Soap Opera Spoilers

Dissecting Soap Opera Spoilers

Soap opera spoilers can be fun on the surface, but overexposure to spoilers can create a diminished enjoyment of a show. So the question is, how much is too much? On many message boards, the rules state that all posts that contain spoiler information must be marked as such (even speculative spoilers) so that readers who don’t want their enjoyment ‘spoiled’ can choose to avoid reading the posts, even by accident.

Soap operas were once must watch television in order to find out what was going to happen. Recaps were available after the fact, but a recap lacks the passion and punch that makes up a soap operas core story. At their heart, soap operas are about romance. Will the guy get his girl? Will the girl win the guy? Will the couple overcome the obstacles in their path? Each scene between them advanced the romantic story by millimeters or miles – spoilers detract from the must watch feeling of soap operas.

Misleading Soap Opera Spoilers

There’s another danger in soap opera spoilers; they can be misleading. Many boards allow anonymous users to post. Some anonymous users claim to be industry insiders such as was the case involving several General Hospital storylines in recent years. Fake insiders claimed foreknowledge of upcoming storylines and outcomes. Keep in mind that not everyone posting spoilers knows the facts. While there can be some truth to some of these posts, often there is not. Spoilers may be a case of one fan setting out to trick others.

These fans are labeled ‘griefers’ by some, because they love to taunt a fan base or because they love to see how far they can take the Internet ‘whisper’ game. Remember the whisper game? A group of children stand in a circle, the first child whispers into the second child’s ear. Those children then repeat it to another and so forth and so on around the circle. Eventually, when the whisper comes back to the first child, it’s often quite different from what they originally said.

Reading and dissecting spoilers (including teasers) is a form of enjoying a soap opera for some fans, for others, it just takes all the fun out. There is no dramatic tension if the outcome is predetermined. Spoilers on soap operas also don’t have as long a lasting impact on storylines as some would hope. Few relationships on the modern soap opera withstand the test of time. Luke and Laura, for example, are a couple that has spent 30+ years in the consciousness of the fans whether Genie Francis is on the screen or Luke is married to Tracy, the prescience of Luke and Laura as a couple cannot be diminished. Modern couplings are not as fortunate. These days, partner swapping is very common and every new love is the truest love.

Grain of Salt

A few spoiler sites offer comprehensive lists of upcoming spoilers and they should always be read with a pound of salt. Be warned, following any of these links could SPOIL a viewer to potential storylines.

• Soapzone – Soapzone is a fan run site that features message boards and chat rooms where fans can discuss, pan, debate and celebrate the latest spoilers.
• Soap Central - Soap Central is jam packed with news, spoilers, previews and more.
• Soaps.com - This site breaks down the scoops and spoilers in an easy to read fashion. The page is broken down with updates by day and projects what is happening on future episodes for the next two weeks.
• The Soap Dispenser – This is a private blog run by fans for fans of soap operas. Fans can find spoilers, episode guides as well as message boards.