reallyreallyreallytrying:

in the 90s if you wanted to make it as an actor you had to be called like brad pitt or tom cruise. 2 syllables tops. now you’ve gotta be alden ehrenreich or ansel elgort or timothee chalamet. anything goes. madness

In the 1950s, Ernesto Borgna had to become Ernest Borgnine, Issur Danielovich had to become Kirk Douglas, Daniel Kaminsky became Danny Kaye, etc. Then the issue basically was “we don’t want any non-Anglo names”. Now different ethnicities are, at least overtly, accepted, irrespective of length (Matthew McConaughey has 1 more syllable than Alden Ehrenreich).

lesbianavagardner:

https://www.them.us/story/his-name-was-dwight

André Aciman reflects on an anonymous yet deeply moving letter he received about the novel, dated April 16, 2008:

I came upon Mr. Aciman’s book while on a business trip back East. Not the type of book I am normally able to read, so I bought a copy for the flight home. I think I’m glad I did.

You see, I was Elio. I was 18 and my Oliver was 22. Though the time and place were different, the feelings were remarkably the same. From believing that you are the only person who has these feelings, to the whole “he loves me – he loves me not” scenario, Mr. Aciman got it right. I was particularly impressed with the attention he gave to the morning after Elio’s and Oliver’s first encounter. The guilt, the loathing, the fear. I felt it too much. I had to put the book down for a while.

But in the end I was able to finish the book before we landed at SFO. Which was good, because I couldn’t take the book home. Unlike Elio it was I who married and had children. My Oliver died from AIDS in 1995. I’m still living a parallel life. My name is not important. His name was Dwight.

Source: lesbianavagardner