Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, created and hosted by Eternity Books, where we discuss certain topics, share our opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! The topics are posted monthly, and you can even submit ideas for future topics, so be sure to check it out!

This week’s topic: Is There a Time Limit on Spoilers? (MY TOPIC!!!)

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I will start off by saying yes, there is a time limit on spoilers. HOWEVER, I have some qualifiers here, so let’s discuss further.

Times when spoilers are NOT OKAY:

ANY time before the book/show/movie in question has actually released to the public. Doing this is a surefire way to have me a) block you immediately and/or 2) punch you in the throat (metaphorically, of course…probably).

ANY time you KNOW a friend/colleague/acquaintance is in the midst of/about to read/watch something, regardless of how long it has been since it’s release.

ANY time immediately following a new release.

It is my personal rule that I will provide spoiler warnings for a few months after a release, which seems like the amount of time someone would reasonably need to watch/read that particular thing. This pertains to social media, blog posts, etc. If I am in an actual discussion with someone and they mention that they have not read/watched the thing, I will definitely avoid any spoilery information out of courtesy, unless they say they do not care.

Times when spoilers are OKAY:

When a book/movie has been out so long that it dives into that sort of “classics” category. For example, I am not going to hold my tongue talking about specifics from Pride & Prejudice or the fact that R&J die in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Similarly, once something has entered the realms of pop culture, and we get through those initial months after release, I feel like it is fair game. Two specific examples: Star Wars and Harry Potter.

Star Wars has been around forever, and you don’t even need to have seen the movies to know that Vader is Luke’s dad, which was a HUGE reveal for the movies but is pretty much just known fact at this point. If you haven’t seen The Empire Strikes Back by now, you clearly aren’t concerned about the franchise enough to worry about having it spoiled. The same applies for the Harry Potter books/movies. The final book released over a decade ago, and that universe is so ingrained in our generation that you don’t even need to have read/watched them to pretty much know what Hogwarts House you are. That being said, I think all of the big spoilers have made there way into the world and there is no hiding from them if you chose to seek them out. If you haven’t seen/read them by this point, you pretty much accept the fact that you’re willing to risk knowing things.

All in all, I definitely think there is a time limit on spoilers, and there is also a bit of self-responsibility you need to take if you want to avoid them for too long. At some point you need to accept that there is a risk and do your best to avoid them, or just make the time to read/watch the thing you are trying to avoid so it’s not an issue anymore.

On that note, I went and saw Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker last night and OHMYGOD IT WAS AWESOME AND YOU SHOULD GO SEE IT RIGHT NOW!!!! No Spoilers (obviously), but do yourself a favor and get to the movies ASAP!!!! If you need to fangirl with someone, hit me up!!! We already have plans to see it again, and will most likely see it at least another two times, possibly more, before it leaves theaters.

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What are your thoughts on the time limit for spoilers? Tell me in the comments below or, if you also participated in this discussion today, drop the link to your post!