Our local free newspaper the Isthmus, has a big cover story title "The Triumph of his Will," a story -- I didn't read it -- about some guy's will. Why would anyone think that was an acceptable title?
Maybe my clever commenters can come up with equivalent examples of titles of evil works of art being used as headlines for imaginary, exceedingly tame local human interest stories.
UPDATE: In a similar vein, one often sees the name of something profoundly serious used in jokey titles. One that is done so often it's also offensive for being trite is "the Battle of the Bulge" to refer to weight loss.
July 16, 2005
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
13 comments:
But of course!
"Mine Camp," about a historic preservationist's struggle to preserve an abandoned mining settlement for posterity.
"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion Bible Church," about inside politics among the leaders of a local megachurch.
Matthew: You've got it! Hilarious!
Matthew: Excellent!
How about "120 Days of Sodom" - a tourist brochure on the winter festival in Sodom, VT.
I was going to do this, but someone beat me to it.
There's also my friend's blog The Columnist Manifesto.
Love all these as well, and thanks.
Some more, not all referencing works of art, but inappropriate nonetheless:
"Concentration Camp," about summer sessions for school kids with ADHD.
"Baton Dearth March," covers a protest in response to music programs being cut at the local high school.
"The Commoner's Man o' Pesto" features a fellow who has started a successful, inexpensive vegetarian eatery.
You brought the wags out on this one-
"Fair in Height for 51" - the AARP's new program advocating lowered height requirements on amusement park rides for early retirees.
Adam Sandler movie fails at U.S. box office. Distributor hopes to do better with the Asian release. Headline: Adam Bomb Hits Japan.
"Low, Lita!" by James Herriot. Another collection of the popular British veteranarian's tales. The title story features his humorous efforts to cure the laryngitis of a local prize heifer.
I have also seen an optician's shop named "The Joy of Spex"
I don't think this counts, but there are commercials now where people merrily sing: "You bet your sweet Aspercreme"
A couple of years ago, the local auto club magazine published an article on the virtues of touring Germany in the off season entitled something like "Sunny Days and Crystal Nights." The editor apparently had never heard of Kristallnacht, and apologized profusely in the next issue.
I just noticed that weather site called the Weather Underground.
www.wunderground.com A totally normal weather site named after a domestic terrorist organization.
I can imagine someone getting creamed in a golf game and referring to it as a Hole-o-caust.
But the simplest examples (of the latter type, not the former) slip under the radar because they've become "in a manner of speaking":
"I'm starving."
"I'm freezing."
"It was torture."
I became aware of this because I'm with someone who literally was starving and freezing at one time in his life (as a teen-age prisoner in a Gulag camp). I became very self-conscious about saying "I'm starving" or "I'm freezing" when what I meant was that I was very hungry, or kinda cold.
Post a Comment