The reemergence of subjectivity in keywords

Perhaps it is due to the time in which we are living, politically and sociologically, but there has been a reemergence of subjectivity in keywords that needs to be addressed, including a rewriting of Keyword Guidelines.

Keywords should reflect what is actually seen or spoken in a title -- of what is seen in image and text on screen or spoken in dialogue and/or narration..    They should not represent what a submitter "thinks" or "feels" about what is on screen.  There should be little, if any, personal judgment or evaluation involved.  The keyword submitter should be a reporter, NOT an editorial writer.

SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of fearing and closed captions, as went as regular on-screen English subtitles, offer the best guide for keywords.  Yes, there can be mistakes, sometimes misspellings, but they are the most objective guide for keywords.  If available, I choose to include English subtitles on every DVD that I watch.

There are hundreds of examples of subjective keywords that have more to do with the submitter than they do with the title, including all those sexist and racist keywords, keywords reporting slurs, etc.

But... let me give you just one example: "no-abnormal-father-daughter-relationship."  First, very few keywords should begin with the word "no." (There are some exceptions like "no-opening-credits."). If it is a "no," it should not be there in the first place!  Is Ben-Hur to have a keyword like "no-spaceships," or Gone with the Wind to have a keyword like "no-cell-phones"?  If something is not there, it is a "given" that it is not there.

Second, "abnormal" and many other evaluative adjectives are personal viewpoints, although one might argue that a professional in mental health may have an objective definition of what "abnormal" means.  Still, if it is not spoken or seen in text, such personal opinions have no place in a keyword.

Now, resist the temptation to delete, delete, delete and merge, merge, merge.  It should be:  correct, correct, correct.  A bad keyword like "no-abnormal-father-daughter-relationship" should just be simply changed to "father-daughter-relationship." 

Just because someone "thinks" or "feels" something does not make that thing a fact.  Sadly, this seems like yet another plague of our times.  Please, we need more neutral objectivity.

If only ALL titles had SDH subtitles or closed captions.  That would make for much more accuracy in keywords.

If only...