Have you ever had the annoying experience where someone spoiled a movie, show, musical, game, album, or something else for you? Now, imagine that happening every time you go online. Don’t want to? Too bad, it’s already happening. The difference now is that it’s starting to occur with content that may even be years away from release, ruining the enjoyment when it finally arrives. This is the wonderful world of leaks, and as a major movie fan, I have some professional complaining to do.

Before we begin, I want to clarify what leaks are: unauthorized public releases of project information before official launches, carried out by individuals called leakers. While leaks have existed since the birth of pop culture, the internet has amplified their scale and speed dramatically. In response, studios have seemingly chosen to abandon secrecy and basically shoot themselves in the foot before leakers can.

For decades, filmmakers were less concerned about leaks due to the slow spread of information. However, with the rise of the internet, practices like public filming could be recorded and instantly reach a global audience with just one phone. In response, studios began using methods like code names and NDAs to maintain secrecy.

But recently, some studios have started leaking information themselves and continue filming in public to build buzz. While this strategy can create excitement and prevent leakers from going the more nefarious route, it neglects to consider how this negatively impacts the public’s enjoyment of their content.

For example, the highly anticipated sequel “Devil Wears Prada 2” is currently in production, featuring the return of major original cast members like Meryl Streep. Filming is taking place, of course, in public, making it easy for the public to observe and capture pretty much everything. While we still have much to learn about “Devil Wears Prada 2,” films like “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” have had nearly every major detail about the film revealed months in advance due to next to no regulations on what can be filmed and posted on set.

So, why am I upset? While it sounds cool that fans can see nearly whatever they want without waiting, it often feels like full-on spoiling. And even though unauthorized leaks can be annoying and bring occasional spoilers sometimes, I’d much prefer them to film studios just revealing absolutely everything for no other reason than trying to beat leakers.

While leaks, due to technology and social media, are undoubtedly here to stay, when everything is revealed too soon, it ruins the enjoyment and suspense of experiencing a film for the first time. Why should I pay fifty bucks to see a movie when I already know everything? My wish for film studios is that they accept that leakers will always exist, and their current strategy to combat them is doing much more damage, spoiler-wise, than the typical leaker ever could before. But if this continues, the only surprise left may be whether anything can remain a secret at all.