Keith Stone staff writer
Max Yera staff writer
People are ruining movies for themselves. With their desire to get content as soon as possible, they are spoiling some of the greatest cinematic moments in history.
Recently, a trend has kicked off where people gather around a screen to watch two minutes of teasers and possible spoilers of an upcoming movie. In some cases this is okay. If torn between two movies or struggling to decide what to watch, previews are a natural next step. But if those two minutes are just a way to fill the time spent procrastinating or to get excited for a movie, in the words of DJ Khaled, “You played yourself.”
For example, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was released on Dec. 18, 2015 in the United States. However, most of the diehard fans trekking into theaters across the nation already had an inkling of what to expect from trailers. They already knew that Harrison Ford would be reprising his signature role as the smarmy and daring Han Solo and they already knew that a new Sith lord would make his appearance with an imposing new lightsaber. While this extra knowledge may not spoil the movie, it detracts from those few moments that shock an entire audience.
Some people, however, believe that trailers are just a tantalizing glimpse of what’s to come. They see these teasers as a sort of taster that gets them excited for the actual meal. Instead, these brief shots from the movie remove suspense and take away from the movie theater experience. These trailers also affect people who don’t even watch them. Within minutes of an anticipated trailer’s release, social media sites are filled with post after post declaring what was in the trailer, fan theories, what scenes could mean for the full movie, etc. Even the people who purposely turned blind eyes to these previews have been forced to learn something in advance!
It is an especially poor choice to watch a trailer for a comedy film. This is because such trailers often feature the funniest parts. If one knows the punch line to a joke going into the film, the joke is ruined as it is often far less funny the second time around–or more depending on how many times one watches the trailer. However, it can be logical to watch a trailer for a film, for whatever genre, if you are deciding whether or not you want to the see film itself. Nevertheless, if you will be attending the showing of a comedy, do not, for your own movie going experience, watch what will be two minutes of various clips that highlight not only the plot of the film, but many of the scenes that feature likely the funniest jokes throughout.
So the next time a movie trailer comes onto a TV screen or scrolls by on your phone, close your eyes, stick your fingers in your ears and tune it out. It’ll be worth it.