Major Fannish Events

[thefourthvine]

For various reasons, right now I'm thinking about Major Fannish Events I Wish I Could Have Seen. Now, when I say that, I don't mean the actual events, most of which are available on DVD or at least on some fourth-generation cell phone recording somewhere, but the fannish reaction to those events

Comments

[darthfox]

I think about this all the time, and it is why I am so vehemently anti-spoiler (for myself; I wish other people wouldn't seek spoilers, but it's ultimately their business). I grew up knowing that Vader was Luke's father. I have tried to get my head around the level of shock that must have been, and then the three years of wondering whether it was true, with no internet -- I mean, it's like the fact that my three-year-old almost-niece knows how to operate the DVD player, right, the world is just a different place -- and I will never have that. I've always known Vader was Luke's father. My friends got into Buffy while I was studying abroad, so I've always known Angel was a vampire (that's the Buffy one that I think of - not the Angelus thing, but the dude being a vampire in the first place, which was foreshadowed Jossily but not actually revealed until a few episodes later, I believe). I've always known what "Rosebud" meant. And so on.

Those are spoilers of inevitable circumstance. I was spoiled for The Sixth Sense by someone else's carelessness, and I saw it anyway, but my bitterness at not ever seeing that movie as a mystery is considerable.

I have sometimes wished I hadn't read Fellowship before I saw the movie, because the moment when Gandalf says "Fly, you fools!" and lets go of the ledge got a gasp in the theater like you wouldn't believe, and I was a very little bit envious of the people who were surprised by it.

[thefourthvine]

for myself; I wish other people wouldn't seek spoilers, but it's ultimately their business

See, and that's exactly why I want spoilers so much for myself. For one thing, if I'm really surprised, I'm unlikely to figure out what's actually happened. If I'm really upset or scared - well. We had to go back to Fellowship of the Ring, because I blanked out during the first big battle sequence and couldn't remember anything that happened after that. (Battles like that - with hand-to-hand weapons, but armies - scare the holy crap out of me.) If I know, there's a good chance I'll be able to take in whatever's happening. So for me, it works better that way.

But I can see why you wouldn't want them for yourself. Totally.

I was spoiled for The Sixth Sense by someone else's carelessness, and I saw it anyway, but my bitterness at not ever seeing that movie as a mystery is considerable

I heard that some people got spoiled by a trailer? I don't know. I saw it blind, without even knowing there was a major twist. (Same, for that matter, with A Beautiful Mind and lots of other movies. I didn't know how to seek spoilers then, and since I didn't watch TV, I wasn't spoiled as often as I wanted to be.)

I have sometimes wished I hadn't read Fellowship before I saw the movie, because the moment when Gandalf says "Fly, you fools!" and lets go of the ledge got a gasp in the theater like you wouldn't believe, and I was a very little bit envious of the people who were surprised by it.

*g* I remember when I first read Fellowship of the Ring, I got to that part and asked my mother, "Does Gandalf stay dead?" She wouldn't tell me. I refused to read further. I just really do not like surprises, I guess.

[dzurlady]

When Gandalf died I was utterly gutted. Mum would read it to delurker and I before bed each night and when Gandalf died she couldn't get us to bed for ages we were so shocked and upset. I think she encouraged us to keep going though (I can't really remember) but for whatever reason, we kept reading and read the whole thing. I'm glad it happened that way, though, because when he came back it was a moment of such revelatory joy and sheer happiness. I'm glad I wasn't spoiled for it, and glad that I experienced it back then, because I was younger and never even thought that kind of thing might happen so it was a pure glorious surprising moment of utter joy.

Having said that, as a rule I hate watching sad and depressing things and I love watching movies where the heros are surrounded by an invincibility shield. (The only flaw in this plan is that like many fans I tend to start caring about secondary characters quite a lot, and they don't have the same plot protection. Also no-one else cares that they die, or even remembers who they are, so it is hard to get sympathy later.)

[tieleen]

Exactly. And the movie/book writers are so clearly thinking, 'Well, this one can die for emotional manipulation plot reasons, they're not the main point anyway,' even while they kill off what's usually the most worthy character in the whole thing.

[imkalena]

She wouldn't tell me. I refused to read further.

I would have refused to read any more, too. Some people just do not understand these things. Cause any writer who'll toss you over the cliff once is going to do it again.

[darthfox]

She wouldn't tell me.

Oh God, I hate that. Of course, I hate it even more if it's someone who expects me to refrain from spoiling them, but won't grant me the reverse consideration.

[angevin2]

and I was a very little bit envious of the people who were surprised by it.

I have often wished for a 30-second amnesia potion. Mostly so that I could drink it during a certain scene in Shakespeare's Winter's Tale, but Fellowship of the Ring would be a pretty good use for it, too.

[redfiona99]

>>I was spoiled for The Sixth Sense by someone else's carelessness, <<

Friend of mine was spoilered for the twist in the Usual Suspects, but was still going to borrow it off me anyway. I went on a spiel about how he'd been played for a sucker by this other friend of his.

A week later he brings the video back and goes 'damn, you're a good liar'. It was very happy making.

[selenay936]

My dad got spoiled for the Gandalf thing by a friend, so when he was reading it to me he refused to tell me what was going to happen and I was sure that Gandalf was dead. It was an amazing moment when he read me the Fangorn forest section and I've always been grateful that he did that for me.

[almeda]

There are some pieces of fiction that I don't think it's possible to grow up culturally-literate in the US and NOT be spoiled for. Citizen Kane, ok, that's manageable.

But the ones that got me were two rather good novels, by the same guy: Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives. The former is just starting to pass out of 'everybody knows that,' so maybe today's 16-year-olds can read the novel unspoiled, but that latter one's title is used as a shorthand SO widely that I don't know how you'd get through high school (paying attention) without knowing 'the twist'.

They were both pretty good thrillers. But, well, I saw the twists coming a mile away, and I don't think it was all the author's fault!