the name game

so i hear the new Harry Potter movie's out...
i admit i've only watched one of the movies ("Prisoner of Akzaban"), and have never read any of the books. i actually enjoyed the one movie that i saw, and i swear i'll get around to reading all her books and watching all the movies one of these days...

anyways, i was just thinking about the author, J.K. Rowling, who's now the best-paid author in history, and among the top-ten best-paid celebrities. just thinking about the fact that (according to Wikipedia), J.K. Rowling is actually a woman named Joanne Rowling, and how before her first book was released, her publishing company feared that her target audience of young boys would be reluctant to read books written by a female author, so they asked her to use two initials instead of revealing her actual,first name. since she doesn't have a middle name, she chose K for her grandmother's name, Kathleen. and there you have it... J.K. Rowling!

that's awesome that she's gotten so far and is doing so well. but what if she had chosen to use her real name from the beginning? would those teenage boys have found it to be just as cool to be reading books written by a lady named Joanne Rowling? would she have been taken as seriously as a fantasy-adventure writer? would her books have become as popular, and would she have had the same opportunities to have her books made into such blockbuster movies? maybe... but the sad truth is, probably not... and that, i think, is unfair and sad.