Secrets in the Modern Age

Watching the season finale of Doctor Who, and the episode about the Fifth Doctor, I was struck with a statement someone said.  It was about how there were surprises back then, shocks that no one saw coming, and how impossible that is to pull off in today’s age.

It is really driven home by how much we already know of the upcoming season of Doctor Who.  There is supposed to be all this secrecy about who John Hurt’s Doctor really is, but people have picked apart a pair of interviews, and spread it around the internet.  It’s a shame too, as I would have been wonderfully surprised by it.

I still remember watching Doctor Who when I was a child, and seeing him regenerate for the first time, I was shocked.  When Aldric died I was absolutely flabbergasted, and that single moment taught me so much about life and death and so many other things.  If I’d have known about it ahead of time...I know it would have been completely different.

Here’s something that’s hard to imagine, but try.  Star Wars Episode I.  I know, I already hear the groans, but imagine this for a moment.  Watching it for the first time, and not knowing that Maul had a double bladed lightsaber.  Just imagine that.  People in the audience would have leaned forward thinking, “Oh man, this shit just got real.”

Most movie trailers have a snippet of the last scene in it.  It might not reveal much, but if you know what to look for, then yeah, its pretty telling.  Promethius would have been a ton better of a movie if we hadn’t known about the Alien tie in.  We would have sat there thinking, “Oh wow, that looks familiar,” until it was revealed.

Surprises do still happen.  The Red Wedding hit people that watch A Game of Thrones on HBO quite hard, even though the book the event took place in was published thirteen years ago.  The Walking Dead tries pretty hard to keep a lid on things with their surprises, and succeeds in most cases.

I think back to the older days of TV.  The ending to the Rosanne show was pretty unique and a wonderful surprise.  Bob Newhart had a great surprise ending to his last TV series.  If I remember correctly, in both instances they actually filmed a false scene to throw people off.

In today’s age secrets dissolve quickly, as social media has made gossip and sharing something world wide almost instantaneous.  The only real surprises seem to happen in books and video games now-a-days.  Which is a shame, as both of which are technically niche audiences.  Certain movies in the past would have been far better without spoilers in the trailers.  TV shows and movies have so many people working on the set, its impossible to truly keep a lid on anything.

Honestly, I never saw The Sixth Sense, but the ending was pretty easy to figure out with the trailers and all.  What was the last TV show or movie that surprised you?  I’m curious as to what you think about today’s technology and how hard it is to keep secrets from people who want to learn everything about a production.  So please comment below!