Lazy Tales

I’m a big fan of the WWE and am one of many who is incredibly thrilled to see The Rock back in action.  That being said, I am incredibly let down with the choices the writers have made in order to lay the ground work for The Rock’s triumphant return.  Before you dismiss this as just another article about a fake sport, please hear me out.  The mistakes being made not only apply to the WWE storylines, but to much of the entertainment mediums out there that we all enjoy.  The mistake with the WWE is simply the most current to me, as well as the most relevant, so it will better serve me in my argument.

CM Punk is the current WWE Champion and has been for more than a year.  He is our resident villain and many people, myself included, are ready for him to be silenced and taken out of the spotlight for a little while.  Ryback has been our hero of sorts, a newcomer who is after the title and wishes to silence Punk.  Our hero has been given chance after chance to do so, only to be stopped by suspected accomplices of our villain.  Title shot is presented, Ryback is inches from a victory, and his victory is stolen away from him.  The logic behind it is that Punk is meant to face The Rock, so losing the title to someone else doesn’t exactly support that storyline and must not happen.

I don’t question the decision of the writers to make a feud between The Rock and Punk a priority above all else.  Dwayne Johnson has excelled at everything he does, and the fans are thrilled to have him back at home in the ring.  Punk has also done an excellent job at becoming the man you love to hate, or the man you just hate.  They are the perfect pair for a brutal throwdown.  While I enjoy Ryback, his character is too new and his in-ring and mic skills too unpolished to share the spotlight with The Rock.  His role must remain as a supporting character, at least for now.  The choice to have The Rock and Punk feud over the title is a smart one and I am behind it 100%.

My issue is with the road we have been driven down to get us to where we currently are.  Due to the Twitter bickering between The Rock and CM Punk, combined with the advertising the WWE has done on television and online, it has been made perfectly clear to the fans for months now that we are to expect these two men to go one on one.  What should have been a secret, and easily could have, was thrown out into the open for all to see.  We were indirectly told that there was no way in hell Punk would lose the title to Ryback, then given “tense” matches between the two where the title was on the line.  We were given yet another one on January 7th, with Ryback yet again inches away from a win only to have match interference cost him that win.  Again.

Suspense is a vital part of any good story, especially when you’re dealing with something intense and physical.  Would anyone be excited about a new horror flick if in the first five minutes, you were told who the killer was, who would defeat said killer, who the survivor(s) would be, and what would happen in the final climactic scene?  Even with films such as the Friday the 13th series where we know who the killer is, we still want to be shocked and surprised.  Take that surprise away and you’re left with a tired and stale story that is quite difficult to get excited about.

When you know with full certainty that a story will have a specific outcome, you fail to become excited about anything that hints at a different possibility.  When I immerse myself into a story, I want to go in with an open mind and with few expectations.  The WWE has failed me as it has taken what should be an unpredictable title run and destroyed it.  Due to their expectation that we’ll be too excited about The Rock’s return to care, they let loose with all the details and left nothing to our imaginations.  Just because The Rock can captivate a crowd and still make this title run worth watching does not mean than it’s acceptable to kill the suspense.

In order to have the largest audience and gain the most hype, the teams behind the entertainment are now revealing those would-be secrets far too soon and hoping after the fact that enough appeal still remains so that audiences will show up and pay money to get a full view of the story.  Television promos for next week’s episode will show you the climactic moment of that next hour in order to get you to tune in, despite the fact that it kills the shock value that the episode would have had.  Movie trailers show you the beginning, middle, and ending of their story simply because those clips will attract the most attention.  The focus has shifted off of telling an excellent tale and moved on to what can get the most attention at the quickest rate.

The hype that the WWE has put behind The Rock’s title run was definitely effective in getting attention and packing the stadium in Florida last night.  It was definitely effective in securing great ratings for that episode of Raw and selling merchandise on their website.  It makes sense businesswise, at least on the surface.  But is it worth doing in order to gain a few extra dollars now?  What would have happened if the WWE had kept quiet about the title run, allowing The Rock to make a dramatic surprise entrance on an episode of Raw to challenge Punk as opposed to having everything perfectly choreographed out in the open?  Isn’t it possible that the after effects could bring more benefits than the immediate ones?

The story should never be sacrificed or compromised in order to boost ratings or make a few extra dollars; I don’t care if it’s a best-selling novel or a reality competition television show that is in question.  Storytelling is an art and we are killing it slowly with our promotion techniques.  If we just let a story run its natural course rather than throw bits and pieces out into the open before their time, we can allow the art form to thrive and carry on as it should.  Hype can just as easily be created without giving away key plot points and details of final outcomes.  All it takes is a bit of effort, a small amount of creativity, and an eager audience.

As part of that audience, I can assure all creative teams out there that “eager” is an understatement.  We’re ready to be wowed.  We’re ready to be treated intelligently and being allowed to let our imaginations do the work.  We’re ready to gain back that feeling of shock and awe when the hard work that went into your project is presented properly and the audience is allowed that pure and raw reaction.  We’re ready to show you how much our interest is piqued when you hold back more than you tease us with.  We’re ready for a change and we’re ready now.

No More Surprises

Last year around this time, Kevin Smith caught quite a bit of heat on Twitter for posting details about The Walking Dead; with as many followers as he has, the backlash was pretty intense.  This year, he has been innocent so far, but many other people have been picking up his slack and letting loose with key plot points and show details almost immediately after this show airs.  I’m not sure what it is about Walking Dead that causes people to go berserk, but it seems near impossible to avoid spoilers on Twitter unless Twitter is avoided altogether.

Sometimes people slip and that is completely understandable, especially if the show or movie in question is older or if you aren’t fully aware of who is paying attention to you and who isn’t  as up to date as you are.  I had one friend post their disappointment in the first major event on the latest Walking Dead episode and I can’t fault him for doing so at all because he’s so used to being behind in the series.  Everyone else, however, has little or no excuse and was just being a little careless, thoughtless, and/or acting on emotion rather than stopping to think that not all of us were able to watch live and witness the three major events as they happened in the last episode.

My complaint really isn’t with the people who slip up, it’s with the people who just don’t give a damn.  One of the Sunday night Walking Dead offenders decided it would be clever to hop on Twitter yesterday and be a total smart ass about posting spoilers, acting as though it is hilarious that they killed the surprise in that episode and seeming almost joyful that they made the viewing experience for some people much less enjoyable.  It takes a special kind of person to find joy in taking away surprise and suspense from someone who just wants to enjoy a damn television show.

One of my husband’s coworkers let loose with the details on the season finale of Dexter’s fourth season before we had a chance to start it; we didn’t have Showtime yet and had to wait for the DVD to be released.  My poor husband had to go through the entire season knowing exactly what to expect in the last couple of minutes.  That incident has made me much more aware of what I say and much more careful in my comments, as I don’t want to kill the viewing experience for anyone.  I have let a few details slip in the past and I find it important to be apologetic and ensure I don’t repeat the mistake.  It boggles my mind how people can not only speak totally uncensored, but can find it hilarious that they lessen another person’s experience with their comments.

I’ve already rid myself of two people who just don’t care, and I’m looking to add to that trash pile in the near future.  I’ve made myself clear on Twitter; if you blatantly post spoilers and especially if you think it’s funny, I’m done with you.  For me, it’s a matter of respect.  Sure, it’s a small issue and not even one of major importance, but I don’t see why I should associate myself with people who laugh when they ruin ends of movies and television episodes for other people.  If someone is that much of a jerk when it comes to something small like TV and movie spoilers, what kind of person are they when it comes to things that matter?

 

SPOILER ALERT! See, how hard was that?

Last night I stayed awake long enough to finish the new episode of Dexter.  Season 4 was ruined for my husband; we didn’t have Showtime yet and someone revealed the ending of the season to him.  If you’re familiar with the show, you know exactly how much of a shock that ending was and how it would have affected watching the season with the knowledge that it would end how it did.  After that, we have been on a mission of sorts to never let that happen again.  We’ve even stopped watching the previews for next week’s episode for every show we watch because they always seem to give away too many details and kill the surprise; the premiere of House was meant to surprise us with the reveal of the new Dean of Medicine, but the previews had given it away weeks prior.  I’ve decided not to see Dream House in the theaters as well after watching trailers that tell you the exact dilemma that you’re meant to figure out with the characters as the film progresses.  It’s like [SPOILER] watching the Sixth Sense and knowing Bruce Willis is dead the whole time; it’s borderline pointless.

At this exact moment in time, I have 164 people on Twitter vaguely reading the nonsense I say throughout the day.  I have a couple dozen people visiting this site each day and skimming through my rants and raves.  I’m not exactly reaching out to a large audience here, but I still either post a spoiler alert or keep my comments vague when commenting on television shows and movies.  I don’t want to be the asshole who ruins the surprise for someone and I do my best to keep from doing so.  Those people out there who have a significantly larger amount of eyes on them than I do should take even more care to keep buttoned up or to warn people prior to revealing details on a new episode that just aired or a new film that was just released.  I’m talking about you, Kevin Smith.

My husband warned me last night that we should watch The Walking Dead’s premiere episode for season 2 because someone was bound to say something.  Unfortunately, I’ve been fighting an illness for weeks now and I just didn’t have the energy.  This morning, Kevin posted on his twitter account that he loved a particular scene in the Walking Dead, then 10 minutes later posted details of another scene, and finally followed it up with “Um… Spoilers, I guess.”  Unfortunately, with the way Twitter is set up and with the way he worded his first tweet, I didn’t realize I was reading something about the Walking Dead until the scene was already described and pretty much ruined for me.

I’m not the world’s biggest Kevin Smith fan; he’s been a huge influence and I love his work, but I’m not one of those who’ve crossed the line into obsession and over-following his work and every day activities.  I’m one of the 1.8 million who follow him on Twitter because it’s easy to stay up to date on his new projects and it’s nice to hear about what’s going on in his life without having to make much of an effort.  He’s been talking extensively about his latest movie, Red State, and has given away details but nothing that reveals too much about the movie.  I assume he has done this because he would rather have people like me who haven’t seen it yet actually buy the DVD rather than have the details spoiled and not think the movie is worth watching.  So WHY, Mr. Smith, why did you think it was okay to reveal two scenes that sound pretty powerful and important less than 12 hours after the episode aired?  Would it have been so difficult to simply say “Loved last night’s episode of The Walking Dead” or “SPOILER, Loved watching ____ ____ ____ and ____ on The Walking Dead?”  The smart ass spoiler comment after the fact unfortunately doesn’t change the fact that I already read your previous comment and now know what to expect when I turn on the DVR later tonight to watch the episode that I now wish I had forced myself to watch last night.

As a filmmaker, I would think Kevin Smith would know enough to not tweet details like this, especially on a season premiere episode the morning after it aired.  I get that he doesn’t have to censor himself and he has every right in the world to say whatever he feels like saying on Twitter or elsewhere.  But come on now, if someone as unimportant as myself can manage to refrain from tossing out spoilers left and right without a word of warning, can’t he manage it as well?  As someone who seems to pride himself on keeping communication open with fans, wouldn’t you also be someone who would have enough respect for said fans to throw out a spoiler alert and NOT a smart ass remark after the fact?

I acknowledge that I am overreacting a bit and that perhaps this is my fault as well for not turning away from that tweet immediately before the damage was done.  But I guarantee that Mr. Smith wouldn’t be a happy camper himself if I had the ability to simultaneously reach 1.8 million people and I revealed dramatic scenes of Red State before most of the general public had a chance to see it for themselves.  Next time, how about you give those 1,897,192 people who follow your Twitter account a chance to fucking turn away before you kill the surprise and shock and give away details of a television show (or anything for that matter) before most of us have a full fucking day to watch it.

*end rant*