Stupid American Titles

Stupid American Titles

By Brian J. Lancaster (April 2022)

Website: www.laughingcoyote.net

It seems as though marketing departments often dumb down the names of books, movies, and games when they localize them for the United States.

#1) Another World --> Out of This World

One of the greatest platformers of all time comes from French game studio Delphine Software, called Another World. When they sold it in America, they had to change it to Out of This World. This was supposed to prevent confusion with the American soap opera of the same name, even though there was also an American show at the time called Out of This World.

In reality, they probably chose the American title because Americans smoke too much weed and watch surfer movies.

#2) Braindead --> Dead Alive

New Zealand director Peter Jackson's all-time greatest film, Braindead (1992), had to change its name to Dead Alive in the United States. Again this was an issue of conflicting film titles. There's a movie called "Brain Dead" (two words) that absolutely nobody cares about.

Peter Jackson's masterpiece is a comedy goldmine. There's an antagonist who you you know is going to die horribly eventually, but it's stretched out till the end of the movie, and it is hilarious. It's a gem that makes me spiteful of all modern computer graphics. Real zombie movies should never use CGI, just lots of ketchup and clay.

#3) Philosopher's Stone --> Sorcerer's Stone

The best example of the dumbing down of names in America is the first Harry Potter book and movie. I've never read the books, but the first one had to change it's title from the Philosopher's Stone to the Sorcerer's Stone.

The "philosopher's stone" is a real concept in Western alchemy. It's a hypothetical substance that can change ordinary metals into precious metals, and possibly extend life indefinitely, sometimes also known as "materia prima".

The book's publisher thought that American children would think the word "philosopher" sounded boring. Probably true, considering the American education system is nearly broken. There's no philosophy class until college, and history education is very near absent also. I had only one history class in high school, and the teacher was a Mormon who loved Bill O'Reilly, so I wasn't really paying attention.

This guy's got it figured out.