I think you get the heart of it. I love spoiler too. I hate being surprised. The problem with the sanctity of spoiler is that some movie only worth their final twist. My go to example is the 6th Sense. I was bored to death during the movie. And was angry at myself at the reveal, for not having seen it coming. Compares to Usual Suspect. I was entertained by the whole movie, with the ending I was afraid to have missed some element (I didn't get the whole reveal scene with the cup, the cards, etc) I wish someone spoiled the 6th sense on me. I probably would not have gone watch it. 2hours saved. My point is, nobody would tell you to go watch Usual Suspect BECAUSE the end is spectacular... (there will be other arguments in favor of the movie), while on the 6th sense, the end is the only remotely watchable appeal. If there is an argument about being spoiled before a book/movie it's probably because the whole stuff sucks. As for kleinbl00 "first time experience" ... Yeah 1st time experience is unique. So is second time, and n-times. The difference being,1st time mostly sucks because you 're overwhelmed by the novelty. The others times are more enjoyable: you're in known territory, you can fully enjoy the landscape.Some people really want to be surprised. I don't. I generally hate it, actually.
This is wrong-headed and dismissive of storytelling in general. You're effectively arguing that the only "good" stories are those that you can read the Cliff's Notes first and enjoy equally. In effect, you're arguing that unless a tale remains interesting while mediated by random strangers, it isn't worth experiencing. I'm not a fan of Shamalyan but 6th Sense is a tight little tale. It isn't about Bruce Willis, either - it's about Haley Joel Osment and his ability to channel his fearful powers into a force of good. Bruce Willis' pulse is a subplot. In fact, it wasn't until the 7th rewrite that Shamalyan even figured out that Bruce Willis should be dead. Now - of all the writing I've done, only one story has been through six rewrites. Without getting into the objective measurement of art, somebody saw something in that tale prior to The Late Bruce Willis to drive Shamalyan into hacking at it again and again and again until it was the story that got shot (which was, if I'm not mistaken, the 13th rewrite). You can like it or not, as is true of all people and all tales. But arguing that the only reason it's worth watching Sixth Sense is to find out why Bruce Willis has a weird relationship with his wife is... short sighted. Kind of like arguing that every viewing experience is unique. Sure. Of course it is. But its a whole 'nuther thing to argue with a straight face that there's just as much difference between the second and third viewing of something as there is between the first and second. You can make these arguments. But you can't make them well. You can't make them make sense. And you certainly can't make them compelling.The problem with the sanctity of spoiler is that some movie only worth their final twist.
I can tell you this (and I am probably one of the ONLY people who can tell you this) : "E.T." is a MUCH better movie, if you have no idea what ET looks like, or anything about him. I just happened to see that movie before any of the publicity came out. The suspense of the first half hour or so is just GONE, if you know beforehand what he looks like. My point is, a spoiler doesn't always have to give away a "twist" to change the way you see the movie.
As a kid, all I knew was the look of his finger. It was on all the posters. I recently talked with mk about E.T and he mentioned how beautiful the lightening and use of color are throughout. It's a badass movie. I recently watched it.
It was the first movie I saw D&D portrayed in. Also the first that I remember seeing product-placement in - that movie launched "Reese's pieces". And a very very young Drew Barrymore.