Photo : Roland Heitink ( Getty )

A motivational guru from the Netherlands, who voiced a villainous Zaporozhets supermini in the Dutch-language version of Pixar’s Cars 2, is trying to legally change his birthday so he will face less discrimination, including from potential online romantic prospects.




“When I’m on Tinder and it says I’m 69, I don’t get an answer. When I’m 49, with the face I have, I will be in a luxurious position,” Emile Ratelband told the BBC. “We live in a time when you can change your name and change your gender. Why can’t I decide my own age?”

Ratelband sued his local municipality after it denied his request to change his age on legal documents. He told a court in the city of Arnhem that he did not feel his age, comparing himself to people who identify as transgender.


He argues that since his age does not represent his emotional state, he was being discriminated against in his personal and professional life. Therefore he wants to change his birthday from March 11, 1949 to March 11, 1969.

“When I’m 69, I am limited. If I’m 49, then I can buy a new house, drive a different car. I can take up more work,” he told BBC.

BBC reports that Ratelband claims his doctor told him he has a 45-year-old body. He referred to himself as a “young god.”

The authorities overseeing the case were skeptical, according to the BBC. One judge reportedly asked what would come of the 20 years Ratelband hopes to delete, and asked about his parents’ feelings. “Who were your parents looking after then? Who was that little boy?” the judge reportedly said.


Ratelband has a history of saying controversial things. Several years ago, during an interview with a Christian magazine, Ratelband said Osama bin Laden was an “enlightened thinker,” and that the 9/11 attack was “justified.”

In four weeks, the court is supposed to make a decision on whether Ratelband’s can delete two decades so that it might be easier for him to get laid.


[BBC]