The movie site imdb.com has a little trivia section for each movie, which I usually put my faith in (because, hey, it’s imdb). But how do I know that all those interesting little anecdotes are true? I’m pretty sure registered members put the section together, but they are not without fault. I can’t trust my useless trivia needs to just anyone, can I?
So is it unreasonable to put my trust in the imdb trivia?
It has a lot of holes in it. Don’t base a Master’s Thesis on it. But for the sake of cocktail chatter, it should be fine.
I know- or am aware- of people like Jim Beaver from movie newsgroups, and they contribute. Extremely knowledgeable and I would trust them. Overall, I don’t think it is Hollywood Babylon stuff but depends on the author.
FWIW, I’ve submitted a trivia and a goof (different movies) and they were both accepted. I have no standing in the movie industry - all I needed was a yahoo email address. It did take a few weeks for each to go up, so presumably they go through some sort of vetting process.
Earl Snake-Hips Tucker is a contributor over there, and a pretty smart guy. You might ask him. Straight Dope Message Board - Your direct line to thousands of the smartest, hippest people on the planet, plus a few total dipsticks.
For Wikipedia purposes at least IMDB trivia sections (and much of the rest of IMDB) is not considered a reliable source, because anyone can contribute and the staff does little to no vetting of either the additions or deletions. I’ve added trivia and goofs and they’re accepted withuot question. I’ve also deleted trivia and “goofs” that I know are wrong, again without question. I’ve added magazine appearances for people. In fact I once added (then deleted) a fake magazine interview to a bit player’s entry to prove during a deletion discussion on Wikipedia how unreliable IMDB is as a source. IIRC the only thing that’s considered reliable on IMDB is the writing credits because they are verified by the WGA.
I find that a lot of pieces of trivia seem to come from DVD commentary, which I would consider a generally reliable source. Unfortunately, IMDB doesn’t list the source for each piece of trivia which would be quite helpful in determining their validity.
Take a glance at the inane comments on the Imdb message boards. Then remind yourself that these people can contribute to the Trivia sections. The site is riddled with urban legends and nonexistent credits– still, a great resource for movie lovers and media folk.