Keith Watanabe * NET 2.0

I'm not a huge TV fan (especially with all the crappy reality shows that popped up in the past few years).  But one show I loved from the start was the sitcom Will & Grace.  Looking through Wikipedia and imdb.com, I noticed that neither sites contain any interpretation of the character names.  So I decided to use my (useless) literary/analytical skills and do a small write up on the characters' names:

• Will Truman.  The name is extremely fitting.  He's not called "William" nor "Bill" but just "Will," representing his stubborn, headstrong demeanor.  His last name "Truman" is ironic and a statement that despite being gay, he's more manly than some men (because he is, indeed, a true-man).  Kind of the prototypical symbol for virility, minus the sexual desire for women.  In addition, the name "Truman" can be interpreted as his more compassionate side, where as the anti-lawyer type, he goes after causes rather than pure money.  Combined he's a perpetual idealist, someone stubbornly devoted to causes because it's what he believes in.
• Grace Adler.  The name is paradoxical that dives into the character's split personality of being the eminent feminine character yet plagued by her Jewish heritage.  At times, Grace can be exotic, nurturing, exceptionally feminine and stylistic.  On the other hand, you can see her delve into this more disgusting pig of a person, one who snorts while she laughs, has a voracious appetite, a lack of mannerisms and etiquette at tables and even tact in social situations (for instance, venomously squirting water from her ruptured bra after being dumped by a materialistic high school crush).  The Adler name represents, of course, the vicious snake as depicted by her sometimes antagonistic, self-serving, highly reactionary behavior towards Will.  The fact that her name is derived from her Jewish heritage makes one wonder if the type of codependent relationship would exist between her and Will if she were born from a different heritage.
• Jack McFarland.   The name Jack instantly reminds one of the notion of the "Jack-of-All-Trades" character.  Indeed, Jack goes through multiple job changes, never holding a stable position and certainly has the attention span of a sand grain.  McFarland, on the one hand, imparts his heritage of being part Scottish, but the Farland part is more indicative of the fact that Jack is idealistic, often in his own world, distant from the realities of others like Will and Grace.  Jack is more apt to skip towards a new relationship, which, in his mind, serves as the flavor of the second, than stick with someone perpetually, except for his friend Karen.
• Karen Walker.  Innocuously, Karen's name seems the most "normal" of the group and might reveal little about the character.  Her typically abrasive behavior seems to never fit the mold of her name, especially as a cold hearted, sometimes calculating, slave driving empress with the fortunes of her husband guiding her ego.  But this belies the true inner character that at times is revealed.  Karen is perhaps one of the most complex characters on the show because her true feelings are eternally hidden because of her pride as a rich woman.  The name "Karen" can be compared to the word "care" or even "caring" and those moments certainly can be seen in private moments such as the time when she gave $500 to a homeless woman during a X-Mas special or her constant exuberant treatment of the Kato-like character of Jack.  The "Walker" portion of the name is probably the most difficult to examine.  One would think of Walker akin to her favorite tonic of Vodka in sound, indicating her love of being in a drunken stupor.  But Walker also might symbolize some of the punchlines she has where her harsh execution and abrupt stage right exit illustrate the mixed joke that derives a lot of the humor for her character.  Another more deeper reading into the character's name is how she's the type to "walk away" from her problems.  In other words, rather than confront many of the issues, she drowns her problems in her alcoholism, until one of the characters manage to convince her to handle them.

Well, that was a lot of fun.  It's been a while since I've been able to use some literary analysis on anything.  Maybe I'll return to this with another book or movie.