Name In Spotlight: Ophelia

 
Ophelia is a female name of greek origin that means "help". Dave Grohl, front member of the band Foo Fighters, recently bestowed this name on her daughter, and I really like it. It might seem a bit out there, but if you think about, it isn't worlds away from some of the most common names of today, such as Olivia or Sophia.

 Ophelia has a pretty nice meaning, who doesn't need some help in their lives right? But in literary terms, she has a somber past.

Movie "John Carter" - Floppy Name?

So the sci-fi movie "John Carter", played by actor Taylor Kitsch, was released earlier this year and was met with mixed reviews. However, what caused a lot of commotion was how it turned out to be a flop of epic proportions, causing Disney a loss of over 200 million dollars.
One of the most cited reasons as why this movie flopped was its unappealing title, "John Carter". When you do a sci-fi movie, people are looking for intriguing titles that catch your attention, and unfortunately "John Carter" just doesn't do it since it's a super common, safe, boring name. Not the kind of name you associate with aliens, mystery, adventure, space, etc. One quick look around the net and nearly every review mentions the badly named titled as one of the worst things about it.
Marketing a movie is super important to attract viewers, especially in a difficult time like nowadays, where less people are willing to pay to go the cinema. Disney failed by meeting one of the most important criteria of movie marketing: having an appealing name.
A name like John has been handed over to more than 5 million men in the US alone - Adding the last name Carter and it sounds like he's a policitian, perhaps a plumber, or an ordinary old man living next door to you. The same would apply to names along the lines of James, Robert, Richard, Daniel or Michael. It really was a huge error that could have easily been avoided.
Now not only has Disney's chairman quit his position, but "John Carter" has cemented itself (and the name) as one of the biggest movie flops of all time. I guess Shakespeare's "what's in a name?" also applies to movies.

Name In Spotlight: Flynn

If there was ever a name that had an opportunity to make a big splash in the popularity charts, this would be in. The name has yet to crack the boys top1000, but after Disney using this name in their next movie, and celebrity superstars Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr naming their boy Flynn, I can see this name becoming the next big thing. Plus, it's always nice to have an alternative to the currently everywhere Finn.