So apparently, the Writers Guild of America has been petitioning IMDB to remove birth dates from the profiles on their site. Why? They argue that for actors, having their real age out there could be damaging by making them seem unrealistic to casting directors for roles a few years older or a few years younger than their actual age, when there wouldn’t be bias if their age wasn’t easily accessible. They say the same is true of writers—that having their birthdays available on the IMDB could lead to age discrimination. Luckily, IMDB is sticking to their guns—they say their purpose is to be an informational site, not a promotional one. And that’s a good call. Someone should also tell the Writers Guild that for the age of actors to truly be unknown, they’d also need to talk to Wikipedia and, uh, every fan site on the interwebs. Good luck with that. [WonderWall]
