Saturday, January 7, 2012

Huang Hoang's (Junie Hoang) battle with IMDB

Hard for me to stay quiet on this one folks. Acting is one of the only professions on the planet where it is PERFECTLY okay for people to be discriminated against for their looks, nationality, race, accent, gender, disability status and yes...AGE. It's also a profession where your financial success tends to hinge on how much the public cares about you! And when they care about you, they want to know your personal information...such as your birthday.

Now I know SAG is all over this. It's low-hanging fruit and makes members feel like they are being represented. It's also a source for money, money!!! Think of the class-action lawsuit this could bring. What I find hilarious is that this actress is suing for $1M!!! But then SAG turns around and says ‎"Making a living as a middle-class, working actor is already extraordinarily difficult." Well which is it? Is it hard to make a living, or is there a realistic potential for Jane Doe actress to bank $1M.

Oh, and if you care, her IMDB name is Junie Hoang (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0387470/). As a friend so interestingly pointed out, her first credit is listed as 1992...which already hints something at her age. Also, her resume is impressive, but not filled with incredible levels of fame and success when she was "younger". I guess now she has something to blame the trials and tribulations of being an actress on...It's IMDB's fault. I'm pissed because it looks like many of the roles she got were for a woman!!! And not only that, for an Asian woman! Who do I sue, since I was obviously discriminated against?

Looking at her headshot, which I assume is recent and not overly photo-shopped, she could definitely play younger than her age. I'm also sure she is quite talented since she continues to work. What the problem is here (if in fact, it is a problem) is that casting people who would otherwise put her in a younger role, look at her birthdate and immediately lose all originality and creativity and go with factual data over the art. That's a problem with CDs, not IMDB. But how do you prove a casting director discriminated based on that fact? You don't. They are authorized to discriminate at will anyway. As a matter of fact, when I don't get a role, I rarely hear ANYTHING. No feedback whatsoever on why. So where is she grounding her theory that she has lost work because of her age being posted on IMDB? Does she have something in writing? If so, I'd love to see her attempt to sue that CD. The case would never stand.

This is opportunism and deflection at its finest and both Hoang and SAG should be ashamed of themselves.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, here is a link to the Hollywood Reporter article.

3 comments:

  1. I had to read parts of this a couple of times to make sure I understood...she's suing for $1M because IMDB posted her true age? For real? Please tell me I'm missing something...

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