the movieGOOMBA

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I think its common assumption that the person defines the name, but sometimes I wonder if the name defines the person. If I had been named Roxy, would I be more hip and cool? If I were named Prudence, would I be stern and mature? I mean, how a person's name fits just so perfectly sometimes is eerily bizarre, especially since most of us had nothing to do with what name was given to us. I’ll continue my argument with personal evidence. My whole life, I’ve been Jennifer del Rosario; “Jenn” for short. Two years ago, I was helping my mom clean out her garage and I found a copy of my original birth certificate. As I glanced at the name, to my horror, I noticed the following: (1) Jennifer was spelled “Jeniffer” and (2) my first name was “Jeniffer Jean.” I am so not a Jennifer Jean, let alone a “Jeniffer” Jean. What were my parent’s thinking? And can you imagine what I would have been like if I grew up as a Jennifer Jean and not a Jenn? I’m convinced that I’d be a completely different person. I guess we’ll never know.

Well, The Namesake sort of explores this same concept. The Namesake is a multi-generational film that begins with the marriage of Ashok and Ashima, a traditional Indian couple; they move to the States, where Ashima has trouble adjusting, but before long, they begin to have a family. They had to wait for their grandparents to choose a name for their first born son, so they give him the temporary name, Gogol, after a distinguished writer. Because of their Indian heritage, a second "good name" was later given to Gogol; Nikolai; "Nick" for short. As a child, their son argued and fought to be called Gogol instead of his more American name. However, as he got older, he grew tired of the clunky name and his Indian heritage. He started to call himself "Nick" and he began to pushed his family and his culture away.

I related to this movie in so many ways. Regardless of your cultural background, if you're first generation American, family life can be tough. Gogol/Nick is supposed to be American, yet he’s supposed to be Indian. You can't live the blended cultural lifestyle that you want because society makes it "either/or." So I get what Nick/Gogol is going through, but all the same, he was such a disrespectful prick. What a weeny of a character. I wanted to smack him upside the head and yell "respect your parents!" Actually, I did yell that at the TV screen. The Namesake had a lot of the basic family dynamic themes compounded with typical immigrant issues. It addressed the problems that newlyweds encounter and issues that arise from a father-son relationship, but it also made a point to explore the common hardships that immigrant families face.

However, with the above said, this wasn’t necessarily great film. I have a tendency to look positively on movies that address these themes, but the story-telling in The Namesake was very unbalanced. I think the filmmakers meant to make this an ensemble cast type of film, but it wasn’t very clear. Sometimes they focused on the mother, then the father, and then the son, but the points of view were very disproportional. The Namesake mainly focused on Gogol/Nick, but at the same time not.

Nick is a completely different person from Gogol, and he knew it. So after watching this film, my argument earlier remains the same. It isn’t just a name. It’s who you are, and it can define you. Just don’t let The Namesake define your opinion on a good flick.