IMO classic isn't a genre.  Classic is an opinion.

How do we select which films are a classic for the sake of the database?

Completely agree. Definitely not a genre. I guarantee the movies I claim are classic will not mesh with a lot of others. 

Sam:

Classic is not genre,perse. Neither is Television. But in DVDProfiler they ARE and they have been since Day ONE, 10 years ago. The Rules spell out the specifics of Genre.

Genre
Genres are often a matter of personal interpretation, which can differ among users. If your personal preference for Genre differs from the main database, you can store the information you prefer in your local database and lock the Genre field from further updates. Do not make contributions that only change or re-order Genres, unless the existing Genre list is blatantly incorrect.

Custom genres are for local use only and will not be included in the contributed profile. Additionally, although up to five genres may be assigned in your local database, only the top three non-custom genres will be contributed.

You might disagree that something is Classic, but if it is in the Online has it as Classic, disagreeing is merely YOUR personal interpretation which clearly disagrees with somebody else and that is the end of it, You should not replace the online data because I doubt anyone would be able to argue that a classicc i BLATANTLY incorrect. YOU are in control of your data, and your data can say whatever you want it to say. I don't agree with the people that list Television in number one field, it is not genre to me, I list in Number Three at best, but if theygot it there in Number One I won't mess with it, I will change my local and not worry about it.

This discussion is literally as old as Profiler.

Skip

That's fine, Sam and I see where you are coming from. But the Rules don't address this directly and I don't think they should. They do deal with the whole idea that under ANY circumstance Genre is a very subjective thing and can vary from user to user, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, after all. I don't think there is a single person that would not call Citizen Kane a CLASSIC by any measure, but if there is someone I would simply say that is his opinion and he is welcome to it.

Like I said, this has been around since Day One, and periodically discussed and the result is always the same. The reason that the Rules were developed as they were was that some years ago we had a listing for Star Trek IV, that was appropriately listed as Science Fiction/Action/Adventure andd suddenly someone decided that one of the Genre should be Comedy, well the film has comedic elements but I hardly think it qualifies as a Comedy per se, at least in view of the CORRECT Genre that were in place. So, the Rules were developed to prevent this kind of ping-ponging of personal preference data.

Given that Classic and Television have beenin place for 10 years, I doubt seriously that they will be changed, there are many who would howl if they were removved. Just keep in mind that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that ultimately you have control over YOUR data, and if you don't wish to use either Classic and Television, you don't have to.

Heck, Sam, you made a Contribution to Throw Momma from the train, which somebody at MGM thinks is a Classic, right. Now to me it's not even close, it was inspired by a classic Hitchcock, but it is hardly a Classic in its own right, in my opinion.I think it's one of those things that those of us have been around forever just shrug off and deal with locally, rather than worry about it, since opinions are going to vary.

Its been debated many times over the years, I am not sure another one will add anything new.

Skip

Draxen:

Local only has been suggested many times, but I think some sort of baseline Genre is useful to ALL. If you pick and say we will use only one, then we will have endless battles such as is Bring Up Baby a Romance or a Comedy, it is pretty clearly BOTH. We could include Romantic Comedy, but that begins to explode Genre into a nightmare to cope with. I think the system as it has been and refined through the Rules is just about as good as we can get it.

Skip

I think for the purposes of Profiler, the definition of classic should be rather loose.  I do list both classic and television as genres still locally, but I've moved them down to the lower fields.  I agree that they're not really genres, and wouldn't miss classic if it was gone (I'd want to keep Television, if only for filtering).

I look at it this way - when I think of "classic Hollywood cinema" does the film?  Or when I think "classic Television" does the show fit?  Generally this works out to A-list films made in the 50's and before, and television made in the 50's and 60's.  I have to say A-list, because I would say South Pacific is "classic;" I couldn't do the same for Attack of the Puppet People (both made '58). 

Ooh, another way to look at it might be "Would the Turner Classic Movie channel show this film?"  If you think the answer is 'yes' then feel free to add "Classic" to the list. 

... 

For another vague genre, what about Family?  I figure what's wanted there is "family-friendly viewing" or something you can show the kiddies.  But I've downloaded profiles of adult dramas about families with that as a genre (adult not meaning porn here).  I remove that locally, but since there's nothing in the rules that define what is wanted here, I don't bother to submit a correction - even though I personally think it's patently wrong.

Of course, speaking of not-genres like Television (a medium) we also have anime and animation, which are also not genres, but mediums.  Like Television, one can use the medium of anime or animation to tell any sort of story.  But, like Television, because I (and likely others) find it useful to filter for those, genre is where it ends up being stuck.

Family typically means movies aimed at shildren that adults can tolerate (i.e. most of the Disney cannon, but not so much Don Bluth).

I was being cheeky in my phrasing, but AFAIK, this is what family as a genre has always meant. What have you seen family used to mean? I got the snarky version from Ebert, more or less. IMDB even says it's non-subjective. Family=movies that are both for kids and adults.