Why Actress Should Sue IMDB Over Publishing Her Real Age
As frivolous as the lawsuit may seem, she’s kickstarted a national dialogue and shining a light on a problem that exists but nobody wants to fix. Good for her.
imdb.com. For those who arent familiar with the site, IMDB (Internet Movie Data Base) is an electronic resume and resource for anyone who has ever worked on a movie/tv show/dog food commercial, ever. Its not always accurate, but its the go-to site for people to look up credits, find the latest movie trailers, and find out whos doing what and where, without the gossipy, irritating tone adopted by other entertainment sites. Its mainly for industry insiders. The actor in questions age was listed and was considered by the actor to be a violation of her privacy mainly because she didnt want to be seen as over the hill. She has sued the IMDB for $1 million in loses. For the full story, see the link HERE. Is she wrong to bring the suit or is she right? The problem isnt that they violated her privacy, they did. Nobody has any right to reveal anything about anyone unless they choose to reveal it (Im looking at you, people who post themselves either naked or in a bikini on Facebook if youre that person, you deserve what you get, you narcissist); and the problem isnt that shes suing; she has every right to demand what restitution she feels she is owed. The problem is that shes fighting something that is such a huge issue. In my forays into the world of movie-making, I have been on the dishing-it-out side, and on the taking-it side. I have seen the ageism up close and personal and also discovered a big secret that nobody reveals. Its against men, too. Granted its one-millionth as bad, but men, dont think for a moment youre not being judged. You are. Harshly. And you know who is judging you? OTHER MEN. If you dont believe me, ask any male professional athlete over the age of 40. If you can find one. The ageism issue is all encompassing, all pervasive, and, sadly, not going anywhere. Its everywhere and in every sector of society, and in the Wild-West mindset of Hollywood, its perfectly okay. And who dictates these policies and hiring practices? Usually older men who want to come off as being current. When their young protégées screw up, they are simply replaced by somebody else who is equally young and fresh. Its an industry in which youre old at 35, unless youve managed to survive the cuts along the way and you end up head of the company at 65. Then youre safe. But this mentality isnt exclusive to media, go look at any Fortune 500 company or investment bank. People in their twenties come to Hollywood in droves every year. Hell, they arrive every month. It is the centre of many forms of media in North America - with the exception of fashion and book publishing - and everyone arrives with a dream. Most of these fresh-faced arrivals are underpaid, work ungodly hours, and if they survive the grind for two to three years, they are promoted often to very powerful positions and then they get everyone who got them. The most common and easy way to get em back is through ageism. The language is selected very carefully. Younger people have fresher ideas is a common statement. Another common occurrence is once one person moves up, they bring their young friends with them. Idiocy loves company, as it were. But it all boils down to money and power as usual. The other point - and this is the one of the real reason Hollywood loves young people you can pay them less. A person in his/her 20s is more willing to work 75 hours a week for very little money than a married person with a kid on the way. With the inception of the internship, most companies have now gotten away with paying employees zero salaries in place of the below-living-standards salaries of the past. Factoring in a healthy dollop of insecurity (ie: my predecessor had great ideas, Ive gotta be better than that guy so Ill shelve everything he/she greenlit and prove it to everyone that Im better) and youve got a powerful cocktail for keeping people out. And the easiest way to do it is to use obsolescence/age as an excuse. Furthermore (and heres a HUGE secret) most of the men doing the judging are balding little jerks. In an excellent documentary, Searching for Debra Winger, a documentary film made by Roseanna Arquette, she explores the issue of ageism and women in Hollywood. A number of high profile actresses not only tell it like it is, they call it what it is Nerds Revenge. These talented, successful women are often judged by men who never got laid in high school and now they are taking it out on all of society. And they take it out on a lot of girls who arrive to Hollywood wanting to be writers, actors and agents. Sadly, I wonder how many women arrive to Hollywood wanting to be directors. And this is not a mentality that is exclusive to Hollywood. Ive worked in banks where you could see the same attitude. Sadly, too, the young people in power positions in Hollywood are often underexposed to the very industry that they work in and by extension, their lack of experience makes them fearful and disposable. Most film school graduates are NOT the superyoung, bumbling, overconfident, arrogant idiots that are lampooned in most sitcoms, but they are justyoung. This means they simply may not know who Billy Wilder is and theyre not given the luxury to learn on the job. They screw up, they get fired, or threatened with a firing, and then theyre beholden to someone who tortures them for the rest of their life. Theyre often trying to make movies that are original and fresh, but dont actually know or understand what fresh ideas are - hence the current slew of remakes. I am actually anticipating an ET remake: ET II Elliots Revenge. We all know that sexy=young equation is the lifeblood of media. For women the cutoff for hotness seems to be 40 and for men, 50. It equals big dollars and we the people, understand this quite well. What media moguls/empires/impresarios dont seem to realize (or maybe they do, by now) is how wrong they are in underestimating the general populace. What the media doesnt realize (or reflect yet) is that not many people care about age anymore. Younger and younger kids are media savvy enough to realize that what they are witnessing on The Real Housewives of My Ass and Hot People Kissing is FAKE. (Note: these shows do not exist. And if you steal the idea, you owe me money just sayin) Sexy has changed. And not in the way it is portrayed in the media, either. Older women dating younger men is not that uncommon and not all of us older women who are dating younger men are rapacious, Demi Moore-like hotties, either. Believe it or not, some of us are normal human beings and us normal people dont rule out a potential soul mate because they dont hit our age demographic. As well, men are finally realizing that women are equally likely to look at a hot 25 year old man as they are a 45 year old man and think: Hmmm. Bruce Willis or Ashton? Which has less mileage. Casting directors are finally casting geeky looking boys as the leading men. Furthermore, the pornification of media has failed. Like most average people, and especially in the ADD-afflicted younger generations, the stripper-porn star-webcam-girl is-the-same-as-a-trained-actress mentality isnt one that people believe anymore (maybe 12 year old boys, but all 12 year old boys are nuts). The media shows oversexed women grinding and gyrating and saying that its damaging our girls, but theyre not giving girls enough credit. People are figuring out that these images being stuffed down their throats are by older people who have lost touch with reality. For every teenager who thinks Jenna Jameson is a role model, there are a thousand who think JK Rowling is, and nobody is acknowledging this and its certainly not shown on TV. Sure, we have a natural inclination to like pretty things, but our very definition of pretty has changed, everywhere and permanently. The force-feeding of these images in advertising, fashion, film etc. is exhausting and the result is that most people are simply not watching anymore. Many people TIVO their shows so that they can skip the commercials and many people download shows for the very same reason. This movement has been happening for the past ten years, and its up to advertisers to get on board or become extinct. And because people dont want to be beholden to ancient thinking or ancient business models, more and more people have decided to put out their own music, books and television shows, newspapers via the internet/social media because they dont like what theyre seeing out there. They have taken matters into their own hands because they dont want to play ball with this antiquainted thinking that doesnt reflect their own. They dont want to be beholden to someone trying to sell soap to males 18-34. And the entire system has to start listening. In another excellent documentary, Miss Representation, the media is brought under attack for the portrayal of women in the media and why we are constantly told that the demand is market-driven. It isnt. At all. MEN have changed how they look at women and more specifically, (and heres a dash of ageism) YOUNGER men have changed. Race and age arent really a factor anymore, and most people are exposed to different ideas, religions, and beliefs from a very early age. More importantly, they are taught that hating is wrong in all forms whether its based on race, religion, body-size OR age. Fox News being the obvious exception, of course. Has the generation in charge cottoned on to this? Kinda. Lawsuits like this actors suit against IMDB, while it seems frivolous on the surface, are imperative in the fight for a newer gentler world. We are in the middle of a revolution, and those in charge have to start listening. When a plant dies, you rip it out by the roots. With these necrotic beliefs still pervasive in the generation that stubbornly refuses to give up control, the only option is to hit em where they live with dollars (or in the case of most What Culture readers, pounds and Euros). Make them pay every time someone doesnt cast someone in a movie over the age of 25. Make someone pay every time they hack a cell phone. And make them pay big. People will only get away with bad behaviour if you let them, and the actress suing IMDB isnt letting them. As frivolous as the lawsuit may seem, shes kickstarted a national dialogue and shining a light on a problem that exists but nobody wants to fix. Good for her.