Jorja To IMDb: Privacy Matters
Posted on November 13, 2011 • By Mika E. (Ipstenu) • 2 min read • 408 wordsShould places like IMDb (and by that extension, JFO) really be disclosing everything about everyone?
Every time someone gives me crap (and yes, they do) about being a bit strict about protecting Jorja’s personal life, I do get annoyed. Yes, I run a fansite for Jorja, but my bottom line is, and will always be, that when something is stated publicly, then it’s fit for this site. After all, I don’t like the idea of people nosing around my personal life.
Thankfully, Jorja feels the same way.
Right now, an actress (who shall remain nameless) is suing IMDb for destroying her career by outing her age. We all know that the older a woman gets, the harder it is to get cast, even if they can play younger. Well, now casting directors are checking IMDb to see if an actor or actress is close to the age they want to cast, and in some cases, a difference of five years is causing them to punt people off their potential list.
“In many ways, it is a privacy issue for artists, and it does tie their hands a little bit if there’s too much truth out there about them,” said Jorja Fox, who despite having her real age outed on the Internet when she was younger, went on to an impressive acting career in such popular shows as “ER,” “The West Wing” and “CSI.”
“Our ability to create characters and put a veil of believability around what we do - that’s the whole idea,” Fox continued. “The Internet’s been really amazing in a lot of ways, like getting people out there. But in other ways, it’s sort of made that job harder and harder to do over these years.”
She’s right.
I don’t think killing IMDb is the way to go, as there are enough fansites out there to fill the void. Google’s pretty impressive, and Wikipedia has a lot too. And really, we, as viewers, have little problem believing that Grissom’s in love with Sara, even though Billy’s happily married to Gina, not Jorja, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. We, as viewers, can and do suspend disbelief. Casting directors need to remember that more often.
But I do think we owe it to celebs to treat them like people, and respect that. The next time you think about hitting me up to ask ‘hey, got anything new?’ think about what you’re really asking. There is a happy medium between ‘know nothing’ and ‘know everything’ and that’s what I’m striving for.
Fans of LeFox is a fan run website with the goal of sharing information about actress, advocate, and humanitarian, Jorja Fox.