One of my favorite "guilty pleasure" TV shows is The Walking Dead. In one of the seasons (a while back, now), one of the characters has a baby girl. At first, there is difficulty deciding upon a name for this poor little girl --- i.e. which deceased female can we name her after when there has been so many? I can't even image how difficult it would be to have a child in a post-apocolpytic, zombie ridden world where she could quite possibly die at any moment. And, I think in light of the terror and melancholic (see what I did there?) outlook on the world, Daryl Dixon decides to nickname the newborn "little ass-kicker". He is trying to promote an optimistic attitude about this child's life. Maybe, because she has to grow up in this environment, she will kick ass as an adult! And, maybe because she even exists, she has kicked ass.
But, then, she is arbitrarily named Judith, after one of Carl's (the older brother) old teachers. I WAS SO MAD. This girl had all the potential to have a really meaningful, cool name that reflected themes and values of the show... or at least her name could have honored the memory of someone who had died (like her mother, maybe?). But, now, I can see the logic in naming the baby girl Judith.
Perhaps, the writers decided to name her this because of the Anglo-Saxon work Judith that we read earlier in the year. Yes, it is an obscure reference to a bible story not included in the average Christian canon. But, giving this baby the name Judith after the badass, sword wielding, head-chopping-off Judith could have some interesting implications for the child's character and for the other characters. Perhaps Carl did get the name Judith from the Biblical story, but because he hides his violent nature from his father, said that the name was actually one of his old teachers.
Sorry for this rather random blogpost. But, again, it goes to show just how much culture from Anglo-Saxon times that is considered "forgotten" shapes the pop culture of today! And, mostly, I just felt super excited to make this connection in my head.
Here is a clip that might help make this post make more sense! Judith, the "Little Ass Kicker"
Okay, I have to tell you how glad I am that you posted about this. I have felt "silly" about having the same thoughts about baby Judith. When Carl first named his sister I couldn't help but think about how lame of a name he chose. Judith? I hated it.
ReplyDeleteMy family comes to my home on Sunday nights for what we call D&D (Dinner and Dead). I had just read "Judith" before watching one of the first episodes of this season and finally made the connection myself. The incredible Judith heroically triumphed over monstrous beings and she has to be one of my favorite virtuous women in the A.S. period. It suddenly made sense to me. I really do think that the writers of the graphic novel were cognizant in their choice of name for little ass kicker, and because of that I am less ashamed to admit my love for the show.