Open Forum Friday: Are These Star Wars: Episode VII Spoilers Getting Out of Hand?

Posted by on October 3rd, 2014   Filed under: Open Forum Friday

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Up until now, J.J. Abrams has largely built his career on the concept of the mystery box and the idea that in the information age people are intrigued by something when they are denied knowledge about it. However, he may have met his match by taking the director’s chair on a new Star Wars movie. Star Wars fans didn’t need any help generating excitement for Episode VII, and their insatiable thirst for info has forced Abrams to give fans occasional peeks at the behind the scenes. Still, the demand continues to grow and on a weekly basis we are seeing more information leak online to the point where it is becoming a serious issue.

This week a major spoiler for the film’s plot has found its way online and movie websites have been split over whether or not to report it. Obviously there are plenty of fans out there who want to know anyway, but they could potentially be ruining the movie for themselves. Considering that the movie is still over a year away, will there be any surprises left by the time it arrives? What do you think? Should bloggers give the people what they want or should the filmmakers have the ultimate say on what gets released about a movie? Is there too much Star Wars info out there or not enough? Are the hardcore fans ruining it for everyone else? Give us your thoughts here on Open Forum Friday.



  • Maureen W.

    After seeing The People Vs. George Lucas, I’m convinced obsessed Star Wars fans are masochists who just ruin everything for themselves. Personally I’m not reading any spoilers because no one will know anything for sure until the final product is released but that’s me.

  • BonerJams

    YES. But more importantly, people’s aversion to spoilers generally is more out of hand. I know it’s a perfectly subjective thing, but to say a spoiler ruins a movie for you is tantamount to saying that a second viewing ruins a movie for you because ultimately, the result is the same; you know what’s coming next.

    Dealing specifically with the issue of Star Wars 7 rumors, I don’t think the problem is necessarily the abundance of rumors. Rumors are fine, and if you wanna search them out, go for it. The problem, imho, is all these movie blogs that are so desperate for hits they will post anything relating to anything that is even remotely popular. I think filmjunk is far less guilty of this than a lot of sites, but it’s insane the amount of non-news posted with a tittilating title that’s revealed to be paper thin and not even remotely interesting once you’ve clicked through.

  • the horse is yet to come

    you wanna see something new??

    fuck star wars

    that’s it, now go and be free

  • Bandit Manatee

    It’s weird because due to my love of the series, this is one of the few times where I actually have an interest in every obscure news story and shot of a chrome trooper helmet that is released. I am loving the speculation and getting glimpses of what might be happening.

    But I would really really be bummed out if I accidentally spoiled the movie for myself, and the fact that I now know that there exists some high grade spoilers out there on the internet has made me pretty much stop reading all news about ep. 7 altogether.

    Can’t wait until the first trailer or teaser is released though. Probably in a couple months im guessing…

  • PlanBFromOuterSpace

    I’m pretty psyched that I’ve been given a second chance to NOT have Star Wars ruined for me after it bit me in the ass so hard with the prequels when I went scouring the internet for every tidbit of (often mis-)information. I didn’t even read this article in its entirety, that’s how little I want to know, and I’m looking forward to remaining as ignorant as possible and wanting to ENJOY these things when they come out, not just worry about whether all the rumors were true or not.

  • Indianamcclain

    Same here man. I don’t get this new online community that wants to know everything about a film before they see it. What’s the point of going to a movie anymore when you’ve taken away the element of surprise?

  • Indianamcclain

    It’s interesting you’d think a movie blog would actively avoid spoilers if they really care about the moviegoing experience.

  • Maik

    Does anyone really care about a “movie” cynically engineered by some fucking (Disney)suits in a fucking boardroom straight out of “American Psycho”?? Get real. This is not filmmaking.

  • BonerJams

    Is that an actual question? Because if so, I’d say….yes…of course they do? Not trying to start a flame war or anything, but I think this is a very juvenile mentality. Most manufactured things in the world exist to make money for someone, but that doesn’t make them devoid of value. But maybe I’m just not going to enough college film festivals or something where the real “movies” are being shown.

  • Maik

    I always think it´s much nicer to enjoy a movie where the people making it don´t have complete contempt for it´s audience and fans. The times of eccentric moguls(Dino de Laurentis)and risk-taking producers( Robert Evans) are long over. Today´s financiers and grey suits despise the art of cinema and hate the moviegoers, but they adore your money. I don´t like being taken for a fool.

  • SUZY

    This might be a long shot, but think about this. In the trailer they showed the stormtroopers and one of them looked smaller than the others. If you remember in A NEW HOPE…princess Leia comments on Luke being a little short to be a stormtrooper when he rescued her in the cell bay. What if the small trooper in the trailer in the one and only LUKE SKYWALKER???? Just a thought and a stretch but something to consider.