Fans discuss frustration with TV and movie promos that reveal plot twists and spoilers, citing examples including a Seinfeld episode promo and a movie trailer.
A few weeks back someone posted a message stating how frustrated they were when WB showed a promo for the Seinfeld episode about Vincent picking out movies for Elaine and in the promo they showed who Vincent was, a teenager, therefore actually "ruining" the ep. for a first timer.
Well, they did it again, only this time with their promo for the movie Terminal Velocity. In the promo they showed the girl that falls out of the plane in the beginning of the movie saying, "That wasn't me who you saw falling out of the plane"
What the heck do they do that for?!?!?! GEEZ! So frustrating.
This is a phenomenon that causes me quite bit of distress. It's virtually impossible these days to view a preview, especially a trailer for a film, that doesn't tell you most of the plot. Many of them actually show you scenes that occur at the end of the film. Case in point: My Best Friend's Wedding. I did not see that film, but I saw the trailer, and it told me about the entire movie. The whole thing, condensed into a few minutes. It showed me all of the main characters, and what they were after, and the conflict, and the plot, and even the point in the story where everything comes, near the end. The only thing it didn't tell me was the very end of the movie, where Julia Roberts' character makes her final decision. Now, I had no interest in seeing that one, but nevertheless, it still bothered me, because this sort of thing happens far too often. And here's why. In our society of instant gratification, people can no longer wait for a movie patiently. They want it, and they want it now. And so the time leading up to a film's release is an explosion of 'making of' specials, interviews, promotional specials, previews on entertainment magazine shows, etc. etc. By the time the film comes out, we already know what the director's trying to say, we know how they shot such and such a scene, and we already know what happens in the scene, because after they show us how they prepared for it, they showed it. And so on. I want to be surprised when I go to a film. I don't want to know what's behind the door, and I don't want to know what 's going to happen at the end of the second act until I get there. So I'm with you, bro.
Thanks Ro. I posted the original message and nobody backed me up at the time. I've switched over to WFLX TV29 in West Palm Beach, and haven't had a problem.