Spoiler! "Anticipated revelation of a decisive part of the plot of a literary or audiovisual work, which breaks the effect of surprise or the pleasure of discovery and can diminish interest in the rest of the work", according to the definition of the Great Dictionary of the Catalan Language. This is what some readers occasionally feel after consulting a literary, cinematographic or series review or criticism in the newspaper. Among them, Marc Guiñon, who has written to me twice for this reason.
A few weeks ago, for the review of a film ("it's a very clear spoiler: death of the protagonist") and some time ago for an article about the novel Anna Karenina ("even though it's a classic, I was going to start - in the coming days with great desire, but knowing the outcome my motivation has been affected"). Another reader recently complained that a writer revealed to La Contra the enigmatic closing sentence of her latest book: "Interesting, although it has spoiled the end of the novel".
Xavi Ayén, editor-in-chief of Cultura who has been writing about books for more than 30 years, points out that in a review "surprising elements of the plot should not be revealed, or those that would break the game that the author has determined to subject the reader, but those who place in the context: theme, setting, characters...".
Jordi Batlle Caminal, the newspaper's veteran film critic, agrees with Ayén and claims the right to explain "aspects or moments" of the argument. For Batlle, "now there is a lot of susceptibility" and the concept of spoiler should be limited to when "what is unpredictable or an unexpected turn is revealed".
series criticism, in which an analysis is often published for each episode, has become a genre with its own codes. "In the initial critique, you must be respectful and not advance any element of the plot that could spoil the experience", points out Pere Solà Gimferrer, specialist in this field. But as the story progresses, he continues, it is inevitable to introduce references to events from past chapters, which is why Solà sometimes indicates that starting from a certain point in the article there are spoilers: whoever continues to advance, will do so assuming the risk
As Ayén points out, "there is a subgroup of readers and viewers who, when leaving the cinema or finishing a book, look for the reviews that have been written" to compare their own impressions with those of the critics.
Readers entrust themselves to professionals in this journalistic genre to guide them, to recommend them and to enrich their own opinions with new points of view, analysis and context. And for this, Ayén emphasizes, critics must be "responsible enough not to crush the decisive element of the work".
