As opposed to what I wrote about last week, the other thing to consider with spoilers is how a critic’s opinion might influence your own opinions on a piece of media, whether consciously or not. It seems natural to look at a review of a movie to see if its worth the time and money to watch it, but can there be some kind of implied judgment you get from reading it? Especially when considering the quantity and availability of reviews of all types and descriptions on the internet.
What I’m trying to get at is that a review of something can change what you pay attention to in the art. Now, I wrote last week the gaining a basic context for art can help someone enjoy it more than when they see it blind, but most people get a sense for what a piece of art is or about through reviews. But I think it is worth noting any of the possible biases that may come up from learning about something from a review, and what you might pay attention to because of that.
For example, I think theneedledrop does a good job at describing an album in his reviews, but he what he decides to talk about and highlight during the review can influence what you pay close attention to when you first listen to the album. When I watch his review and then go to listen to an album, I know that I pay closer attention to the songs he said he liked and even trying harder to hear the things he describes in his videos.
YouTube has allowed the rise and spread of video essays, where plenty of amateur creators can make videos discussing and explaining topics that they care about, but perhaps not many people are aware of. So this is where the two ideas I’ve been talking about combine, on the one hand you are hearing about a piece or art for the first time and perhaps forming an interest in it, on the other hand you are getting some of the bias of what the essayist wants to focus on. If the creator is going in depth they usually put a spoiler warning on it, but again, even with those spoilers and everything being explained, it still doesn’t all come together until you experience it for yourself, no matter how important those spoilers are.
I watched a video essay on Sicario before watching it and while I remembered how some of the events played out, what I remember from both watching the video and the movie itself is the tense atmosphere that the movie creates, more than the moment to moment plot and the twists that come from it.
These things may seem like small things to consider when interpreting art, but I think these subtle differences of viewing a piece of art and viewing someone talk about that art can have some noticable effects on our own perceptions.
