Stuart Brown I dreaded the July 16th release date of the new Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge fan of Hogwart’s most famous pupil. What I feared were the “spoilers,” those reviewers, critics, bloggers and loud-mouths that inundate cyberspace with their revelations on plot twists or surprise endings of books, movies or theatrical shows. [warning: a number of “spoilers” are revealed below] Most denizens of the planet probably know that a “major character” perishes in the sixth Potter installment. Well, just shut up! Don’t tell me. I prefer that sense of discovery in my forms of entertainment. A book, for example, that captures my imagination pushes me to read on, to find out what happens next. Isn’t that why they call them “page-turners?” Yet, with the growth of the Internet it seems anyone with an opinion and at least a 56K modem connection has tried to thwart my efforts for self-enlightenment and enjoyment. Not that “spoilers” are a new phenomenon. In its heyday, the National Lampoon Magazine published a feature entitled “Spoilers” where they published pithy revelations of popular culture (In Citizen Kane, Rosebud was the sled). Before the opening of The Empire Strikes Back I remember a newspaper revealed that Darth Vader was Luke’s father. Gee, thanks for that important pre-viewing tidbit. How would one approach an initial screening of the Hitchcock classic,Psycho if they knew about Janet Leigh’s early demise in the shower before grabbing the popcorn and soda? Some recent attempts at “spoiling” have been creative. On the cast recording for the current Broadway musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels John Lithgow steps out of character to warn listeners that by continuing to listen some plot twists of the show will be revealed. Why have “spoilers” sprouted up on the Internet like dandelions on a newly seeded lawn? There are a number of reasons. First, we are a society that feeds on the latest gossip. The Internet—via voluminous e-mails, burgeoning chat rooms, and proliferating web sites—has magnified and quickened the exchange of rumormongering. Factual material co-mingles with unsubstantiated assertions, tantalizing scuttlebutt, and revealing disclosures. Second, almost universal access has opened the floodgates to individuals wanting to be “the first” and, with self-inflated importance, let everyone know this fact. Third, in our post-9/11 environment there is comfort in knowing what to expect. Surprises are less tolerated. Being kept off-balance is passé. TMI (Too Much Information), spread by the legions of online “spoilers,” is in vogue. So, until the Half-Blood Prince is safely secured and read, like Harry and his invisibility cloak, my presence on the Internet will just magically disappear.
President
StudentAffairs.com
Stuart@StudentAffairs.com
Posted: August 2005 Student Affairs Online, vol. 6 no. 3 - Summer 2005