of the culture. I think if you were to be like, blah, blah, blah, such and such dies, then like, no, that's a dick move. Like, you should absolutely not. But if, say, like a week after you're using it as part of a conversation in a Twitter debate, then it's like, if you're really into a show, if you really want to know, if you love in-game, if you really care about sort of Marvel, then you should be kind of clued up or just stay off Twitter. What do you think of the Rousseau brothers imposing a spoiler ban for like two weeks after the film comes out? And then after that, like, no, you can just post about it online. A two-week ban, I think, is perfectly fine. Like, that's kind of like reasonable. Two weeks gives you, especially with something like Avengers, I mean, every Marvel film, to be honest, like, they're colossal. It's like a billion-dollar-pound franchise. Like, it's like a lot of money invested within this project. So, and it also expands like so many films. And if you've not watched within them two weeks, you get spoilers. And I'm sorry, but like, it's your own fault. Like, you should have invested time there. I mean, two weeks is even enough time to legally stream it and get our decent copy. So you can't even fund money. Huh? How one does that? Now one does that. What about the Super Bowl or the Oscars? And someone, like, everyone's posting that X won the Oscar. That happens. And you either watch it or you don't. I've got a tweet here from Dana Schwartz, my spoiler hot take. People don't and can't all see movies at the same time. So it seems fair to refrain from big spoilers. But Game of Thrones is a vent TV edit at a particular time. Watch it or stay off Twitter. Same as if you T-vote a football game. It has the same cultural resonance and so much of Game of Thrones' culture is steeped in this mass worldwide phenomenon that people are going to talk about. They want to engage. They want to see what people are saying. I get as much pleasure out of watching the write-ups about Love Island as they do from watching Love Island. We work within social media. We work within the media industry. So we can't, I can't especially just stay off Twitter. That's a part of my job role. I have to be on it and you can't mute everything because not to be disrespectful, but a lot of people can't spell. So you can mute Game of Thrones but you'll get Game of Thrones. The Game of Thrones isn't good because this person does that, this person does that. Like there's all of these other elements to it. The lighting, the drama, the music, the cinematography, John Snow's face. There was a study done in 2011 called Story Spoilers Don't Spoil Stories. It was done at the UC San Diego. And the whole sort of premise of it is that like knowing how something happens doesn't necessarily ruin your entire enjoyment. I quote, Suspense regarding the outcome may not be critical to enjoyment and may even impair pleasure by distracting attention from a story's relevant details and aesthetic qualities. So there is an argument to say that if you know what's gonna happen, you're least hung up on like, did he, didn't she, blah, blah, blah? Have they screwed? Have they not? Is someone gonna die? And you're like, oh, that's a good death scene. I get what you're saying. And I agree with it. Thank you. Like sometimes knowing the narrative pre-hand, I mean, I do it with a lot of movies too and I'm not sure about whether or not I wanna watch them. I wikipedia to kind of like feel out the plot and see whether or not it'd be something that I'd enjoy to watch. Because then that's not necessarily ruining the enjoyment of the film for me. It's just taking away the suspense. And that's fine because then I know I'm gonna enjoy the content that I'm viewing and that's okay if it's not the deal. Yeah, like I wanna know what's happening in a horror film at the end of it because I hate horror films. So I want that suspense to take away because otherwise I will shit the bid. Benjamin Johnson, who's an assistant professor of communication science at VU University, their study found that giving away key plot details may not ruin an experience entirely but can reduce suspense, like I said, and decrease overall enjoyment. For example, I watched The Simple Favour the other day and I have already read the book. So I read Wikipedia to kind of see that the film pulled a similar plot because I was investing in the book and I didn't wanna ruin my viewpoint on that. But if it's something like a cultural juggernaut like Game of Thrones or Avengers, then you're taking away someone else's enjoyment from that film and reveling in your own enjoyment by doing that and that's selfish. I think what we've established here is like, first of all, don't be a dick and just try and ruin a show for someone else's enjoyment. Be aware of people's access to films or the times that they can like viably watch TV and whether they're like 12 year old or not. So don't go like drop in major spoiler bombs. But then, yeah, you should be allowed to have conversation online. I feel like that's sort of just like getting to a medium etiquette. Like it takes just like a bit of common decency. Basically, just be conscious. You are a master of your own life, so live it right. Don't f***ing spoil.