(Yes, if you know the twist at the end then this will ruin certain movies. Mostly those of M Night Shyamalan, I suspect, although I’ve never gone back to watch them again to check. But if this is the case – if all it takes is one little slip of the tongue and now you can’t enjoy the thing… Then it wasn’t very good to begin with. You didn’t spoil it; it was never good.)
Name your favorite movies. Would you watch them again? I contend it is the fact that you would watch them again, and again, that make them your favorites.
If it didn’t take rather longer, you’d probably reread more books too. I fucking love rereading books.
You know what’s going to happen. Maybe you can even quote along. Knowing what’s going to happen not only doesn’t spoil it for you, it becomes an active part of your enjoyment, because you can anticipate the continuation of that enjoyment knowing your expectations will be entirely met. You never have to hedge against disappointment if you’re properly “spoiled.”
Where did this idea of spoilers come from? We don’t apply it to other forms of art. Will you not bother with MoMA now because you’ve seen some van Gogh fridge magnets and you know he was kind of into sunflowers?
Rowan doesn’t listen to Harry Potter on repeat because she wants to know what happens next; she just wants to be in that world. In the same way I want to, with some regularity, be in Jane Austen or Georgette Heyer’s worlds, or Tamora Pierce or Anne McCaffrey’s. In the same way I would absolutely, like Will Smith in I Am Legend, bring Starry Night home for further enjoyment.
Recipe: Paul Hollywood's focaccia. It's very hard, I think, too make it too salty on top. Overestimate.
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