spoiler alert

a friend of mine from undergrad had a great facebook status message today:

And thus in 2013, the second American Civil War was caused not by divisive politics or beliefs, but by the rift between those who posted Game of Thrones spoilers on Facebook, and those that did not see the episode when it aired.

i did not watch "game of thrones," (i'm pretending, mostly to myself, that i'm going to finish the first book) but now, thanks to social media, i know the fate of at least 2 characters who, given the place i am at in the book, i knew to be very much alive.  not that finding this out is some sort of devastating blow, but upon reading people's reactions last night, i did think, "well, guess i know what happens in the 3rd book now."

this leads to sort of an interesting question of the nature of being "spoiled" on entertainment, especially in today's world of time-shifting, netflix and media that you can always come back to.

please note: after the jump, i will discuss spoilers concerning the past of don draper on "mad men." if you have managed to avoid hearing anything about this character, 1. i want to know how and 2. you may want to avoid.

fear of fuzzy feet

i have a confession to make.  it's hard for me to admit this, but i know i'm in a safe space here.

i have never seen "star wars."

i'm hoping that this admission does not scare off the 3's of readers i'm anticipating having.

here's the thing about me... i am a pop culture junkie.  when i was in high school, that 6 degrees of kevin bacon thing was... developed? discovered? at any rate, it was a thing. a friend of mine and i, discontent with just linking people to kevin bacon, would challenge our friends and family to name any two actors and see if we could link them (it was a simpler time, facebook did not exist).

today, i am often the person who is there to fill in the actor that you can't remember but he was in that movie, you know that movie, with the people who lived in the place?  and he had that accent?  remember?  i do - it was peter o'toole.

(continued after the jump...)