F

13 Messages

 • 

218 Points

Wednesday, December 11th, 2024 4:57 AM

Closed

Solved

Unable to see my review I submitted last week for ' Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat '

Hi

I am a bit concerned about the submission of reviews that are within IMDb guidelines and yet that do not appear.

I am quite concerned that IMDb reviewers may have biases, conscious or unconscious, that are influencing the reviews being okayed for publishing.

For the review in question, I wish that it be noted that, I had not mentioned anything that was contrary to true facts, in fact anything that was not already shown in the documentary film. ' Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat ' is a documentary film that is purely based on facts, one that has garnered the highest review score of 100 by several leading newspapers including The New York Times, The Observer, Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal.

As a humanitarian who values truth and fairness to all people, If personal biases are indeed affecting user reviews submitted on IMDb, how do I flag the decision on my review to a supervisor or to the relevant higher department?  I would highly appreciate your reply and an escalation if IMDb extends its users the right to have an unfair review decision contested.

The review in question is for the movie ' Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat ',  submitted one week ago and is copied below for your reference:

What an amazing well-researched and superbly edited documentary that is filled with historic, factual and realistic visual, written and aural accounts interlaced throughout with powerful jazz music from heavyweights such as Louis Armstrong, "Dizzy" Gillespie and Nina Simone.. I couldn't get enough of it ! No wonder this documentary got 100 from several top reviewers, well-deserved!!!

In our current climate of political madness, increased ignorance and a world that is inching towards the precipice of a third world war, watching the great leaders of the past from around the world who stood on the right side of history gave me goosebumps and hope for the future of the world. It is important to see how white colonialists and imperialists - both within Europe and in settler colonial nations around the world, from Canada to Australia - to this day, cause, maintain and continue oppression, unrest, assassinations and genocide of indigenous people and the control of their lands and their natural resources. The murderers and war criminals include presidents, kings, ambassadors, military commanders, intelligence personnel and top politicians of these colonial powers, their agendas and culpability in these crimes are clear as the light of day.

Documentaries such as these should be a must-see in schools and universities, for a better understanding of white privilege, colonialist politics and their influence in the UN, the drivers of genocide and the double standards for humans rights, civil rights and justice depending on the color of your skin.

Summary: A powerful insight into white colonialism, their cronies in the UN and the brutal subjugation and genocide of the Congolese people in Africa

Sincerely,

flowerpetal_06659

Employee

 • 

2.2K Messages

 • 

24K Points

3 months ago

Hi flowerpetal_06659-

Thank you for posting! Do you happen to have the 18-digit submission reference number for this user review contribution as well?

Cheers!

13 Messages

 • 

218 Points

Hi Maya

Thank you for your kind reply.

Submissions aren't accessible on IMDb until they are approved. Thankfully the emails I receive when a review is accepted/declined do provide the details, so here's the reference number for my contribution:

 

#241204-225910-240504

I really would like to know if there are prejudices within the IMDb submissions review panel, as I honestly do not understand why the review was declined I was essentially summarising the film!

Please escalate if need be. 

Kind regards

(edited)

Employee

 • 

2.1K Messages

 • 

21.5K Points

Hi @flowerpetal_06659,

Thank you for the submission reference. For future reference, you can track your user review contributions via the Contribution History (beta).

Firstly, I would like to reassure you that there are no prejudices or influence of such when processing user reviews. In regards to the above review, I can confirm it was declined due to being overly concerned with social commentary, and not the title itself. Please refer to our user review guidelines for further guidance.

Thanks!

13 Messages

 • 

218 Points

Hi Ozzy,

Thank you for your reply, and my apologies for the delay in my reply.

Could you kindly point out the social commentary that you speak of in my review? - the three small paragraphs I wrote all directly refer to content shown in the documentary film. Apart from recommending it the film for school viewing, every word refers to actual topics shown in the film.  I would appreciate a valid justification instead of mere words that don't resonate with the truth.

If you disagree with the content of the film, then perhaps IMDb needs to reiterate where there policies lie with regards to showcasing films that truthfully, without bias, dissect and show the worst side of humanity. It doesn't make sense to have such films in your database and yet not allow members to summarise and review them, do you see my point? 

I'm afraid I'm not reassured about the prejudices or influence of reviews and I really do not wish to be sharing thousands of other reviews that do not do a proper review of the title just to prove my point. Also, I do not understand why the status has been changed to "solved" by merely repeating the grounds it was declined for the first time - that is exactly what I am contesting.

Please be fair enough to have someone who has actually watched this film and understands the scope of the content within and in my review to offer their opinion on whether the review was violating review guidelines.

(edited)

13 Messages

 • 

218 Points

2 months ago

Hello,

I had posted a query regarding concerns of bias in a declined review I'd submitted for the documentary film 'Soundtrack to a Coup Detat' (Refer: #241204-225910-240504  https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/data-issues-policy-discussions/unable-to-see-my-review-i-submitted-last-week-for-soundtrack-to-a-coup-detat/67591bbf6db9ac3c538baa0b).

I had clearly mentioned that my short review was a sum-up of topics and themes ALL of which were shown in the documentary. Despite this, the only reply I received from Ozzy, was a reiteration of the review submission status - that it was declined due to being overly concerned with social commentary, and not the title itself.

Clearly my concerns were neither heard nor understood, I was contesting the declined status, not asking for the information to be read back to me.

Therefore, I must ask again - the three small paragraphs I wrote, ALL which directly refer to the content of the documentary film, they all directly refer TO THE TITLE. The only social commentary I mentioned was recommending the film for school viewing, otherwise every topic refers to actual topics shown in the film - musical (jazz), political, social and historical accounts, international relations, UN, Western governments, the FBI, colonial imperialist nations specifically Belgium and USA, black slavery, white privilege, government-ordered assassinations, you name it - the entire documentary is 100% factual in nature !

I ask IMDb to be fair enough to have internal reviewers who have actually watched the films they are reviewing  and therefore understand the scope of the content within the films and in any submitted reviews, so as to honestly and impartially make their decisions on whether reviews are violating review guidelines - in this case not discussing the title itself, apparently !

If there is disagreement with the content of such documentaries/films, then perhaps IMDb need to reiterate where their policies lie with regards to showcasing such films that truthfully and unbiasedly, dissect and show the worst side of humanity, even if such truths clearly make some people uncomfortable. It does not make sense to have such films in your database and yet not allow members to summarise and review them, if you get my point. 

I'm afraid I'm not reassured about the prejudices or influence of reviews. I really do not wish to be sharing THOUSANDS of other reviews that do not do a proper review of the title, just to prove my point. 

Sincerely

FB

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled Unfair review standards

Employee

 • 

2.1K Messages

 • 

21.5K Points

Hi @flowerpetal_06659,

Thank you for your further comments, and apologies for our delayed response.

I would like to reiterate that your review was not processed with any bias regarding the title being reviewed, and that the submission was declined because it contained:

Personal opinions or speculation on real life events or subject matter on which a film is based

To clarify further, your review was acceptable per our guidelines except for part of the opening line in the second paragraph, "In our current climate of political madness, increased ignorance and a world that is inching towards the precipice of a third world war(...)", which is in violation of the guideline linked above. We therefore recommend editing or removing this line in adherence with the guidelines, and re-submitting your review. Please feel free to respond to this thread with your new submission reference, and I can monitor the review through processing for you.

Cheers!

13 Messages

 • 

218 Points

Thank you for your reply Ozzy, it is much appreciated. Finally, I feel I have been been provided with some justification.

However, I will again mention that yes, the declined review shows clear bias on the part of the reviewer who took offence with my personal opinion. I say this because there are hundreds of thousands of approved submissions on IMDb that involve mainly "Personal opinions or speculation on real life events or subject matter on which a film is based". 

I base my statements with truths as I value honesty, so kindly do not take the official line that there is no bias when it comes to approving submissions on IMDb, that is simply impossible to accept given the truth!

I just finished watching Birdsong (2012) and because I always go through the IMDb info page and reviews, here is one such example I literally just read 10 minutes ago, of the bias in reviewing submissions, that I am sharing as proof of bias in what actually gets approved:

I have no faith in the reviewing process of IMDb. It took several attempts just to be heard on the reason for declining a submitted review, and yet I still do not know why it was declined when thousands of reviews exist that breach the very reason you provided me as grounds of, and worse thousands others that are incoherent or outright spiteful and that do not even discuss the title. So while I appreciate your offer to have one line removed for approval of the title review, I do not wish to go through with this anymore, as clearly, my submission isn't the problem. 

Employee

 • 

2.1K Messages

 • 

21.5K Points

Hi @flowerpetal_06659,

Thank you for your response.

I would like to further clarify as to why your review did not receive any kind of bias in its submission being declined. Our staff categorically do not allow for personal opinion to influence their decision-making when processing reviews.

In regards to the example review you have provided above, I can see that the original submission date is some 13 years ago. This will be the reason why it remains published on the site, and is not an indication of any bias, as our guidelines and policies for particular data types are subject to change over time. For example, in certain instances reviews shorter than the now-required minimum of 600 characters can be found, as they have been "grandfathered in" due to being written and submitted prior to the amendment to the character limit.

However, for the example you have provide above, we encourage all contributors to report any reviews they feel do not meet such user review guidelines. Please refer to our Help guide for instructions on how to do this.

Thank you for your understanding.