Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Moratorium: Titles with "Bees" or "The Secret Life of"

Is it just me, or is anyone else tired of titles that start with "The Secret Life of..." or include the word "Bee" or "Bees"? An IMDb search of "The Secret Life of" or "Bee" brings up hundreds of hits, with a special concentration over the past five years:

The Secret Lives of Dentists (2002)
The Secret Life of Words (2005)
Bee Season (2005)
Akeelah and the Bee (2006)
Bee Movie (2007)
The Secret Life of the American Teenager (2008)

Which leads us to the The Secret Life of Bees, opening next month. I guess we had that one coming. But can we have a moratorium on these titles, please? Thanks. This also goes for book titles that pair a possessive noun with the word "wife" or daughter." Like "The Bonesetter's Wife" or "The Alchemist's Daughter." Those are horrifyingly unimaginative titles.

8 comments:

Alanna said...

Unimaginative and kind of sexist. Like, this woman's identity is solely her relation to a man of this profession! Ugh. Why would I want to watch a movie about someone that boring.

Mike z said...

Or titles that use the word "American" as the sole adjective.

American Beauty, American History X, American Pie, American Gangster, American Psycho, American Graffiti, American Splendor, The Quiet American

Alanna said...

The Secret American Beekeeper's Wife

Mike z said...

The American's Wife's Beekeeping Secret

J.J. said...

The plot of The American's Wife's Beekeeping Secret: her bees make oil, not honey.

is that so wrong? said...

I blogged awhile back about the johnny-come-lately media sensation behind spelling bees, a sensation that still baffles me a bit. I wonder if these writers actually come up with crappy "bee" titles, or if focus groups steer title-making into a mind-deadening realm.

Also, doesn't it bother you the never-ending parade of gerund-preceding titles? i.e. "Judging Amy", "Watching Ellie", "Crossing Jordan", etc. These titles don't even make sense! Judging Amy do what? Crossing Jordan what? You mean you're crossing her path? Crappy titles like this just are... are... wrong.

Anonymous said...

for your information, the title of the book that the film is based upon is called 'The Secret Life Of Bees' !!!!! So u can't expect them to give the film a different name when it's based on a book.

Anyway, who cares about the title! The book is beautiful and the film looks great, can't wait to see it. Why should the title matter: 'Don't judge a book by it's cover'.

J.J. said...

Uh, I know about the book. The titling is still unimaginative, and annoying. I'm not saying the book or movie is/will be bad.