MISC: Does Knowing the Ending, Spoil the Experience?

The answer, of course, is that it depends.

I had occasion last night to catch Citizen Kane, starting about five minutes into the movie. Frankly I was sick and tired of the work I was doing. I have had a few conundrums to solve, and haven't. So, I gave into temptation and watched the Orson Welles classic. It might be the first time I've seen the movie in three decades. And it still works its magic.

The difference this time, is that I know the secret. The mystery revealed in the final word of the script, the final shot. It's the mark of a great mystery to extend it out to the final page (of the book or script). A truly great mystery makes it to the final sentence. A masterpiece waits until the final word. And I knew the word going in. So why was I enraptured.

I watched for the clues along the way. The mystery was in whether there were any mis-steps along the way. I believe The Da Vinci Code is marred by treading off the path of honest clues (at least the book version, the movie was just plain confusing). But Citizen Kane plays honest with its viewers. And it was a great trip down memory lane.

Now, there are other mysteries, LIKE The Da Vinci Code, that only whither on subsequent readings/watchings. And that book isn't the worst example of being only enjoyable on first reading or viewing. I'll give you another example.

I think it's an Eric Frank Russell or Theodore Sturgeon tale, but I couldn't find it on a quick search. But here's the short story in a nutshell. By the way, it can't ever be filmed, so you only ever have to fear tripping over it if you read 50-year old Science Fiction.

A couple of aliens in a spaceship land on earth, ahead of gigantic invasion force. They are experienced scouts, with experience landing on many planets to decide whether their fellow beings should invade. They've made mistakes, but generally they've steered the fleet to victory and avoided getting into unwinnable wars. Their big weapon is the ability to change their appearance to match that of the local inhabitants.

We read about adventures where they made the mistake of taking on the appearance of the same local being, and just barely got away with their skins. They've also made the mistake of getting the appearance right, but not the size. Like I said, these scouts are veterans.

Having spent a week looking at the local inhabitants, they feel comfortable that they have the appearance, habits and even the language down pat. They do their chameleon thing and exit the spacecraft, ready for their scouting mission. Five minutes later, they are surrounded and arrested.

A few days later, the fleet, having not heard from the scouts, writes them off as lost and Earth as too tough to invade. They move on elsewhere for another attempted conquest.

The last scene is almost written like movie directions. The 'camera' pulls back from the landing site and you read a sign sitting not far from where the aliens exited and started walking into the nearest town.

"Sunny Retreat Nudist Colony."