Ah, I see what you mean about Julius Erving. :-) On the other hand, Lionel might not care - I imagine the opinions of people who think of a basketball player rather than a conqueror when they hear the name "Julius" are not of particular import to the man.
Historical accuracy is not, you will concede, a major concern of any group of people who could put "Skinwalker" on the air.
I will indeed concede that. You're entirely correct that the show's creators are obviously not interested in historical accuracy (among other things), and that this explains a multitude of otherwise endlessly puzzling things. I honestly hadn't even thought about the possibility of "Julian" being conflated with "Julius", but yes, I can see that this is probably the origin of Lex's brother's name.
Still, there are two basic ways to look at fiction - from within the fictional universe, or from outside it. When I'm watching a series (or reading or writing fanfic for it), I want to buy into the fictional world and explain it from within. In this case, I have a hard time doing that; I still need to try, though, because the Smallville authors' unconcern with history is not something that Lionel and Lillian Luthor would have taken into consideration when naming their child. They must have had a reason that originated within their own fictional world, and Lionel *would* have known and cared about the difference between "Julian" and "Julius".
So, all things considered, I'm sticking with Julian Apostata, and I hope the Smallville authors have enough sense to keep quiet about who they think Julian is named after. If they ever mentioned Julius Caesar in this context, that would turn Julian Luthor's name into an out-and-out factual error, with no further interpretive adjustment possible... and that would really bother me, because historical accuracy is a major concern of mine, just as it seems to be one of Lionel Luthor's.
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Date: 2003-06-03 05:11 pm (UTC)Historical accuracy is not, you will concede, a major concern of any group of people who could put "Skinwalker" on the air.
I will indeed concede that. You're entirely correct that the show's creators are obviously not interested in historical accuracy (among other things), and that this explains a multitude of otherwise endlessly puzzling things. I honestly hadn't even thought about the possibility of "Julian" being conflated with "Julius", but yes, I can see that this is probably the origin of Lex's brother's name.
Still, there are two basic ways to look at fiction - from within the fictional universe, or from outside it. When I'm watching a series (or reading or writing fanfic for it), I want to buy into the fictional world and explain it from within. In this case, I have a hard time doing that; I still need to try, though, because the Smallville authors' unconcern with history is not something that Lionel and Lillian Luthor would have taken into consideration when naming their child. They must have had a reason that originated within their own fictional world, and Lionel *would* have known and cared about the difference between "Julian" and "Julius".
So, all things considered, I'm sticking with Julian Apostata, and I hope the Smallville authors have enough sense to keep quiet about who they think Julian is named after. If they ever mentioned Julius Caesar in this context, that would turn Julian Luthor's name into an out-and-out factual error, with no further interpretive adjustment possible... and that would really bother me, because historical accuracy is a major concern of mine, just as it seems to be one of Lionel Luthor's.