Why moviegoers should stop spoiling new movies like ‘Wicked’

in it Los Angeles Times’ On the culture desk back in the 2010s, journalists would have shorthand for readers’ hypersensitivity to spoilers. “And Rosebud was a sleigh,” one journalist might say when reading subscriber comments aloud, which might prompt another to respond, “And Bruce Willis was dead the whole time.”

Those two references, of course to the surprise endings of Citizen Kane and The sixth sense (sorry if that ruined it for you), they were intended as rolling your eyes at an exhausting complaint. When the ending of a film is so well known, there was the feeling that there were limits to how far a journalist should hold back. Asking a journalist to avoid twisted endings not only affects their story: it is disrespectful to their work. If you cared so much about what happens in the movie, why didn’t you ever take the 90 minutes of your life to watch it?

And yet, despite the justified boredom with archaic revelations, wait until you hear what happens to the Egyptians at the Red Sea! – this column comes to present an anti-spoiler case.

Not for a movie that came out years ago. For a movie based on a history that came out years ago.

Which, in these intellectual property-ridden days, is pretty much everything.

The most obvious example from this Oscar season is Wickedthat with that artificial suspense at the end of First part has led some people to cover their ears with anxiety when talking about the topic second arises. (A topic of daily discussions on TikTok). These people can only be told: keep cupping. And to everyone else: stop badmouthing. Stop talking freely about the resolution of the story. Stop risking someone within earshot ruining your upcoming November.

Yes, it’s true, the program has been published for 20 years and the book for almost 30. Point taken. But a film is its own creation (as all directors and writers constantly remind us) and that creation does not deserve to be denounced by the loquacious Galindas. Oh, you can blame Universal for making this longer than the Cowardly Lion’s tail. But moviegoers still deserve to arrive fresh.

But if only it were restricted to the Emerald City, you say. Don’t so many jewels shine this season with such a familiar light?

ConclaveThe grand finale was revealed in the 2016 novel. That’s the same year we learn of Roz’s fate at the end of The wild robot book. A complete stranger is completely known to anyone with even the slightest knowledge of music history: the Bob Dylan concert in question took place in 1965. Incidentally, that’s the same year that Frank Herbert published Dunewhose content prophetically revealed what will happen in the year 2024. Dune: Part Two.

And then this September 5whose dazzling climax was first revealed at the Olympic Games… in 1972.

Spoilers? In such trite tales?

Yeah.

One of the great pleasures of going to the movies these days is the amazement at what is new. We live in a time in which no detail remains private and no news goes unnoticed, in which all cultural creations are parsified and every current event is taken. Even delayed sports (a plausible possibility just a few years ago) have gone the way of the one-wing offense. Good luck not finding out what the Chargers-Chiefs did an hour after it happened. Or five minutes. Now we must know how it all ends before we even know it began.

However, there is one exception. Without much effort, we can still walk into a dark room with a giant screen and be completely floored by something we didn’t see coming. It’s what sets first-run movies apart from virtually every cultural product out there (including streaming, which people watch on their own schedule).

So if you’re tempted to casually drop plot details from those movies’ endings: “But they’ve been there for years!” you exclaim: this column comes to say: Don’t do it.

Don’t make fun of your cousin who is trying to avoid finding out about the second half of Wicked.

Don’t torment your partner, who will definitely catch up with you. Conclave this weekend.

Hell, don’t even make fun of your friend who isn’t sure about the fate of the hostages at the end of September 5 (although feel free to make fun of his upbringing). Instead, let them enjoy the last little morsels of surprise this world has left to offer.

So go ahead and be amazed by the older movies. Shout to your friends that Kevin Spacey was really Keyser Söze, Tyler Durden was imaginary and both Billy and Stu was Ghostface. Explain it on your social networks; write it in the sky. If these friends never attended a Blockbuster night, it’s not your fault. You can even hint at Luke, Leia, and Darth’s family history. But don’t tell them a word about the ending of a current movie. They will be happier now. And you won’t harm the cause of cinema forever.

This story appeared in the December 13 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.