OH MY GOODNESS, IS YOUR NAME REALLY KATE BARLOW?
OH MY GOODNESS, YOU HAVE THE SAME NAME AS THE GIRL IN THAT BOOK/MOVIE! {giggle giggle}
OH MY GOODNESS YOU'RE THAT OUTLAW FROM THAT BOOK/MOVIE!
SO YOUR NAME IS KATE BARLOW - ISN'T THERE SOME GIRL IN SOMETHING WHO HAS THAT NAME, WHICH IS SIGNIFICANT FOR SOME REASON BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT IT, BUT I FELT COMPELLED TO BRING IT UP ANYWAY BECAUSE I'M GRASPING AT THE GHOST OF SOME SORT OF MEMORY RIGHT NOW...
and so on and so forth.
But trends are cyclical, and it seems that on this, the 9-year anniversary of a movie that popularized a book that was first published 14 years ago, having the same name as that one character from that one book/movie (depending on how the person actually knows it - it's usually the movie) is trendy again.
After hearing this only sporadically during the last few years, I've suddenly become incredibly interesting to people again. In the last 4 weeks alone, I've had this conversation 3-4 times - in 3 different states. A guy asked about it in New York, some teenage girls got really giggly and excited about it at Abby's church in Arkansas, and I think it came up again soon after that. And then today, in DC, it was mentioned again, and this time I wasn't part of the conversation. I was coming back into the office from running some paperwork to another office, and as I walk in the door, I hear our staff assistant laugh and say, "I don't know, I'll ask her."
Staff Assistant to me: "Hey, are you some kind of outlaw?"
Me to SA: {smile} "Ha, yes, yes I am."
SA to phone: "Yeah, she said she is..."
{giggle on the other end of the phone}
A girl from another office had called to find out who the scheduler in our office was, and what my email was - I'm guessing I walked in just after the SA told her my name, and she probably got really excited on her end of the phone (they usually do). Then, after he was done with the call, SA asked me about it and I explained the origin of her interesting question.
And really, I don't mind. It's kind of fun being famous for being someone cool/interesting - without actually having to be that person. Because I'd probably be in jail, if we were one in the same. I don't think I'd be a very good outlaw.
I first heard about the book, Holes, when some girl my age mentioned it to me at a church function. We were about 15 or so and she was talking about this book she was reading that had my name in it. She was kind of talking quickly and I still remember only understanding a handful of words she said - basically that some semblance of my name was in her book. I smiled and nodded at how fascinating it was that something she was reading had something to do with my name (I apologize for my lameness then, I didn't feel like asking follow-up questions or getting interested at all). Then we parted ways and I briefly shook my head at how strange that conversation was.
About 2 years later, a movie based on the book came out and I got to know who "Kissin' Kate Barlow" was really quickly. Suddenly I was flooded with similar conversations with people who were excited to realize that my name was her name. Or I'd just sentences flung at me as I passed by someone who wanted me to know they knew my secret. Or I'd catch a glimmer in someone's eye as their brain quickly/slowly made connections between the real world and the fake, movie world. I soon ended up just finishing the sentences of those whose eyes betrayed that they were one of the people who were slowly making the connections:
Person 1: "Hey...wait....diiiid yooouuuu say yooouuuurrrr name is Kaaate Baaaarrrrrlllooooowwwww?" (they always talk really slow...)
Me: nodding my head in rhythm with their slow speech, "Yeah..."
Person 1: "Isn't thaaaat the naaaaame of..."
Me: "the girl from Holes? Yup, same name. She's got my exact name."
Person 1: smiles stupidly, "Wooooooooooaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Coooooooool!!!!!"
Me: "Yeah, really cool."
Those people weren't my favorite - mainly because I was having a 10 minute conversation with someone, with only 4 sentences having been uttered. It's a little tiring.
And of course, the other time I don't enjoy talking about this with a large group of guys, when most of them have no idea who this character is at all, and have never heard of the book or movie. Invariably, one of them recognizes that my name is famous, and then he blurts out (ever so loudly):
"Wait, YOU'RE Kissin' Kate Barlow?!!!
{Cue momentary awkward silence from the previously boisterous pack of attractive guys}
These boys have never heard of her as being a made-up person, so for all they know, I have a really great reputation as being a total skank. Or just for being a really great kisser - which wouldn't be a bad reputation. But when your name gets anything to do with kissing added to it, that just sounds a little bit bad at first.
And, of course, the guy with the original outburst does nothing to attempt to explain the source of his exclamation, so then I sheepishly have to explain it. And obviously, my explanation inevitably takes 10 times longer than it needs to (because that's just how I roll), and they're either bored with me by the time I finish talking or uninterested with me because I don't actually have a reputation dealing with kissing (dangit!).
Any way you look at it, it's a little bit awkward, at the very least.
But generally, the realization and subsequent conversation is fun and short. At the very least, it gets a conversation started, yeah?
It is interesting, though, how often people ask the question in the form of, "were you named after that outlaw in that book?" Dates probably aren't most people's forte, and knowing the publishing date of any book isn't generally part of a person's pop culture background, but I am roughly 12 years older than the book, so while the character is placed in the 1800's, her history didn't start until a hundred years later...so no. She was named after me.
I like to think Louis Sachar met me randomly at some place - maybe our public library, for literary significance - and realized my name was just really cool, and he had to memorialize it somehow. So he used me as his heroine (the person, not the drug) in his book.
But I'm pretty sure that wasn't actually the case.
As it turns out, "Kate" goes well with kissing. This is hardly the first time the Arts has put them together. You'll recall the musical, Kiss Me Kate, which is based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew - the musical gets the name from Petruchio's last line, when he says, "Kiss me, Kate!" It turns out that this is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays - maybe I relate to Kate, the main character. Maybe I just pretend like I relate to her. Either way, I enjoy the comedic wordplay and witty banter involved.
But still, having my complete name used in Holes is a little more jostling. Other uses of my name only use my first name (a decidedly more popular name for literature and film these days, I've noticed), but Holes is different - I've never been so wholly tied to one "Kate." I can't escape this until I'm married, unless I choose to keep my own last name like celebrities do. I'll probably want to keep my fame intact even after my marriage, after all. So I'll never be separated from this character that has become a part of me, like it or not.
And yet, I can't really complain. She's kind of a fun anti-hero hero, so it's fun character to be so connected to. And in the movie adaption, my love interest is none other than:
Dule' Hill, aka Burton Guster, from super-favorite show Psych. I may or may not have a huge crush on him. In fact, I almost went to New York this Friday on an even-more-last-minute-trip-than-the-last-time-I-went-to-New-York trip to see Hill's current Broadway show and enjoy the post-performance discussion with the cast, held Friday night especially for Psych fans. Which all boils down to this:
If my full name has to spend a whole movie crushing big-time on that guy, I'm kind of okay with it.
And when all is said and done, that's really what matters.
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