Response To Forbes and Curtis Silver Over Spoiling Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Hey everyone, Jack Drees here! On Thursday, April 26th, 2018, I saw “Avengers: Infinity War,” and so far it is my favorite movie of 2018. But here’s what I must alert all of you, that is one of the very few things I’m probably allowed to say about it. This is a movie that if spoiled to you, you’ll smack the person who gave you said spoiler in the face as hard as you can until he or she gets a nosebleed. In fact, there was a whole campaign going on which is written on a piece of paper signed by the movie’s co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo.

By the way, there was a tweet from the Russo Brothers containing this image, but for some apparent reason, it’s off the Internet now.

#ThanosDemandsYourSilence

There are a good number of people out there, regardless of their awareness to this, that are respectful when it comes to spoiling movies. They allow moviegoers to experience the movies as blind as possible without any big reveals handed to them before they go in. If you get to know me, you’d be able to tell that I’m one of those people. And after this, I can guarantee that you’ll trust me to avoid spoiling a movie more than Forbes.

That last statement may sound like a stretch to some people. You may see me as an amateur, inexperienced, so-called movie critic whereas Forbes has been around since 1917, they’ve been focusing on more than just movies, and are often looked upon as a reliable source. Yes, I’ve looked at Forbes from time to time, but what I’ve just witnessed fairly recently makes me never want to bat an eye towards them ever again. Apparently, Forbes thinks it’s all fine and dandy to just go ahead, and let out every single reveal and spoiler to “Avengers: Infinity War.”

Now, I’m not saying that you can’t do that sort of thing now, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND not doing it for the sanity of others, but you have the option to do this if you want. The movie has been out for a couple of weeks, and a lot of people have seen it. But Forbes did it before the movie came out, and I looked at the post sometime after seeing the movie, and it’s legit. They actually have REAL “Avengers: Infinity War” spoilers. You might as well ask me, “Hey, Jackass! What’s the point of making this? If this movie’s a couple weeks old, what is the purpose?” My response, I live in the United States, so it’s a free country. Not to mention, I feel like this would be a good public service announcement, because part of me wonders how long something like this would go on.

Lucky for me, I didn’t get spoiled going into the movie. When it comes to my first time hearing about this article, I heard about it from none other than one of my current goto YouTubers for movie-related content, John Campea. He made a short video about this whole spoiler fiasco, and the main message he was trying to hammer home to everyone is “F*ck Forbes.” There’s only one flaw I have with the video, and it is that everything he said couldn’t make its way into the entire timeline (watch to end to see what I mean). Why’s that? I’m not certain, but in some ways, that flaw might make the video better, I dunno. The link to the video is down below, and beware of the comment section in the video if you haven’t seen “Infinity War,” because there are spoilers in there too.

Now if you’re unfamiliar with John Campea you might be thinking, this is just a guy on YouTube, he doesn’t even show the article, where is this guy’s proof? Believe me, he’s a trustworthy source. He’s been talking about movies for quite some time. He’s had a movie blog for awhile, he worked for AMC Movie News (the theater chain, not the TV channel), he spent some time working for Collider, and now if you go on his YouTube channel, he’s got some shows going such as “The John Campea Show,” “Open Mic,” and “Star Wars Talk.” You can trust him. He’s not a doctor, but you can trust him. To further my point that you can trust John, let me reference a video where John is mentioned that also touches upon this Forbes article. This video is from a user called 3 Buck Theater, and to watch it, click the video down below.

If you go to the 45 second mark of this video, it clearly says that this article was published on April 24th of this year. One thing I must point out is if you go ahead and look at the article now, that day will no longer be there. Here is a screenshot taken on my computer to prove to you this is real.

According to this screenshot, this post was published on April 28 of this year. And you know what? I heard somewhere that this is not the first time that this has been reposted to the site! This article, as you see in the screenshot, is written by Curtis Silver. As he dives into the article, he goes ahead he gives a warning that there are major spoilers ahead, no made up spoilers, ACTUAL SPOILERS. He’s basically going on giving warnings for warnings, and this is actually a good way to warn people that these spoilers are actually true. In fact, Silver goes on to say that he has not seen the movie, but he has sourced his information from Reddit. So… F*CK! I guess this post is gonna have to focus on Reddit now too!

First off, no matter where you post spoilers before a movie comes out, it’s just wrong! It ruins the experience of the film for those trying to go in with fresh eyes! The Internet itself is full of trolls, and from what I heard, Reddit is a good place (if you want to put it that way) to find them, and it’s not just when it comes to something such as the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe film! I don’t go on Reddit all that often, and the more I hear about trolls on that site, the less I feel I should even go on there. I don’t have much advice to Internet users except, I dunno, avoid Reddit. Also, someone, perhaps a large group of people, needs to monitor Reddit on a more consistent basis. I don’t go on Reddit much, but I’m just saying what I feel is necessary.

Anyway, back to the main topic. This is about Forbes, not Reddit, so let’s not get too too carried away. I will say, if Curtis Silver posted everything he has said now, I’d be fine, and I imagined some of you would feel the same way. The movie’s opening weekend is already over in most of the countries the movie had a wide release in. But the first time his post popped up was April 24th, and since it popped up that day, even a number of people going to see the movie opening night would get spoiled courtesy of Forbes. Now you might be thinking, what if they simply ignore the article? Yes, they can do that, any idiot can do that. All they have to do is scroll away. But a bigger idiot would click on the article and go everywhere and leave spoilers all over the web like graffiti in tunnels. Before the movie came out, various social media sites: YouTube, Twitter, Reddit already had spoiling going on! This has the power to affect a lot of moviegoers, and it’ll hit them where it hurts!

That is… Unless you don’t care. And I will admit, I’ve talked to someone recently who had the whole movie spoiled for him, partially because of me, and he didn’t give a crap. But there are a vast number of people who do give a crap, and those who do probably need to hear what I’m about to hear. Curtis Silver doesn’t give a crap about you people who give a crap.

Again, if he first made this post AFTER the movie had most of its major wide releases, then the idea of whether or not one chooses to give a crap wouldn’t even matter as much. Maybe it would a little, but definitely not as much. Silver goes onto say that this is good if you want to avoid the movie in the cinema but stay in the current conversation with others. My response, wait until those OTHERS see it. And he also says that this is a good thing if you have something such as social anxiety. I don’t want to go too far given what has just been stated, but again, guys, just wait a little before opening your mouth.

“The point is that sometimes, posting the spoilers isn’t necessarily a terrible thing even if the directors of “Avengers: Infinity War” recommend staying off the internet until you see the movie. Who is going to do that? Thanos demands my silence? Whatever.” –Curtis Silver

Yes, spoiling a movie such as this one isn’t necessarily a terrible thing. You know, as long as you don’t do it on a day such as April 24th.

“The second thing I learned is that even if people say they don’t want to read spoilers — they do. They’ll whine about it, even if you say numerous times that this post contains spoilers for “Avengers: Infinity War.” They will discount my statement about the spoilers not being made up and think I’m just being sarcastic. They will then ignore all warnings about spoilers and then scour Google and Facebook and Reddit and Twitter for spoilers, then read the spoilers.” -Curtis Silver

So… I want to know something. How many of you read spoilers before going to see a movie? I can tell you right now that is something I’ve never done. How many of you guys have done something of this sort if you’re reading this? Leave a comment below!

This guy eventually goes on to say that people who have read a similar post to this he did on “The Last Jedi” felt glad they didn’t have to watch the movie, which is a positive thing I guess for them, I’m glad they’re happy. But I hate asking the same question over and over, could the spoilers please wait until after the movie releases for everyone to see? One of the biggest standouts in terms of all of the quotes lying around in the article is this:

“If you read these spoilers because of your free will, don’t spout them on Twitter or Facebook for all to see. Some people don’t want spoilers and you shouldn’t give them no choice in hearing them. You have a choice here. You still have time to click off the page and not read this.” -Curtis Silver

So based on this quote, Silver is a bit more of a fully functioning human being than I once thought. Silver says to not post the spoilers on Facebook and Twitter, and that is something I can approve of. But here’s the thing… Trolls are hunting after all of us.

Now if these people are spoiling the movie after it came out, this wouldn’t be much of a problem. But the very fact that this was posted on April 24th, allows the trolls to snatch whatever available information they can get and spread it around like a virus. Not to mention, let me once again mention THIS IS FORBES. On places like Reddit, you’d probably expect people going around spoiling everything about the latest phenomenon people call a movie. It’s not what people should be doing on there, but it does happen. Forbes however, is a source that a lot of people trust. After seeing this article, I trust them a little less than I once did.

Now if anyone at Forbes is reading this, I must have you know that this is not meant to be an attack on Forbes because I dislike Forbes. It’s meant to be a letter to Forbes to fix their s*it otherwise I’ll stop reading them. I’ve got nothing in particular against Forbes itself. I mean, I do now given how I’ve just witnessed something I couldn’t believe I saw, but I’ve had experience using Forbes as a source for the social media group I’m a part of, Knights of Nerdvana, when we are sharing nerd-related news during our weekly briefings. After what I just recently saw, I have a bone to pick with Curtis Silver, and I personally don’t think he’s Forbes material. So unless he does an article filled with spoilers AFTER a movie releases, let’s say for “Avengers 4,” he’s still working at Forbes, release it a few days or so after the film’s release, that way a large number of people had a chance to watch the movie, and the people who want spoilers can still get the content they choose to consume.

Thought I was done? Nope I am not!

If you watch 3 Buck Theater’s video, you’ll notice at one point he says that this happened BEFORE the movie’s review embargo lifted! So this says something about Curtis Silver, and as of right now it doesn’t say too much about Forbes, but depending on their future, it potentially could! I’m a part of what some may call the movie fan community, and as a movie fan, I’m somewhat offended by him. Not only, does he post spoilers for the movie prior to the release date, but before the reviews are even allowed to be published! Seriously! Curtis Silver should not be working for Forbes, and if he does, I want someone over at Forbes to tell him to get his act together! There is NO REASON that spoilers should be spread before a movie such as this one comes out! I don’t think spoilers for any movie that has yet to be released should be revealed to the public, but the thing about “Avengers: Infinity War” is that it’s not only part of a phenomenon, but it’s different from the vast majority of movies being cranked out of studios! It’s different in terms of anticipation! Plot! Stakes! There are so many things that separates “Avengers: Infinity War” from being another movie. And that’s saying something because this movie is based on Marvel comics, and most of these movies can be predicted from start to finish. This one doesn’t have the same predictability factor! I won’t go into it, because unlike Forbes, I’m not intending on spoiling the movie for you. My gosh! Curtis Silver should be removed from his Forbes contribution position! I don’t know if he ever gets invited to movie screenings, but he should never be invited to a pre-release screening, and you guys, all of you reading this, if you have a brain and understand the guidelines when it comes to the movie-going experience and the movie fan community, you should not read Forbes again!

Now, I will say this. I never have access to go to advanced screenings. I have this blog that I keep up with, and I always try to stay active, but I don’t work for any sort of company, I’m not that popular by movie blogging standards, and I don’t monetize my site. If this ever ruins my chance to work at Forbes, doesn’t matter to me. It was never my dream job anyway. In fact after seeing what they just did I don’t think I ever want to work for them. I’m eighteen years old, and I can tell that Curtis is some age that’s greater than my own, but I got to ask. When it comes to reviewing movies and respectfully handling spoilers, do you trust me? Or Curtis Silver?

One of my favorite parts of this whole thing that I didn’t mention is the fact that the opinions expressed in the article are not those of Forbes, and they are the writer’s own. That’s great! That means I can point out how bogus it is that Forbes apparently has these opinions of Silver’s on the Internet! I’m not saying you can’t have an opinion, but there are just times when you can’t let certain opinions spill out of your mouth.

If Curtis Silver and Forbes change their ways in the future, that will mean this world will gain sanity, until then, we have this mumbo jumbo to deal with. Thanks for reading this post! If you work at Forbes and you’re reading this, I just want to make sure you know that I’m not directing this statement at you. I might as well say it’s more directed towards the company as a whole, but I wasn’t specifically pointing out YOUR insanity.

Also, to anyone reading this, I would like to send out a warning to you. Because I imagine if some of you see this, you’re gonna go to wherever you can find Curtis Silver and type in something along the lines of “I’M GONNA KILL YAHGBEIFUOBINOB!” I have to ask politely, for the sake of the world’s sanity, PLEASE DON’T DO THAT. At this point, you’re the troll. You’re doing something worse than spoiling a movie, which is saying you’re going to commit murder. If you ask me which I’d rather have, and I had to choose between spoilers for “Avengers: Infinity War” before I saw it, or to be dead, I’d have trouble deciding. But logically speaking, we all want to live. So please… Give something to Curtis. He may be a spoiler, but he’s not a murderer, so don’t treat him like he just murdered somebody.

Anyways, when it comes to future content, be sure to stay tuned for my review for “Mission: Impossible III.” This is going to my third entry in my Tom Cruise “Mission: Impossible” review series leading up to the release of “Mission: Impossible: Fallout,” which comes out July 27th.

As for other movies, I did just buy “The Commuter” on 4K, and since that movie came out this year, it almost seems appropriate to review it. And if time allows me to go see anything this upcoming weekend. Something maybe like “Rampage,” “Tully,” or “Life of the Party,” I’ll check that out too. Stay tuned for more great content! I want to know, how do you feel about having a movie spoiled for you before you see it? Or, how do you feel about getting a movie spoiled for you before it comes out? Please let me know, and Forbes, just… good luck. Scene Before is your click to the flicks!