Seems to me people shouldn't be given the option of rating thier own posts/topics...

I disagree. I see nothing wrong in allowing the topic creator to rate their own topic. It's like not allowing a poll creator to vote in their own poll. They should be able to rate their topic, just like any other registered user.

I totally disagree--the creator of a thread SHOULD be able to vote. I'll be using the rating to apply to the SUBJECT of a thread, not the thread itself.

For example, in my movies forum, this will enable users to rate films.

I can see how it makes sense to have this as an option, however.