So, what am I naming this baby of Brio’s?
(Girl baby.)
I hate coming up with names. 😩 Beth seems to like the Jane Austen-type names.
Also, can we talk about names in this show? I came across this piece when searching Austen-type names, and I think it’s so fitting for the names the show decided to give its characters. The TL;DR of it is basically that Jane Austen named her characters extremely common English names to represent family values and tradition. So there are your Janes, Emmas, Elizabeths, Annes… Sounds familiar, right?
She also used uncommon or “weird” names to signify outliers to tradition. Rio is named Christopher in actuality, which falls in line with the extremely common European names mentioned above. But he doesn’t go by that name. He doesn’t conform to the “traditional English standard,” therefore being set apart as an outlier to “polite society.” That, along with him never being given a last name, I think speaks to how his character was viewed by the people who wrote and created him. But it also ironically deepens his character. Because at its core it’s all commentary on who we view as human and who we view as a monster. Elizabeth, with her family values mask, is in actuality a monster in hiding. And Rio, hidden behind his antisocial mask, is in actuality an extremely human and relatable man who struggles with reconciling his own humanity with his acts against it.
I also liked the mention of nicknames being uncommon in Austen’s writing. Because nicknames are signs of familiarity and a dropping of formality which was considered inappropriate during those times. So if Beth (her common name) is nicknamed Elizabeth by Rio, it is a shirking of traditional conformity and an acknowledgment that she isn’t like the polite standard. And he uses her full name ironically. Mocking, almost. Making fun of her carefully crafted polite mask. Because he sees the monster behind it.
I know, I know, I’m reading way too much into it. It’s just so interesting how the people who made this show, subconsciously (probably, because I don’t think anyone had this much forethought or reflection) fell to just these same storytelling conventions and how permeating this style is to this day.
Anyway, what am I naming this baby? It should pay homage to both simplicity and unconventionality. Preferably two syllables like Beth’s other daughters and Rio’s son. Any suggestions?
