November 10, 2011
Barry Sealed
Girl "Facebook"
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Gamal Ibrahim, an Egyptian man living in Cairo, welcomed a new daughter into the world this week. Did he give her a traditional Arabic female name like Leila, Rania or Hend? Nope, Mr. Ibrahim named his baby daughter: "Facebook."
Yes, you heard me - he named his daughter "Facebook." Not Facebook.com, just Facebook.
Now, before you start making jokes about this choice of name -which I will do later in this article-keep in mind the long list of ridiculous names Americans have bestowed upon their children, such as Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter named "Apple," or illusionist Penn Jillette's son "Moxie Crimefighter," and then there is actor Rob Morrow who astoundingly named his son, "To," so that his full name is "To Morrow," and, of course, we can't forget Jermaine Jackson's child, "Jermajesty."
All of a sudden, "Facebook" is looking a lot better.
So why did Mr. Ibrahim do it? Is naming your child after a popular social media website a part of Arab culture? No, I'm Arab-American and I can assure you that I don't have a "Cousin MySpace" or "Uncle Twitter."
The reason he chose such a unique name for his daughter is actually very noble: He wanted to honor the role that Facebook -- the media website, not his daughter -- played in fueling the recent revolution in Egypt.
While not common in the US, in other parts of the world, people have historically named children in honor of triumphant events occurring at the time of their child's birth. For example, during last year's soccer World Cup in South Africa, a woman there named her baby "FIFA," as an homage to the organization which governs the World Cup. While another South African woman named her child "Soccer City," after the stadium where many of the big World Cup soccer matches were being held.
In America, thankfully we don't name our children after big events occurring at the time of their birth, because if we did, there would be a lot of recent newborns with names like: "Jersey Shore," "Dancing with the Stars" and "Charlie Sheen just got arrested again."
But I will be honest, Facebook is a challenging name for a child. She might get picked on in school a lot by the other kids -or even worse: poked. (I know you were waiting for at least one "poked" reference.")
And what will young Facebook's nickname be, "Face," making her sound like a character from "The A Team." Although as an infant, her nickname might be "Baby Facebook"- which does sound pretty cool.
However, if I was going to name my daughter after Facebook, I would have tweaked the name to make it more feminine sounding, such as "Facebooka" or "Fecebooke." Either of those names conjures up exotic, attractive women. The name "Facebook" makes me think of Jesse Eisenberg from the movie "The Social Network," not an attractive mental image for a woman.
But there are benefits to the name Facebook. For example, everyone will know how to spell her name. Plus she will likely have the most friends in class- albeit, they will mostly be Facebook.com friends.
Also, on a personal note, when I was a child, all my friends could buy toys with their names pre-engraved on it, like those mini license plates or key chains. Not me. There were no trinkets with the name "Dean" on it. I felt left out. In contrast, young Facebook will have tons of things with her name on it.
Plus she should look at the bright side - with her father committed to honoring Facebook, he could've named her "Mark Zuckerberg." Let's be honest, "Mark Zuckerberg Ibrahim" sounds worse than "Facebook."
To me, though, Facebook would have been a better middle name than a first name for a girl-"Leila Facebook Ibrahim," actually sounds pretty good.
Overall, I can understand why Mr. Ibrahim was swept up in the excitement of the revolution and wanted to give his new daughter a name that honors a new Egypt. I hope that young Facebook is able to grow up in an Egypt that offers her all the opportunities and freedoms that her father dreams for her. And maybe one day, when Facebook grows up, we can be friends, or at the very least, Facebook friends.
(once again no one knows how to title which is where i come in)
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(John Huston) WISE BLOOD
WISE BLOOD (John Huston, 1979)
By grunesSin is a trick on niggers. . . . Jesus is a trick on niggers. . . . There is no peace to the redeemed. — Hazel Motes, in Wise Blood
The legacy of Christianity in the South is this: It was a method for drawing obedience from African slaves. It promoted the obscenity that such obedience (to the overseer’s lash, for instance) constituted a kind of discipleship to Jesus, holding out hope for an eternal reward no matter the hardship of the slave’s mortal lot.
Flannery O’Connor’s novel about the early twentieth-century son of a preacher man becomes a powerful film thanks to a good ol’ atheist, John Huston. This was the director’s own favorite among his films.
Hazel Motes, the protagonist, is also an atheist. This isn’t theology; this is human—a reaction against his preacher-grandfather. But Motes can’t escape the family business. A cab driver mistakes him for a preacher because he looks like one. Motes starts up his own church: The Church of Truth Without Christ Crucified, because Christ’s blood redeemed no one. This becomes The Church of Truth Without Christ.
Through a series of stark color images, Huston achieves a vision of an ordinary world whose religious underpinnings render it, first, absurd and, finally, tragic. It remains cinema’s finest exploration of the role of religion in the culture of the United States, especially in the Bible Belt.
Brad Dourif beautifully plays Motes. Shame on us! Despite his Oscar nomination for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Milos Forman, 1975), we haven’t permitted this gifted actor the career we needed him to have. Nor have we been honest about the cruelty of Christianity in the American landscape.