There was an awesome programme on Radio 4 about the origins of 'Jack and the Beanstalk' and all the different elements in it and where they came from. The Jack in that is really tricky, half-hero, half-thief. Jack is such an awesome folklore figure, that I really don't blame creators for using the name, although you get the sense that the Stargate guys went 'we need a good name for the lead, we used Jack already. Damn. Let's use John.' It doesn't bring quite the same amount of baggage, but it has the right kind of weight to it. Although I wish they'd chosen another surname, because 'Sheppard's causing me seven kinds of trouble with Firefly.
I think hard when I name characters, because it's so important. There's more to this lurking at the back of my brain that I'm trying to get into a story at the moment, but Jack's giving me trouble over it. No change there, then. I also think about these things too much, but it's nice to to know someone else does as well. :)
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Date: 2008-01-29 04:29 pm (UTC)I think hard when I name characters, because it's so important. There's more to this lurking at the back of my brain that I'm trying to get into a story at the moment, but Jack's giving me trouble over it. No change there, then. I also think about these things too much, but it's nice to to know someone else does as well. :)