"Careful Sweetie...Spoilers..."

So, 2019 is a huge year for some of the largest franchises in film and television of current times. Big Bang Theory and Game of Thrones are both in their final seasons. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will bring the Sequel Trilogy to a close in December. And Avengers: Endgame came out this weekend to finish what the Marvel Cinematic Universe began 10 years ago. 2019 is seeing the end of a lot of beloved characters and story arcs.

But with these huge endings comes one thing...

Yes, the dreaded "spoilers". The one thing that every fan wants to avoid at all costs, especially now at the climax of so many popular franchises. It's a feat that's even harder right now due to social media. Because of that, there's a whole new culture surrounding spoilers.

Take Avengers: Endgame for an example. This film has been ten years in the making. It is the 22nd film in the franchise. The 21 films before it introduced fans to amazing characters and wonderful story lines. It brought them heartache and joy, fear and relief, tears and laughter. No matter how many more movies Marvel Studios produces, it's fair to say that Endgame is bringing about the end of an era.

Marvel Studios knows the impact that both Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame have on their franchise and their fans. And, being owned by Disney, are known for being very tight-lipped about the content of their films. That affects how Marvel treats information, and, by extension, spoilers. They are one of the reasons spoiler culture is changing.

For Infinity War and Endgame, the actors were all given scripts with different endings so no one could accidentally leak something about the movie (we're looking at you Tom Holland and Mark Ruffalo). They have posted letters on social media with the hashtags "Thanos demands your silence", "the Avengers demand your silence", and "Don't spoil the Endgame".

Really, these measures are extreme. They shouldn't have to confuse the actors so some detail doesn't get leaked. Social media shouldn't have to share hashtags to remind people not to spoil the movie for others. But, social media itself has brought us to this point.

Fifteen to twenty years ago, spoilers weren't as big of a deal. The chances of people seeing cast interviews online were slim. If you didn't catch them when they aired, you wouldn't see them until the DVD came out, if they were included. People didn't have to worry about seeing a major spoiler on their Facebook feed or Twitter timeline. The biggest risk you ran was if you knew a jerk who would spoil the movie for you in a conversation (unfortunately, those people do still exist).

Now, the game is different. Cast interviews occur and within an hour, the video is online and has been shared and view thousands, if not millions, of times. The day a film or episode comes out, people begin posting about it immediately after watching it. Some people are good and don't share details. But others aren't. It is like they forget that not everyone has the opportunity to see something as soon as it releases, or they don't care, or they have the attitude that people who don't see it immediately aren't "true fans" (because that idea still exists, unfortunately).

Spoilers suck, point blank. And the internet has made it easy to say "don't spoil me!" while simultaneously spoiling others without care or respect for other fans. It's forcing studios to go to extremes to prevent them early on, and that's not their obligation. It is ours as fans, but we stop once it doesn't apply to us as individuals.

I think the new "spoiler culture" that's developing these days says a great deal about us as people and about social media. It's something that's been said before, but is easily forgotten.

We are not alone on the internet. Social media is not a diary. There are other very real people who surround you online. The facade of a screen has taken away the need to be respectful and kind and sensitive to others. The keyboard makes us think we don't need a filter. We lie to ourselves and pretend we're screaming into a void where no one will care what we say, ignoring the people who could be hurt or offended or affected by our keystrokes.

Whether it's hurtful words, begging for attention, or spoilers, if you wouldn't say it to someone's face, don't post it online.

And if you would...well, you're just a jerk. Sorry not sorry.