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(A Reluctantly Included) Spoiler Warning: Game of Thrones; Pride and Prejudice
When I was in middle school, nothing could tear me away from my books. Before I got my first phone, my eyes touched literally nothing else. After homework got done? Reading. The walk from the car to the grocery store? Catch me trailing behind my mom, eyes glued to a page. I would even sneak books out to recess under my winter jacket to read outside instead of playing or “having fun.” Yet oftentimes, before I finished each book I read, I would find myself, as if drawn by some magnetic force, turning to the last page and spoiling the ending for myself. On purpose.
OK, that’s a little melodramatic. Most of the time, I would start with just a peek. Check to see if my favorite character’s name was back there. It was? Cool! They probably survived whatever young-adult fantasy I had picked up that week. Sometimes instead of the last page, I’d only skip a couple, or a chapter, just to see how the immediate action played out. But then, as soon as my confidence wavered, I’d have to double-check.
Maybe this time I’d scan a few more words. Each glance at those nebulous future pages would restore my confidence that all would be well and gave me the courage to continue through the book. I was insatiable. I couldn’t wait for the author to finish demonstrating the hard and long path the heroes were taking to succeed in their journeys. I needed to know, as soon as a thought began to form into a question, that everything would be okay.
Every once in a while, my eyes would catch a set of words that changed the entire way I was reading the book. A character would die, or two would get together or, as in one particularly notable case, my favorite love interest would betray the protagonist. You might think, in the dangerous game of roulette I was playing, that this was the bullet. I’d have ruined the story for myself, and emptied the book of all excitement. But this was my gold mine. This was exquisite. Knowing something I shouldn’t know — that was THAT big, that changed the way the book read, the characters appeared, the fabric of the world was built — was the dream.
I admit it! I love spoilers. Not only do they give me a reason to push through a particularly boring novel, but I am also a firm believer that if a story is ruined by a spoiler, maybe it’s not a very good story to start with. Upon a second read (or a first, in my case), you should be able to understand more about the world, the characters and the work the author put into foreshadowing their ending. Instead of sprinting to the end of a novel, tearing through to know what the ending might be, you get to stroll through it, noticing the greenery and careful landscaping of the grounds. If a good ending only enhances a book’s value, knowing about it in advance just sweetens the pot.
As I’ve gotten older — read more classics and seen more shows — I’ve often known how things were going to end long before I’ve even gotten to the inciting incident. No one starts “Romeo and Juliet” not knowing where they’re headed. It’s just what happens when you live in a world that is influenced by art. It’s impossible to insulate yourself from it. For my part, I knew when I started the acclaimed “Game of Thrones” that Ned Stark was going to die. I also knew, thanks to a friend, that Jon Snow was a Targaryen.
Those plot points being spoiled didn’t ruin the experience for me. In a way, they actually kept me engaged in the show, excited to see not just where things would end, but how things were going to end — how exactly characters got to the freeze-framed versions of them that I knew were waiting for me, chapters or episodes ahead. I always had something to look forward to: I just needed to make it to the Red Wedding or Jon Snow’s death. And if knowing a spoiler or two is the thing that gets me from not watching to watching or not reading to reading, I’ll take it.
Interestingly enough, a study by Nicholas Christenfeld, a University of California, San Diego psychology professor, suggested that spoilers do in fact increase an audience member’s enjoyment of a story. Christenfeld hypothesizes that because you know where the story ends up, you are better able to make sense of its purpose and themes earlier on in your experience. It makes the plot easier to follow and allows you to indulge more and have fun instead of stressing over missing important pieces of information.
That’s not to say there’s no such thing as too many spoilers. Once I went to read “A Game of Thrones”, there wasn’t all that much that strayed from the show. I had broken my cardinal rule of reading the book before seeing the adaptation, and I have to admit, it did come back to bite me here. It was hard for the book to keep my attention, and it took more energy than desired for me to plow through the 800-page paperback. It made me wonder if I had known only a few plot points instead of each and every one, whether I would have clicked better with the novel.
But that’s not to say avoiding an adaptation in fear of spoilers for the source material is always the best move. I had seen the movie version of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” (2005 supremacy) at least three times before I picked up the book in high school. Because the movie tends to stray from the book and Austen’s writing is so captivating, when I did finally decide to pick up the novel — following a screening of the film — it honestly felt like reading a whole different story, with a structure that I was familiar with, but a new world of wry humor and distinct characters that I had never previously encountered. Knowing that Lizzie and Mr. Darcy would ultimately end up together enriched their every interaction and allowed me to notice things I might not have before. It also gave me the momentum I needed at age 14 to propel myself through difficult writing that I might not have understood and ultimately would have given up on otherwise.
So yes, I love spoilers. Most of my favorite books have been spoiled either for me or by me before I first finished reading them, and it’s probably what made them a favorite. So, next time you’re struggling to finish a novel, or even TV show, I wholeheartedly encourage you to pull up a trusty search browser and look up how it ends. Or, if you want the authentic experience, sneak a peek at a later chapter, read a future episode description. Not only do I promise you’ll be willing to give whatever it is another try, but maybe you’ll find something that carries you all the way to the final page.
Daily Arts Writer Cora Rolfes can be reached at corolfes@umich.edu.
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