Omen

A pregnant woman in England is begging the hospital to induce childbirth because her due date is June 6 and she doesn't want to risk giving birth to the anti-christ.

My very first reaction was, "who gives birth on their due date anyway?" I liked nerve.com's Scanner's take on this: "Given that he's already going to grow up with a psycho mom, maybe it is better to play it safe." However, cynical girl that I am, I can't help but wondering if this is just some really clever marketing ploy, trying to generate interest in the remake of The Omen.

Before I even heard about the remake, I wondered if ANYONE named their baby Damien anymore. So I went to the social security adminsitrations website and learned that "Damien" was ranked 199, while "Damian" was ranked 156 (out of the top 1000 names) As a point of reference, "Julian" was ranked at 74 ("Julien" was 642), Fred was ranked at 877 ("Fredric" did not make the top 1000, "Frederick" was 450, "Fredrick" was 919) and "Simon" was ranked at 254.

What is wrong with people that they would choose a name which is synonymous with "devil spawn", even for those of us too terrified to actually see a film like The Omen? I mean, have you seen commercials for either the original or the remake? How could that name not be forever tainted for you? Are these parents thinking something like "oh, if we name him Damian, he can't help but turn out well, whereas if we name him Jesus, well, we will just be tempting fate, won't we?" (not that I am advocating naming one's child Jesus, I'm just saying...)

I feel really sorry for all those kids named Damien (or Damian if you prefer) in the last decade or so because, well, there's a remake and the anti-christ can scare the pants off of a whole new generation.

It reminds me of something Tracy mentioned a few years ago. She was involved with a mother's group and there was a mother whose sons were a bit out of control and a bit violent with the other kids. One of these boys was named Draco. That poor kid is going to spend his entire life forever having people calling him "Malfoy." Add to that the fact that his mother hasn't taught him social graces (like not hitting your playmates) and, well, he is going to grow up pretty embittered.

Of course, as Nicholas Cage and Julia Sweeney demonstrated in the classic skit on Saturday Night Live, picking a torture proof name is pretty difficult, isn't it?

Comments

Anonymous said…
Of course it's a marketing ploy. Being a marketer, no movie studio is above (or below) scaring up some Satantic ploy to draw attention to a movie. My first question would have been, "Why does she suspect it's going to be the anti-Christ?"
Anonymous said…
Marketing ploy or not, The Radio tells me that in Chicago, there were no planned C-sections on 6/6/06 and mor ethan 3 times the usual amount on 6/5. The hosts said something to the effect of "well, it's like not wanting to have your kid on Dec. 25th. It's just inconvenient." More inconvenient than invasive surgery, I guess.
Tommie said…
Well, I guess I'm the odd one out here. I gave birth on my due date not once but twice. And the first time was on New Year's Day! It does happen! I'm proof!

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