I hate this “no spoilers” culture that we live in right now. Producers and writers are so terrified of fans predicting the ending to their works to the point that they’re making nonsensical endings to their narratives. They’re messy, out-of-character, and outlandish, but, hey! at least they’re unpredictable!
Rian Johnson, The Last Jedi — completely ignored & disregarded the 3-film narrative arc J.J. Abrams has planned out for the sequel trilogy, and instead developed his own messy narrative full of subversions for the sake of subversion, and completely disrespected the legacy of Luke Skywalker’s character (Mark Hamill himself has reported several times that he doesn’t recognize the character).
Russos, MCU — give out fake scripts, actors play against green screens and are cut & pasted together in post, show fake/edited scenes in trailers, throw away previous character development (Thor, Ragnarok vs Infinity War and especially Endgame).
D&D, Game of Thrones — throw away a decade of foreshadowing and character development for shock value, not to mention they missed a whole ass Starbucks cup in a shot in 8x03 (either on set or in post, somebody should’ve noticed this).
I’m sick and tired of this. It’s not good writing, and it’s no longer entertaining to fans when the characters they know and love become complete strangers. There’s good shock value — “No, I am your father,” for example — and then there’s ignoring years of character development and turning a kind and caring character into a murderous maniac. There’s a difference, and I think writers still know what that difference is, but they’re pressured to create an ending that fans can’t predict because of this mass panic over “no spoilers”.
This needs to stop. Give me a happy ending. Who the fuck cares if we guess what comes next? That means the writers have done their fucking jobs. If we can guess what comes next that means the writers have successfully developed their characters and foreshadowed future events as you’re supposed to do in a well-written narrative.
No spoilers? Sure. I like to experience narratives without being spoiled. But don’t make the narrative unrecognizable by the ending. It’s just not good writing.
