What's In a Name

I like naming things. I know I'm a bit odd, but I do enjoy picking out names. As a child, my dolls had some pretty strange names. For instance, there was the Snickerdoodle family. Hey, what can I say? I love those cookies. As I got older, it became picking the coolest names for characters in "stories" that I would write.

I believe that names are really important. A rose by any other name will not smell as sweet. What if roses were called grubs instead? Yeah, it's a pretty gross sounding word, and I don't think I'd want to send my girlfriend grubs.

So where is all this leading to? Very good question. Right now it seems I'm ranting, but trust me, I'm not. Have you ever watched a movie and though "That title has nothing to little to do with the movie and is a bad representation of the film as a whole." I know I have. You would think the film makers would spend time on picking a good title, but sometimes it feels like they are just about to wrap up and go "Yeah, that sounds good enough. Let's go with that."

The best example I can come up with has to be Gigantic. (See review here for all the other complaints about this awful movie.) To give a quick synopsis, enter dude. Dude wants to adopt a baby. Dude meets crazy girl. Crazy girl might breaks his heart, but we aren't really sure. Crazy girl might be pregnant, but we aren't really sure. Dude adopts his baby. Crazy girl might be leaving, but we aren't really sure.

So, uh, what does "gigantic" have to do with all of that? When I first watched the film, I scoured the boards trying to find a reason. I came up empty. Seriously, if you know why, do tell. Or even if you have seen this film and have a theory, I'll accept that as well. I'm just dying to know why the film makers chose this as a title. You can either comment this post or e-mail me. (I'll post the address at the end of the blog.)


(picture via bsgu.edu)

Chosing a name is (well, it should be) a long, thoughtful process. Even if it's just a doll, take your time. You want the name to be perfect. The title of a movie should be simple. I don't think the long, meandering emo song type of titles really work. I want the title to pretty much let me know what the movie is about before I pick it. I guess some people just don't understand that.

Send all explanations of the title "Gigantic" to weezerbizkit@aol.com.