Spoilers!

(*cough* character impressions don't work well in text form.)

Most people would agree they prefer to watch movies, read books, etc. without getting spoiled beforehand. Certain people, in fact, clap their hands over their ears and run away the second they hear people discussing something they haven't seen yet. I would say I agree - the suspense is much more entertaining when you don't know what exactly is going to happen. Emotional moments have much greater impact when you haven't seen the scene out of the proper context before. Problems are more interesting to watch the characters solve when you don't know the answer going in. And of course, plot twists are nowhere near as fun when you've been awaiting the twist the entire movie. So for this blog entry, I decided to look at some reasons I've heard or thought of why spoilers might not be a bad thing - at least in some cases. Because why not.

• "It's fun to see the little clues leading up to the big revelation!" I kind of agree with this one. A lot of authors leave subtle foreshadowing hints that you might not catch (or see in the same way) if you don't know about them beforehand. And if you really like that aspect of fiction, go for it! Spoil yourself rotten. I personally prefer to leave this part to the re-read or re-watch, so I get to experience the same work twice two ways.
• "It gets you excited about the show!" Okay, I might not argue here. The plot twists can make the story more intriguing, before you start. And you need some information about the show to get anyone interested in the first place, and some of that information might have been more fun if it was completely unexpected. If you go in completely blind, you'll just be skeptical the entire time because you have no reason to believe you'd like it. But still, if I can get interested in something with minimum spoilers, I'd prefer that.
• "Oh, come on, everybody knows that!" DARTH VADER IS LUKE'S FATHER. Yeah, there's not really much to be lost if one solitary person doesn't inform you - a bunch more probably will.
• "It's fun to spoil stuff for people and then see how they react!" I'll admit it, I've been guilty of this on occasion. Doesn't change that it's still pretty dickish. What's more fun, though, is to give them fake spoilers. Same reaction, less cost for them! :D