I always hate the asshole who pops up and says "it's because of capitalism!!" but in this case I think it really is because of capitalism. So like,
The rise of the current spoiler conversation closely parallels the rise of a hyper-capitalist internet-based entertainment infrastructure that means we all have an enormous glut of options all of the time. Every day brings a rush of new stuff, and the goal of the entertainment corporations is to keep you watching more and more of it, largely without discretion or critical thought. Just hit “play” on the next thing. It’ll be fine.
Viewed through this lens “unspoiled vs. hyper-spoiled” is just two ways to look at the exact same thing: a relationship between art and the audience that is purely about consumption. To want to know everything about a work (the hyper-spoiled approach) and to want to know nothing about it (the unspoiled approach) perversely end up at the exact same place. The work has little value beyond its ability to act as a conduit for story and information. Aesthetics are of secondary importance to what happens, and narrative is of secondary importance to data points masquerading as plot.
I also think that social media marketing people are masters at generating "fear of missing out" anxiety. From what I understand, a lot of investment capital for future projects is based on the preorder numbers of previous projects, and fomo anxiety is a great way to drive preorder sales.
And then, on top of that, I get the sense that using spoiler culture to create harmless divisions within fandom is a useful way of keeping "consumers" in line so that your IP doesn't spiral out of your control. With this last bit, though, I could just be delusional, as I'm not sure marketing people are really capable of playing that sort of 4D chess.
With Disney in particular, I understand why it's necessary for them to protect their IP, especially the IP associated with their big animated movies. The concept art and other development material that goes into those projects is gorgeous and astounding, and I think they're (rightly) afraid that unused ideas are going to be poached.
At the same time, you don't see Studio Ghibli worrying about that sort of thing, and it's wild to me that Nintendo is now operating under the same mindset.
Once again, sorry for the long reply! It's just, I really loved your response, and I've been thinking about this for the past two days. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2023-02-23 02:16 pm (UTC)The rise of the current spoiler conversation closely parallels the rise of a hyper-capitalist internet-based entertainment infrastructure that means we all have an enormous glut of options all of the time. Every day brings a rush of new stuff, and the goal of the entertainment corporations is to keep you watching more and more of it, largely without discretion or critical thought. Just hit “play” on the next thing. It’ll be fine.
Viewed through this lens “unspoiled vs. hyper-spoiled” is just two ways to look at the exact same thing: a relationship between art and the audience that is purely about consumption. To want to know everything about a work (the hyper-spoiled approach) and to want to know nothing about it (the unspoiled approach) perversely end up at the exact same place. The work has little value beyond its ability to act as a conduit for story and information. Aesthetics are of secondary importance to what happens, and narrative is of secondary importance to data points masquerading as plot.
Basically, what she said:
https://www.vox.com/culture/22934014/spoilers-capitalism-mordew-hyper-spoiled
I also think that social media marketing people are masters at generating "fear of missing out" anxiety. From what I understand, a lot of investment capital for future projects is based on the preorder numbers of previous projects, and fomo anxiety is a great way to drive preorder sales.
And then, on top of that, I get the sense that using spoiler culture to create harmless divisions within fandom is a useful way of keeping "consumers" in line so that your IP doesn't spiral out of your control. With this last bit, though, I could just be delusional, as I'm not sure marketing people are really capable of playing that sort of 4D chess.
With Disney in particular, I understand why it's necessary for them to protect their IP, especially the IP associated with their big animated movies. The concept art and other development material that goes into those projects is gorgeous and astounding, and I think they're (rightly) afraid that unused ideas are going to be poached.
At the same time, you don't see Studio Ghibli worrying about that sort of thing, and it's wild to me that Nintendo is now operating under the same mindset.
Once again, sorry for the long reply! It's just, I really loved your response, and I've been thinking about this for the past two days. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!