Rakuen Growlithe wrote: ↑Sun May 13, 2018 3:09 pmSee, I disagree with almost everything Contrast said there.
And I disagree with almost everything you've said.
Rakuen Growlithe wrote: ↑Sun May 13, 2018 3:09 pm
Knowing exactly when a character when a character dies is a bit extreme, more likely is knowing that a character dies and knowing that can heighten the emotion.
Excuse me? I must be misinterpreting this, because it almost sounds like you're defending spoilers, or saying that they can make a story better.
Like Galahad said, everyone reacts to spoilers differently, so I can't speak for everyone when I say this, but I know that if someone spoiled a movie or a book I was looking forward to by revealing a character's death, I wouldn't go, "Oh, yippee! Now I get to try and guess exactly when that will happen." No. I would be very annoyed (as I am sure most people would be). My emotion for the movie most certainly wouldn't be "heightened". It would be lowered. Knowing such a major event would only prevent me from forming any kind of emotional attachment to that character.
Rakuen Growlithe wrote: ↑Sun May 13, 2018 3:09 pmThe emotion in a scene does not just come from that scene, it comes from getting the audience to put themselves in the position of a character. It makes them experience what that character is feeling and that depends on what the person has experienced. If someone is watching a movie where a parent or lover dies and their parent or lover has died it will have a greater impact because of that. The emotional aspect of a story is just not completely self contained.
I agree that empathy for a character is incredibly important for a story, and that empathy can only be achieved when the audience sees themselves within a certain character or situation, something they're familiar with or have experienced for themselves. But why should I (or anyone) feel empathy towards a character or a situation when I just
don't care. That's the crux of what I'm getting at. Spoilers make it so that I cannot feel empathy towards a story. It makes it impossible for me to care about the characters or what they're going through or what's going to happen to them. How can I put myself in the position of a character when I know beforehand what's going to happen to them? Spoilers forcibly eject me from the character I'm trying to empathize with and the world the author is trying to create for me.
If the character hopes they're going to win the war, then I want to be able to hope along with him.
If the character despairs at the loss of his loved ones, then I want to be able to feel despair alongside him.
If the character tries his absolute best despite overwhelming odds, then I want to be able to cheer for him. It's because he doesn't know if he will succeed, or if he even can succeed, that puts us both in the same boat, because I don't know either.
Spoilers take away my ability to feel empathy for the characters, and that takes away my ability to feel the emotion a story so desperately needs to ring true in my mind and my heart. It makes everything hollow and meaningless.
Rakuen Growlithe wrote: ↑Sun May 13, 2018 3:09 pmA spoiler can't stop you crying, laughing, screaming and all because we know movies and books continue to elicit those responses even after the ultimate spoiler, having watched or read them before!
It most certainly can, and I am no stranger to crying at things I've read and watched before. I cry every time I watch FMA: Brotherhood (you know the scenes I mean). I cry every time I watch Made In Abyss. I cry every time I watch Steins;Gate. It's because of two things. 1: Lasting empathy for the characters, and 2: recapturing the magic of the empathy and emotion I felt during the first viewing.
But what if those stories had been spoiled for me? Would I have been able to feel the same emotions watching through them the first time? Would I have been able to empathize with the characters in the same way? No. I would not. And that would mean that any subsequent viewings wouldn't have had the same impact either. In fact, if those stories had been spoiled to me beforehand, I think there's a very good chance I would never have watched them a second time at all, or even finished my fist viewing. Spoilers can have far-reaching consequences when it comes to the enjoyment of a story.
As you can no-doubt tell, I loathe spoilers with a passion. Maybe it's because I love stories with an equal amount of passion. I watch stories, read stories, and when the right ones come along, I even
live those stories. I have spent years writing stories of my own, so I know how incredibly difficult it is to create an entire world out of scratch, and then populate it with make-believe people. I know how it's nearly impossible for them to reach out of the page and touch the hearts of
real people who have taken time out of their
real lives to read what I have written. But sometimes it happens, and when it does, it's the best feeling in the whole world. It's magic.
And that is why I hate spoilers so much. They take all that magic and just... spoil it.