Talk:Ben Stiller/Archive 1

Archive 1

Pictures

This article needs more pictures.User:alfredosolis

Why are there pictures throughout the article, but not a main picture at the top right? That seems the most logical, and the place that the majority of the actor pages place a picture. C. Kilpatrick (talk) 05:52, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

Because for biographies, only free images can be included in the infobox. Movie screenshots or promotional images can not be included. The best thing to do is to search the web and ask an author of an image of Stiller if they are willing to release the image into the public domain so that we can use it on Wikipedia. Until that happens, there will continue to be no image in the infobox. --Nehrams2020 (talk) 06:14, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

Personal

Why is this section separate form biography? someone who is more familiar with stiller's history needs to incorporate this section into stiller's biography and expand his history a little. Shaggorama 09:40, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Ethnicity/Religion

How can a connection between Stiller and Austria be recognized ""Category:Austrian-Americans" --Dieter Zoubek (talk) 20:45, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Someone seems particularly interested in defining Stiller's background as being non-Jewish. Stiller has never claimed to be Roman Catholic, although he does admit to being non-practicing as a Jew. Prior to his parents' marriage, his mother (Anne Meara) converted to Judiasm. Both he and his sister attended Hebrew school and he was bar mitzvahed. From a September 1999 article about Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara:

Their children went to Jewish schools, studied Hebrew and their son, Ben Stiller, had a Bar Mitzvah. "Where they take their lives religiously is entirely up to them of course, but at least they know where Anne and I stand in terms of our background. It was more Anne than anyone else who said, 'I want my kids to be brought up Jewish.' So I had a very wonderful, easy kind of situation. I never asked Anne to convert to Judaism; she did it voluntarily." [1]

--LeFlyman 00:38, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Is his bloodline Hebrew/Jewish? Or just his beliefs? Lord Of Nothing 13:42, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

• "Bloodline?" Rather an oddly phrased question (tinged with racialism) to pose. Please re-read the above paragraph and take a look at the bio for his father, Jerry Stiller. —Leflyman^Talk 17:34, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

but is ben stiller officially jewish? Dr.Poison 12:16, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure what "officially Jewish" means, as there is no "official" prescription for Jewishness. If you are wondering whether he is considered Jewish by past rabbinical authorities, the answer is yes. He'd also be welcomed under Israel's Law of Return. See: Who is a Jew?—Leflyman^Talk 23:56, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

I mean that does he staites that he is jewish? I don't know if USA have a system of registration of religion. Dr.Poison 05:38, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

• As for Stiller's Jewishness, I don't know how I can clarify it more than I have. Again, please re-read the quote at the top of this section, or see this article (which presents the same information). There is no "system of registration of religion" in the US. In fact, requesting or requiring such information for employment is generally illegal. See Lemon Test and Title VII and 42 US Code Chapter 21. —Leflyman^Talk 03:08, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

Ok, I understand. Dr.Poison 07:13, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

His mother is Irish-American and therefore he is too. I recently added this category to his profile and it was later removed. I am re-adding this category now. User:brenan407 —Preceding undated comment added 07:58, 25 March 2009 (UTC).

Irish-American isn't an ethnic designation that follows some sort of matrilineal system. Ben's mother and father were born in New York; as was he. Because one side of his grandparents were Irish doesn't immediately make him Irish-American. His father's ancestry is from Austria and Russia. Does that make Ben "Austro-Russo-Gaelic"? Nope. He's a standard mutt American (like many, many others), and religiously Jewish by birth (even if non-practicing).--HidariMigi (talk) 18:53, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

The Wikipedia entry for 'Irish-Americans' states the term refers to "citizens of the United States who trace their ancestry to Ireland." It is precisely "an ethnic designation that follows some sort of matrilineal (or partilineal) system," and most certainly applies to Stiller. According to footnote 4 of his wikipedia entry, Stiller acknowledges his Irish heritage and is quoted as saying "So I have the Irish Catholic guilt and the Jewish guilt." It would not be inaccurate to describe Stiller as Austro-Russo-Gaelic-American, it would simply be messy to do so and I agree with you that we should not add this designation to his profile. By your logic, we should remove from every wikipedia entry any ethnic designations for people with mixed heritages. That would seem an extreme and unwise position to take. Let me be clear, I don't assert that Stiller is Catholic, nor do I dispute that he is Jewish. I simply added an additional piece of information on his ethnic heritage. I'm adding back the Irish-American designation. For further support of this action, please see the Time article in which Stiller acknowledges his Irish ancestry: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989369,00.html User:brenan407

Could someone please explain to me how his mother is of "Satanic background"? All that article mentioned was that she was Irish Catholic. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.44.222.0 (talk) 05:47, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

Trivia

Why was the "Phil Stiller, referee" thing removed from the trivia area? I thought it was interesting! --Phil Stiller

I'm sure it's 'cause it's 1) unverifiable; 2) not-notable. Sorry. —Leflyman^Talk 02:32, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

I guess I can't take issue with the "non-notable" part! -PS

Dudes, the trivia note on Ben Stiller "just walking past" in the Tenacious D video is hopeless. The only reason he walks past as a cameo is that in that music video he plays the major role of THE DEMON!!!!! Go back and check the video. His demon character is awesome.

i'm pretty sure the demon character is played by Dave Grohl of Nirvana/Foo Fighters fame.

GA nomination

Good evening (GMT time); as of 13/1/07 I have failed this article under the GA Criteria on the following grounds:

• 1) (a) It has compelling prose, and is readily comprehensible to non-specialist readers - "Emmy-winning", "Frat-pack", (#Directional Debut) "VH1 Fashion Awards" and "MTV".
• 4) (a) Viewpoints are represented fairly and without bias - "...In a 1999 interview with GQ and later in a 2001 interview with Hollwood.com, Stiller revealed that he had bipolar disorder, an illness he said that ran in his family. In two interviews in November and December 2006 he claimed that he did not have the disorder and that it all been a misunderstanding. In one interview he said: 'I said jokingly in GQ that I was, like, crazy, and it came out as: Ben Stiller, bipolar manic-depressive!'..."

I believe this statement does not conform to WP:NPOV.

Therefore, I have chosen to fail the article. If you believe that I am incorrect in failing it, please contact me at my talk page, or seek a review. Well done for your contributions to date, and do not be discouraged - you have done good work on this article...it is just that a little more is needed. Lastly, if you wish to seek a wider view of the article, feel free to seek a Peer review.

Cheers and regards,
Anthonycfc ^{[T • C]} 19:17, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

GA review, please clarify

Why is the list called "Selected filmography" when it contains several unnotable films that don't even have articles on Wikipedia, and/or had Stiller only playing small parts (such as "Tony Robbins-style character")?

It is also my opinion that the fair use images featured in the section "Comedy career" do not qualify as fair use, because according to the fair use criteria that is inside the fair use template, those kind of screenshots are to be used "for identification and critical commentary on the film and its contents", which I don't see this article doing. You should consider this for now; I will compare how other articles do it before giving my final say.

Fred-Chess 00:31, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

I added the films within the filmography as they are described above in his film career and there is also mention of his multiple cameos, which some of his later films (that currently have no articles) are listed and I have also included his earliest films to show how his film career started. Although some of these do not have articles as of yet, it is possible that they will in the future. It is still called selected filmography since not every single one his films is included, just some of the more notable ones. For the screenshots, I added them, as currently many of the other GA actors/actresses have screenshots with similar fair use rationales. It says the film and its contents, and I'd assume that the actor within the film would be included. I have attempted to search the fair use rationale page with no success in it declaring that actors cannot have screenshots on their pages. The screenshots depict Stiller in two important roles in his career and both do have fair use rationales. If you still think that the filmography needs to be changed, let me know and I'll rework it. However, I do think that the screenshots should remain in accordance to similar articles. Thanks for reviewing the article. --Nehrams2020 04:46, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

I buy your explanation to the movies in the selected list. But I don't buy it for the images -- Wikipedia:Fair use#Policy #8 says that fair use images should contribute significantly to the article and not just serve illustrative purposes. I do not consider the images, as they are used in this article, contribute significantly to the article.

There are other issues with the article that could be improved. This includes the lead section, that could be significantly improved as per WP:LEAD. Talking about the lead, have you intended to contiuously keep updating the sentence of Stiller's most recent role. And are you also planning the same for the section entitled "Upcoming work"?

Another point I'd like to raise is that it should be possible to expand significantly on the article, including more biographical details, with quotes from notable people in the business, etc. Other information is of trivia-character and should preferably be integrated into the bography, such as his comedy career inspiration.

Despite this, I am still considering granting it GA status, because my concerns are not that crucial. I'll just give you a chance to comment first.

Fred-Chess 20:53, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

No problem, I appreciate your efforts. I kept the pictures in accordance to silmilar GAs with screenshots such as Kevin Spacey, Sean Bean, Natalie Portman, Emma Roberts, and also Drew Carey/Samuel L. Jackson which I helped to get passed to GA before. I do watch the page everyday and remove images without fair use and ones that are added inappropriately. For the lead section and upcoming work, I will be watching it very closely, just as I watch the Samuel L. Jackson page. I update it based on upcoming films, revealed roles, and involvement with other industries. I even have news alerts in news.google.com for the two actors so I can always keep up to date on new information. For the biography details, there is a biography book that is due for release in a few months that will reveal more about his earlier life which I will include as soon as I get my hands on it. I will always be seeking to improve the article as new details arise and I find new sources. I was fortunate for him to have a new film released, allowing for multiple interviews about his career. At this point right now, I feel it reaches GA, and I will continue to keep improving it to reinforce its GA if it's passed. --Nehrams2020 00:54, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

Personal section

The Personal section, which I renamed Personal life, contains some trivial information. I don't know if his height, snack preferences, and if he's right or left-handed is encyclopedic information. Aaron Bowen 23:08, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

I would say that height and whether he's left or right handed would be encyclopedic, but favorite snack foods are not. Also, given that the intro paragraph pretty much lists everything he's every been in, I'm gonna trim it to just his best known work. ryanopolisdrew 19:28, 27 October 2007

Hollywood lifestyle

What is a "Hollywood lifestyle"? Are you accusing Stiller and Meara of drug use and wife-swapping? Just what does this mean? -- Zoe

God no. A "hollywood lifestyle" is the product of sloppy writing. I just meant that he saw a lot of famous people coming through, and his parents had a lot of friends.  :-) I'll go rewrite. --KQ

Oh, good. You had me worried.  :-) -- Zoe

Michael Mann

Where does that qoute (sic.) to “Michael Mann” come from? It seems weird that Stiller would dismiss the biggest success of his career in the year - month! - of release. Source it or remove it. Scott197827 5th Nov 2005

Taylor

• Jack Johnson's music video, "Taylor," in which he runs over a chicken.

There's a longer version, nothing to do with running over chickens, Stiller plays the director of the music video and interrupts Johnson several times to correct things with the filming. At one point, he trails off into a daydream of himself surfing, the whole thing's pretty funny. I'll add that in unless I shouldn't, but I can't see why not, it should be on YouTube if anybody's unsure. Goroliath

Television roles

I'm pretty sure he was also in an episode of King of the Hill; I think it was called "That's What She Said" or something like that, where he plays a character who constantly says 'That's what she said" among other things that Hank feels are inappropriate for the work place. Anyone able to verify? Casual Karma (talk)

Redirect?

Ben_stiller is a blank page, it'd be useful if it redirected to the Ben_Stiller page. I don't know how to set that up though. Simon.gall (talk) 02:09, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Ben Stiller & Janeane Garofalo - feel this audiobook

should this audiobook be mentioned?

its a very funny audio book maybe it can be put into a discography? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Galaxiehoon (talk • contribs) 18:22, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

Beta Theta Pi Fraternity

According to our records, Ben Stiller is not a member of Beta Theta Pi. I removed the mention of this from the article. The original reference that the article cited is inaccurate: http://www.umkcbeta.com/Famous_Betas/famous_betas.htm. If you have any questions, please contact the Beta Theta Pi Foundation and Administrative Office. Umstadter (talk) 04:10, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

I'd suggest that you contact that chapter of the fraternity, then, and advise them to remove erroneous content from their webpage. Please don't post contact information on talk pages. I see you've been apprised of OTRS, and any information regarding contact should be sent to them, not posted here for just anyone to call. That's not advisable. Wildhartlivie (talk) 04:21, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

I've already contacted the chapter and asked them to remove the erroneous content. I have no idea what OTRS is, but thanks anyway. Umstadter (talk) 17:55, 14 September 2009 (UTC)

Auto-archiving

Someone added the miszabot automatic archiving to this page, something to which I do not object. Someone else came along and reverted that and when I reverted that removal because there was not objection to it, he also reverted that, stating his removal was objection. This all is rather pointy to me. This page could certainly benefit from auto-archiving and I am unaware that there is a cut-off number of edits required for auto-archiving. I often come across talk pages that get commentary on posts over 3 years old, quite often taking the form of vandalism. How helpful is that? I propose that the auto-archiving be reinstituted to this page to keep it cleaned up. Wildhartlivie (talk) 19:56, 10 January 2010 (UTC)

Basically we do not like to have auto-archiving on pages unless the page gets large enough that it warrents it. ie I believe the person who originally had it set the archive to every 90 days. So basically what you would want to see if its archiving every 90 days is that it gets 100k of traffic every 90 days. Old threads on a talk page are generally helpful to readers. Instead of making them go to another archive it is generally prefered that they be on the main talk page unless the talk page is larger 100k in total. -DJSasso (talk) 20:20, 10 January 2010 (UTC)

Wordy phrase

Instances of the phrase "throughout his career," which appears at least twice in the article, should be deleted. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.225.200.167 (talk) 07:47, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

Name of wife and children

the box at the side of the article has the wrong name for his wife and children - needs to be corrected in accordance with information given in 'personal details' section. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.30.176.168 (talk) 17:26, 13 July 2012 (UTC)

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