Image by Thegreenj

It is an ordinary Friday. You walk up the stairs or path or ride the elevator to your home as usual. Nothing seems out of place. You nod and smile at your neighbour who has a smirk on his face. A frozen smile. You do a double take but then think nothing of it.

The key turns in the lock. A pause. Then, “SURPRISE”! Your home is filled with streamers, balloons and about fifty of your friends. How do you feel? Vomitty?
Faint? Excited? Relieved (at least they remembered!), ecstatic? For some, this would be a nightmare situation; it’s the old unknown. For others it is the ultimate love gift. The work, the thought, the organisation = deep love! Ah.

For the former, life is better lived with full knowledge. They need to know where they are going, where they are staying, what they will be doing, who will be there, whether there are any other possible changes forecast. This breed does not like surprises. They like to have money to buy their own birthday/Christmas presents. They like to be in control.

Which is why we have many websites dedicated to movie ‘spoilers’. For some, movies cannot be enjoyed unless they know the ending is satisfactory. They can’t handle suspense or large unexpected surprises; thus we have spoilers. Mind you, these websites come in handy when you miss the end of a movie due to late hour or tape running out. They are also useful when working out whether a film is appropriate for a certain age group, those surprises, you just do not want. But on the whole, spoilers are there for those who like being prepared.

Where there is spoiling, there must be rules. A spoiler needs to have consideration for those who accidentally stumble upon them. There must be a warning and a few click throughs before they give away the juicy details. I’m sure they’re not popular with the movie studios but they exist for the poor people with sensitive dispositions who just cannot bear not knowing. For the Knowers, the spoiler is their best friend.

There seems to be a little bit of ‘Knower’ in each of us. I love films that surprise me, I love surprise presents but I really like to know where I’m going, staying and the kind of things we could get up to. I guess I’m a Knower-Fringe-Dweller. Dare I tip over, dare I sink back? Stay tuned.

Image by Duncan Rawlinson