you think you know me well, but you don't know

so i was talking to a friend the other day, and i mentioned the Baby in Black (my nickname for my younger nephew) and she thought that it was a reference to the will smith movies, men in black. now, this was not what i had in mind and didnt even occur to me when i first decided to call him that this summer. in fact, i only watched a few random parts of a men in black movie a couple years back when someone put it on our tv. i never played the disney world game of it. i think there was a cartoon? if there was, i never watched it. i had a men in black toy but it came with my mcdonald's happy meal so i don't think that really counts. what i'm trying to get at is, i was never a men in black fan, and so why would i nickname my nephew after it?

i am, however, a LOST fan, which you may have picked up on by reading this blog, especially as the series was ending in the spring. and in lost, there is a character referred to as the Man in Black. the rest of this post is rife with spoilers, by the way. anyway, he eventually becomes the smoke monster, or the smoke monster becomes him, or some other LOSTian twist, and in the final season we get to know more about him and jacob, the leader or what have you of the island. we find out that jacob and the man in black are brothers, both born on the island. in one episode we see their mother get shipwrecked on the island. as she is stumbling along very pregnantly, she gets help by this island lady. the island lady takes her back to her cave where she helps her deliver the baby. the baby comes out, the lady says it's a boy, and the mom says his name is jacob. she had the name all well thought out ahead of time. then, surprise of all surprises, turns out she's having twins. when the next baby is delivered, also a boy, the mom says, "i only had one name." and then the island lady smashes her skull in with a rock.

for someone who appeared to be so upset by the fact that a mom would only have one name chosen out, the island lady (who pretends to be jacob and MiB's mom for years and years and years) didn't seem to come up with any name either. we watch as they grow up and hear "jacob, jacob, jacob" but only "your brother" or "you" when the MiB is addressed or referred to. even the LOST people (creators, writers, directors, etc) just called him the Man in Black and Boy in Black. (he always wore black. jacob wore white.) i mean, would it really have been that hard to name the kid, crazy island lady? no wonder he grew up angry and killed you. how would you like it if your older brother got a name and you were stuck with a very unwitty nickname referencing what color you were always put in.

so what does this have to do with omar (my nephew's real name)? well, my sister had hamza (her first son) picked out as a name from like the very beginning. it was known that he would be hamza. for omar, up until like the week before her due date (and probably even later) she was undecided. name for the first son, no name for the second. sound familiar? and from that was born my nickname, Baby in Black.

so no, when i call my nephew i am not thinking of some dude in a suit with sunglasses. i am thinking instead of a poor island boy turned evil smoke monster that just wanted to get off the stupid island.

*You Don't Know Me - Michael Buble