Why James Roday Has Decided to Change his Name

There are so many ways, to begin with, this issue that trying to nail down one is a bit difficult, but James Roday is changing his name back to James Rodriguez since, realistically, that’s his name, and the pressure he received to change it back in the 90s was absolutely ridiculous, but the chance at stardom was just the kind of pressure it took for him to walk away from his heritage, apparently. In all fairness, he never disowned his family in such a drastic way that they would never again accept him, but he did make it clear that his career was going to determine just which surname he’d be known by so that he could continue forward. So do you really blame him in this instance? A lot of people would probably say no, not at all because he was trying to get somewhere and couldn’t do so since it does sound like his name and the fact that he doesn’t look Latino were both working against him from opposite ends. Hollywood back in the 90s was still a different place than it is now and obviously there were moments when people would change up their name to get the attention they wanted. You didn’t think everyone in Hollywood was genuine, did you? There are accounts of actors changing their names from decades past, largely because the names they chose gave them a sense of pride and mystique that they couldn’t get with their given names. Like it or not, James made the same choice, putting his last name over his career.

Now though, when it’s more PC to go back his name since he can keep his well-established stardom and not worry about being known was Rodriguez, he’s making the choice to be an ‘ally for his community’. That’s great and it is a very positive thing, but the convictions that so many people are coming out with these days feel a bit soured and even hypocritical, largely because one has to wonder why they didn’t bother earlier when they were firmly established and there was no way that Hollywood would turn their back on someone that made them money. Many will likely tell those that dissent to back off and mind their own business or shout that James couldn’t risk his career over this, but the truth here is that anyone and everyone that was waiting for something such as the murder of George Floyd to happen, in other words, a social catastrophe as many people are citing these days, didn’t appear to have a problem with selling their services to the highest bidder at one point, and are now stepping forward since they have a shield of social justice to stand behind. A lot of people might want to call him brave for this action and will admire James for going back to his roots, but make no mistake, as positive of a move as this is, and it is to be sure, it’s also just as opportunistic as anything else that’s been happening in the wake of Floyd’s murder and the civil unrest that followed.

Even mentioning that he should change his name was wrong back in the 90s, as the amusing thing about this is that no one really cares who a person’s name is in real life while they’re on screen. People will argue that of course, they care, but the reality of a person’s lineage doesn’t tend to factor into a movie when it comes to the audience. How about Barry White, is he any less popular for his name? Or how about Michael Jai White? How about Clint Black, or Jack Black, Cameron Diaz, or Emilio Estevez? This is why James’ switch isn’t all that impressive, he had a choice decades ago and he made it and is now lamenting that fact after the switch made him famous. Others have stuck with their names and become quite famous in their own time in one way or another, and didn’t need to give up part of their heritage to make it happen. Was it bound to be easy? Probably not, since Hollywood is a cruel-moneymaking machine at times that will demand everything no doubt, and give out very little in return. But at the risk of sounding cynical and combative, James’ decision isn’t exactly something that should be looked at with rose-colored glasses and no sense of realism. Like too many people these days he’s apparently ‘waking up’ to realize that what he gave up to get his start is something he should have held onto and been outwardly proud of the entire time. That he wants to reconnect with his name is great and as a result, he should be given some consideration for this, but otherwise, it’s hard to agree with the business that suggested he switch his name and the decision he made to go along with it.