Film Friday: Winter Storms and Movie Characters?

I don't think most of us realized it until about two weeks ago, but apparently the Weather Channel has been naming winter storms much the way that the National Weather Service names hurricanes.    The NWS in fact does NOT name winter storms, which is why most of the media outlets have not referred to some of these recent big storms by their "Weather Channel names."  

The basic premise of naming the storms is that "we" will be more focused on storms that have actual names than just generic terms like "blizzard."  And by "we," the Weather Channel means "people who watch the Weather Channel or use our web site and see lots of ads from our sponsors."  If the audience uses the names, they'll want more information, and the best place to get it will be from the Weather Channel. 

The first storm anyone realized had a name hit about two weeks ago. It caused some havoc in the south but not much in the northeast.   But of course it did get a lot of chatter in social media because of its name: 

While the Weather Channel might have tried to suggest that the Khan was really a tribute to Genghis, they obviously knew that the public would associate the name with  the great character played by Ricardo Montalban in Star Trek II.  Of course, when the storm fizzled, all the "wrath of Khan" references seemed out of place.  I in fact suggested  that "slighty annoying inconvenience of Khan" was more appropriate.

This weekend's big blizzard is named "Nemo," and so there've been lots of clownfish images floating around social media, in tribute to the title character of the Pixar film Finding Nemo.   Once again, the Weather Channel is cashing in on the media-friendly recognition of a winter storm with a name, recognition that will bring more eyeballs to more ads.  

Interestingly, The Weather Channel insists that its names for the storms are rooted in antiquity, not mass media iconography.   The reason, as Slate reports, is at least partly legal:   Gandalf refers to a character from a 19th century fantasy novel set in medieval times (not a noted wizard from a copyright-protected series of "Middle Earth" novels); "Q" refers to a subway line, not the gadget wizard from the James Bond films; and "Nemo" is an ancient term referring to a Greek boy's name that means "from the valley." It has absolutely NOTHING to do with a certain clownfish whose names is controlled by Disney,  a corporation that is ruthless in suing anyone who steals an image they still own.  

Of course not.  And the Weather Channel ran all its names by their lawyers to make sure there are no lawsuits.  The presence of "Khaaaan!" jokes last month and the images of the little clownfish today are just by-products of the list, and has nothing to do with the Weather Channel.   

Of course. But all the same, the Weather Channel still seeks to cash in on such connections, even if they are not exactly making them!