Backstage: The Internet Movie Database has launched a blistering counterattack against the anonymous actress who sued the service for revealing her age.
Amazon.com, owner of IMDb, believes it knows the identity of this woman, and it tells a Washington federal court that before she filed the lawsuit, she first tried to get the service to post a false birthdate so she could fool potential Hollywood employers into thinking she was younger than she actually is. Now a judge is being asked to dismiss the lawsuit so as to not perpetuate a fraud on the public.
17 comments:
This just seems absolutely ridiculous. Im quite confused as to how the woman can sue IMDB if she does not disclose who she is. If she wishes for IMDB to take action would she have to let them know who she is in order to solve the issue. It sounds like this could be the same woman because how would IMDB know anything about changing age and not changing it if it wasn't the same woman. Discrimination in the industry will happen regardless. IMDB will not ruin her career. If it is the same woman then she should just request for her age to be removed. Actors show have the right to ask for information to be changed, or at least removed, but that doesn't stop anything else on the internet from popping up. I don't feel like a lawsuit can be had more than removing information, not changing it. Unions should also not be involved with this because they should hope that an IMDB age will not influence hiring, or IMDB at all. Should auditions be a factor, and once you SEE the individual and how old they look?
I understand that age can provide a competitive advantage, or disadvantage in this case, but I have to agree that fraud is not the appropriate response to the issue. If this woman's concern was more about personal disclosure of any kind, then I could more understand her complaint. Instead, her issue is specifically with her birth year, an attempt to make herself more marketable. I understand it is a tough industry, but lying shouldn't be the answer. I can understand that it might be unfortunate to be an actor, and to have so much information about you available online... but I guess that's our modern age.
I'm with AJ and Charles on this one. At this point, this actress, whomever she is (I'm sure Hollywood insiders have figured it out, or will soon), has attracted so much bad press by filing this lawsuit and trying to perpetuate fraud by faking her age that honestly, THAT will be the reason that she doesn't get roles. Not her age, and its supposed deterrents to her career. Age should not be a factor in auditions, some say, which is fair. Actors can choose not to list an age on their resume if they fear they will be judged by it, but IMDB is really just a database, and shouldn't be perpetuating lies.
I have no idea who this actress is, but I can understand her frustration. What good is it to write, "Can play characters between the ages of 18-35" when the database has you listed as, for example, 40+ and directors can readily find the information. The directors can look at her picture and wonder how much photoshopping was done to it. I'm not sure suing is the answer, but I can identify with her frustration. I don't think lying is the answer, but she should definitely be able to have her age removed from the database.
I understand why the plaintiff is concerned about revealing her identity- that kind of attention, especially in regards to a story involving lies about her age, would probably affect her chances of being cast in much of anything. It would put her integrity into question, and in an industry so competitive, that would probably be enough to ruin her chances at auditions.
That being said, I am on IMDB's side in this case, and I am glad that they are not backing down. It IS selfish for the plaintiff to sue just so that she can continue to perpetuate a fraud, which IS inconsistent with US law.
I think that this is part of having to deal with the information age. I am not sure how this woman knows she has been discriminated against for her age. It doesn't seem like she has exact instances to make her claim from. In some ways it seems like she is making general claims that might have some weight but nothing she has actual proof of dealing with. I would also say that oftentimes actual age doesn't play a part but how young your face look does. There are 30 year old actors who play 16 year olds on TV.
Really? anonymously suing over a listing website posting your age? IMDB has every right to demand that who ever this girl is needs to reveal who she is because its completely ridiculous to expect someone to go int a lawsuit over someone they don't know saying they did something. Even so people need to realize that very rarely do people actually base auditions and hiring decisions off of your actual age. if that were the case then disney would be completely out of actors. Hiring actors for specific roles is based on how old the actor can look not how old they actually are. Even if IMDB doesn't say the persons actual age, who ever is hiring them is going to find out their age when they try to hire them. this is just another person trying to milk money from a big name company.
This whole situation falls into the "what the hell is wrong with the world" category of things. I get that actor hiring can occasionally be based around unfortunately discriminating, but suing a database over posting true information, especially after allegedly asking them to post false information is just wrong and makes me wonder how things got to this.
When I first read about this lawsuit, I sided with the actress because I felt that it should be her choice whether or not her birthdate was displayed on an IMDb profile that she paid to have. After learning that she tried to get IMDb to lie about her birthdate for her and also lied in saying that her old manager gave out the wrong birthdate, though, I feel differently. It certainly seems as though this woman is trying to manipulate IMDb and the justice system because she has realized that she can't lie about her age. Because of the implications of what IMDb thinks this woman did before, it absolutely makes sense for them to request that her identity be revealed so that the case can be settled fairly. They must know who her identity for sure in order to confirm her previous attempts of manipulating the company.
A part of me wonders about the motives behind this actress suing IMDB, and whether it was about more than just her age. If this actress were a big name star, I would think that her age would already have been a commonly known fact among IMDB followers. This makes me wonder if perhaps this actress is using this as a misguided way to generate publicity, first anonymously and then by being identified, or perhaps simply a quick and easy way of suing the company as a means of personal gain. Either way, this seems like an unnecessary lawsuit to me.
It seems that everyone is on the same page here. I think suing IMDB is not a smart move for this actress. I understand how age could hinder you from getting a role but once your discovered just get over it and move on. I think move will potentially stop her from getting another job again. How wants to work with a drama queen? But it is sad that things like age could hinder someone from getting a job and I agree with AJ that something should be done about it. It should be more about how they look not the actual age they are. Hell, I look like I'm 15 and I get mistaken for it all the time but I'm 20!
This is ridiculous. If the actress has a problem with her age being displayed she can stop paying for her service and have her profile taken down. This is the service which IMDB is offering--and it includes a birthdate. If she doesn't like the service, then don't use it. Simple as that. No reason to sue Amazon/IMDB.
And at the very least if you're going to sue someone at least let whoever your suing know who is suing them.
It's a good point that it's pretty twisted for this woman to use the judicial system to perpetuate a lie onto the public and to employers. Having the ages posted on IMDb creates human interest. IMDb does not ever claim to be posting facts, they post the information they believe to be true. Like magazines. If IMDb cannot post ages, you may as well not be allowed to post anything at all about celebrities unless it is approved by the star themselves, and then I'm sure we wouldn't be getting any of the information we want. Ages are interesting, I have very little interest in celebrities but I am often curious how close the young ones are to my age and it makes me relate to them and wonder about their lives and work. I didn't know that IMDb was owned by Amazon. Amazon is invincible, this woman won't win, especially over something so stupid. IMDb doesn't claim to be true and its really shouldn't influence this woman's career to the degree that she's reacting. I doubt casting agents do an IMDb check before each audition comes in the room.
This is really ridiculous. this is continuing to happen where freedom suits get more and more of a public eye. the general outlook on many of these cases is negative as many times the case is just ridiculous.I hope these types of cases stop getting the attention they are getting and we begin to focus more on stories that matter more. IMDB isn't going to benefit by sharing the information and that information isn't going to financially ruin her. this entire case is a waist of time and money.
If I couldn't find your age on IMDB I guarantee I could find it somewhere else. This seems like a desperate attempt by this actress. Is she struggling bad enough to need a "get rich quick" scheme? I agree with IMDB's actions. They should fight this law suit.
I understand that looks and youth are important to actors but how can the y sue IMDb for telling the truth. Yes discrimination happen but I don’t think that IMDb is aiding discrimination by publishing facts about a person. It reflects poorly on the woman that she was attempting to falsify a legal document. She need to just accept that she is that age and move on with her life.
I think she's only calling more attention to herself by suing over it. And anyway, I'm not an actor or anything, but it seems to me that how she looks is going to matter more than her age. I mean, if a 25 year old who looks 18 auditions for a part of an 18 year old, she is going to have a better chance of geting it than an 18 year old actress who looks like she is 25. And makeup and costume can help a person look younger, as well. If she is really the best person for a part, and isn't, you know, 80 and trying to play a teenager, the directors will decide whether they can make it work, but I don't think they'll spend too much time discussing her actual age.
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