Oxymoronic. How often do you hear that word in an eight-hour period? Let me explain why that's the pertinent question this morning.
First I'll tell you what you already know: I have aggressive media consumption habits. I tear through media like Henry VIII at a banquet. My family believes it's an awesome and frightening habit.
Second, at that banquet, i always make room for The New York Times and lots of airtime from National Public Radio and from NPR, I usually catch the program Fresh Air.
So, yesterday, while tearing through the Times, I came across A.O. Scott's review of the new George Clooney movie, The American and read this paragraph:
In addition to the priest, he befriends Clara, a prostitute — played by an actress with the splendidly oxymoronic name Violante Placido — who is so stirred by his bedroom prowess that she stops charging him and asks him out for dinner instead. (Some guys get all the breaks.) Meanwhile his business dealings with his client carry a sexual undercurrent that the American may or may not notice. [entire review]
i noticed the use of the word "oxymoronic" because it was well played and not a word I read in the media on a regular basis. --Until yesterday.
David Edelstein reviews movies for the NPR program Fresh Air and it wasn't a surprise to hear him queue up a review of The American because the movie was just released and that's how the media works. What was a surprise was when he spoke this paragraph:
As in "Up in the Air," Jack does make a new friend, Clara, a prostitute played by the oxymoronically named Violante Placido. I wondered why she was so familiar, with her soft, open face and voluptuous body. It turns out she's the daughter of Simonetta Stefanelli, unforgettable as Michael Corleone's doomed Sicilian bride in "The Godfather." [entire review]
I don't think the reviewers "borrowed" from each other. Both David Edelstein and, especially, A.O. Scott are "made men" who don't have to struggle towards the top anymore. Rather, i think that, just like when the lights are out, the room is "dark," if a character has the name Violante Placido, the name is oxymoronic. Both reviewers noticed it and both called it out and neither could find a better word to describe it than oxymoronic.
Interesting.
