monorail is #1

so as of right now, "the Dark Knight" is the #1 movie all time on IMDB, where users create the rankings, replacing "the Godfather," which had been #1 for over 10 years straight. I don't know if the Godfather is my #1 favorite movie of all time, and I haven't seen the Dark Knight yet, but c'mon - this is bullshit.
I care even less about what movie is #1 on IMDB than George Bush does about black people, however this little episode illustrates a larger point: people are morons. first of all, I've heard enough people tell me how good the Dark Knight is to grow more than a little skeptical. every single entity who has seen the movie says it's great. that baffles me. in reality, people just don't agree on stuff 100%. it's like impossible. only after some extended period of time can a consensus be reached as to the value of some piece of art, or some historical figure. if that many people agree on something that quickly, something scary is happening. now this doesn't mean that if you liked the movie you're an idiot, or even that the movie isn't good. but for some things, there's a bandwagon that seems all too easy for people to jump onto.
it's actually usually not a movie, but an idea. urban legends are a good example. remember the one about KFC raising chickens without heads or whatever it was? or the businessman who woke up in a bathtub full of ice, later realizing his kidney had been jacked? in these cases, there's something novel involved that our brains are really attracted to. it's like a "we can't make this stuff up, folks" kind of thing. it's like so novel and startling when you first hear it, that you think it must be true (there's also something satisfying in it repeating to other people and reslishing in their wonder at what you've just said). I think the same dynamic is at play with the Dark Knight. the novelty, of course, is Heath Ledger's death. people want to love the movie because it makes for a good story. by the same token, is there any doubt that Ledger will win the Oscar?
so now i'm kind of feeling like a dick for taking this in the direction I have. i'll see the movie, and I expect it to be good, and I have nothing against Heath Ledger. but I have a point. because what got me started on this was the people who made the Dark Knight the #1 movie of all time on IMDB. that's what crosses the line from mob mentality territory into mob rule territory. bad things happen when people's natural sense of objectivity is sacrificed to their natural social inclinations - like your town neglecting to fix up Main Street and using the money to build a monorail instead.