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Wednesday, August 21st, 2024 3:34 PM

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Too many plot outlines have spoilers

NUTSHELL: Would IMDb please consider to perhaps supply a pop-up box that stops contributors and reminds them of NO SPOILERS clause ("are you sure there is not even a teeny-minute spoiler in what you're about to submit??) that displays (and thus blocks a contributor temporarily) before someone is able to hit "submit" for a plot outline, please? 

And for repeat offenders, who won't be deterred, perhaps even adding in red: "If your outline is reported for spoilers, your account will be frozen for 2 weeks. After 3 freezes, your account will be permanently deleted..." Or whichever threats warnings/timelines IMDb deems fit "punishment". 

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IMHO I find way too many plot outlines where contributors feel the need to upload spoilers. Which is against the rules. See:

IMDb | Help

I'll give you an example of a spoiler that is benign and (hopefully) will bother no one here, to illustrate:

Betty Boop's Ker-Choo (Short 1933) - IMDb

It's a cartoon, we all know it ends well, so here's what it currently says

  • Betty, Koko, and Bimbo drive at the auto races; Betty has a cold, and her sneezes help her win.


This is the kind of spoilers I regularly find for movies or shows, in plot outlines (not synopses!). Repeatedly finding this when you're trying to decide whether to watch the movie ruins things for us, and feels a bit like the contributor is a smarty pants: "I know how it ends and you don't! I'm so smart!! I'll post it here so I can feel like I wrote the movie myself!!" 

Again, pretend the cartoon were a movie. Here's what it would look like spoiler-free:

  • Betty, Koko, and Bimbo drive at the auto races, but poor Betty must deal with driving with a cold.

There are other possibilities to write this outline, certainly, but I kept the user's first line and left it as simple as possible: the reader will know the main character has a cold. Hmm... (Thinking process of the IMDb reader searching for a show to watch) Will she prevail, or will she be destroyed in the race? I don't know, let's watch and find out!  Or:  I know Betty Boop always wins, but let's see how!

Again, it's IMDb's guidelines NOT to post spoilers in Plot Outlines.

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SIDE NOTE: I also find many that include actors' names, which is also not allowed, but that doesn't bother me; I'm not posting this to be a busy-body, nor police the boards or out of spite, to report people, no; rather, to stop said people from ruining things for us, normal viewers who aren't spoilers-fanatics! 

Thank you.

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