John Travolta has had many lives in America culture. First as a teen idol on TV, then as a teen idol in the movies. Then as a declining movie star. Then as a movie star making a big comeback. And now as a…name mangler whose own name is becoming an adjective.
It all started at the highly-rated Oscars, when Travolta called Idina Menzel “Adele Dazeem.” This wasn’t just a mispronunciation; it was a verbal, homicidal mangling. And, by the way, it may not be much of an excuse, but here is a fact: when they read the envelopes at the Oscars it IS indeed for the first time. So if someone doesn’t know another actor’s unusual name it is an understandable — if hilarious — mistake.
Except Travolota’s mangling also suggested he couldn’t read a teleprompter.
Here’s how it looked:
Now you can go on the web and have YOUR name mangled Travolta style. For instance, my name Joe Gandelman comes out “Jude Gonzaleez” and The Moderate Voice comes out “”Troy Mozaleen.”
GO HERE to try your own name.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.