So you have not seen “Avengers: Endgame”. It has been almost three weeks since opening day, but you are still fleeing when you hear anyone talking about the movie, clinging on to #DontSpoilEndgame and avoiding Instagram like the plague. Ten days ago, society would have harshly punished anyone who would dare ruin the latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but after 20 days of missed opportunity to buy tickets, “Endgame” spoilers are fair game.
Movies such as “Avengers: Endgame” are an integral part of society and pop culture, so people naturally have the urge to talk about them with others who have seen it. Most have the courtesy not to talk about a movie that has just come out lest they spoil it for the majority who have not seen it yet. After about three weeks, those who watched “Endgame” and want to talk about it are not accountable for spoiling it for some unfortunate eavesdropper because most have seen the movie anyway. Those who want to suppress the most natural part of pop culture, conversation, are more inconsiderate than those who want to talk about a recent movie as they had ample time to view it.
No one can tame the beast known as social media. There is always that one jerk who decides it would be so funny to tweet out the ending of the newest movie for thousands of people to see. But most adhere to the norms of society, which put a black mark on whomever dares spoil a new film.
After about a month however, movie references become relevant to everyday situations. For example, after “Avengers: Infinity War” came out, people began applying the phrase “Mr. Stark, I don’t feel so good” to memes, recent news and responses to everyday comments. When a movie has significance to the online community, it is inevitable for the public to start talking about it. So it is ridiculous for one to assume that #DontSpoilEndgame could be relevant at the same time as multiple Endgame-spoiling catchphrases.
Spoilers suck because they ruin a movie that people have the intention of seeing with the full suspense, but waiting a month to see a big movie is not indicative of planning to see the film at all. After exactly three weeks, the fault of spoilers lie on anyone who did not go to see the movie rather than those who took the time to go to the theater, spent money to buy their ticket and invest their day in the next wave of pop culture.