Spoiler (media)

A spoiler ( engl. to spoil, " spoil " ) is an information, the essential plot elements of a literary work, a film, a video game, an audio book, a sporting event or future episodes of a series summarizing, making it suitable to enjoy the full to destroy the factory.

Demarcation

Most playback of plot elements of a plot is meant, which play a crucial role in the progress or resolution of each story and the run-up to the attention of the readers, viewers or listeners robs the tension. Who already knows, for example, in a thriller the Whodunit genus at the beginning the name of the offender, you may consume such a novel or movie only with limited experience. For example, visitors to the Agatha Christie Theatre piece will be asked Mousetrap St Martin's Theatre in London since 1952, not to reveal the murderer next visitor. On the other hand, it is at least questionable whether drinking suffers always under such Betrayed, so at least the examination result of the American psychologist Jonathan Leavitt and Nicholas Christians field in 2011.

The unsolicited disclosure of spoilers is generally considered gross discourtesy.

A spoiler is therefore in forums often encountered with harsh tone and is mostly used as an attack on fan bases. In this case, the spoiler is the more effective, the shorter it is. It could be many Harry Potter fans spoiled the fun early on, for example, by the information about the death of a protagonist of the Harry Potter books.

For sources that are aligned informative and are not intended Suggestion for the media consumption (eg scientific papers or encyclopedias ) spoiler, however, are common and also essential for the purpose of fulfillment of the sources. For sources with wooing and informative orientation (eg, literary reviews ), a compromise must be found. So the name of the dying in the sixth volume of the Harry Potter series main character has not already been abandoned by the German media with the release of the English edition, but only when reviews of the German edition.

Texts whose content is not immediately catch the eye, are sometimes set in printed publications in mirror writing. This technique is most commonly used for puzzles resolutions. De facto In this case it is a spoiler avoidance.

Spoiler warnings

In some media, it has become that an explanation of important plot elements from books, films or computer games called spoiler warnings are sent ahead. This is common especially on the relevant fan and discussion forums as well as on Usenet. Even in the world's largest movie database ( IMDb ) spoiler warnings are mandatory for all reviewers.

In contexts that do not deal primarily with the medial reactions of stories (eg, encyclopedias ), spoiler warnings are unusual - however, they are sometimes transferred in an ironic or parodic intent to other media. Outside of certain Internet communities to spoiler warnings failed to establish durable so far.

However, the spoiler warning is not an original invention of the internet. So it was in the First German TV many years ago customary for a short time to announce only in the form of a text box before the start of Saturday's sports show broadcast the Bundesliga results and to ask in maintaining their voltage interested spectators about to briefly close your eyes. The typical term internet spoiler warning at this time was of course still unknown. Also on the show What am I? the insertion of to consultative profession was announced and ends with a gong, as well as, more recently, the popular picture puzzles in the WDR program vacancy.

The type of spoiler warnings differs from medium to medium and from medium to medium. In texts on the Internet, for example, they are usually handled so that a clearly visible protruding Note ( bold, different font sizes, color, etc. ) are some blank lines and only then the corresponding contents, followed by additional blank lines. Sometimes is also made to the end of the spoiler alert by a specific reference.

Spoiler - highlight to Read

In Usenet posts spoilers are regularly encrypted with ROT13. Another form of spoiler alert is the so-called Highlight to Read ( " highlight to read "). The relevant parts of the text in a font color written, which is identical to the color of the background - Here, after the words " highlight to read spoiler". Only if the corresponding point is marked with a mouse, can read the text. This is the unintended reading these spoilers are avoided.

Similarly, the spoiler warnings use the user of self-help forums so-called trigger warnings. Some of these are also referred to as a spoiler.

Examples

• The spoiler The Borsche 's it, the cabaret artist Wolfgang Neuss 1962 spread in advertisements, betrayed the murderer of the film The scarf by Francis Durbridge. The Durbridge thriller ran in January 1962 in the new medium of television as a nationwide ARD street sweeper. Neuss was nationally as a bogeyman of the nation and traitors ( image ) is known, because he tried by the spoilers, people thus to lure them into his own film Comrade Munchausen to the cinema and away from the TV.
• In the TV cartoon series The Simpsons (episode " Looking back into marital bliss " / S03E12 ) is anything like parodies: Homer Simpson comes in the 1980s after the movie The Empire Strikes Back from a movie; while he passes the upcoming movie fans, he is talking loudly about the fact that " Darth Vader Luke's father " is.
• The same gag can also be found in parody Beilight - Bis (s ) again for dinner. There, the protagonist goes with her friend from the hitherto still fictional film adaptation of the book Breaking Dawn on a long waiting at the checkout line of people over, and talks about how crazy it is, " to have a vampire baby " ( the obvious content of the film).
• In the British television series Doctor Who spoilers are always present in seasons 4-7. The Doctor meets here often on a person from his future. Her diary, her past, including his future. That's why she prevents him from having a regular "spoiler! " in reading.