on Robin Hood and American accents

[kattahj]

A couple of comments on my previous post about Robing Hood - Prince of Thieves got me thinking about accents, and languages, and why we're sometimes bothered by inaccuracy and sometimes not

Comments

[lilith_morgana]

I definitely think there's a class issue. I also wish I knew more eloquently what it is about the English identity, but I'll leave it for others to analyse.

On the other hand, I personally cannot focus on anything but the annoying varieties of accents if a film is about one demographic group supposed to have the same accent and then one or two or five have adopted their very own versions. Then it usually grows into annoyance over other issues - why do they HAVE to import a big star from the US to sell British films? And if they absolutely have to, then why can't they a) hire experts in the matter and teach the star a belivable accent or b) let the star use the American accent? I mean, if the film is a good one, then I don't care but if Kevin Costner is in it, then it's usually not very good so... :p

Same thing with regional varieties - saw Populärmusik från Vittula and spent a long time being frustrated with how the accents were all over the place all the time. But I am a self-confessed nitpicker and details get to me more than

[kattahj]

On the other hand, I personally cannot focus on anything but the annoying varieties of accents if a film is about one demographic group supposed to have the same accent and then one or two or five have adopted their very own versions.

Well, who's to say a film is to be about one demographic group? Unless it's set in a small village, people are bound to have different accents. Hell, if I had a penny for every time people tell me, "But you don't sound like you're from Lund!" I'd not have to worry about paying the rent.

As for Robin Hood in particular, England in 1100-1500 was a schizo kind of country with dialects splitting all over the place. The medieval version of the Tower of Babel, if you like.

Then it usually grows into annoyance over other issues - why do they HAVE to import a big star from the US to sell British films?

British films hardly ever do that. Europuddings, yes (though they use European stars just as often). Hollywood films set in Europe - all the time. But those are three different things.

a) hire experts in the

[lilith_morgana]

Unless it's set in a small village, people are bound to have different accents.

Oh yes, but IF a film, like Blow Dry (a good example since it's both intended to be about one demographic group and a British film with Josh Hartnett) is meant to have those premises, I find it pointless and annoying when it can't fulfill it for shit. Josh Hartnett sounds adopted from some unknown area.

b) let the star use the American accent?

Am confused - I was under the impression that this was the case. Or am I missing something?

I was being both unclear and silly - I meant American English, or what would be a better label for it. Still, it's often the case that someone who clearly cannot provide a good accent is set to play a role where the accent doesn't even have a point. That's when I get cranky. For example, Angel doesn't have to be Irish - at some point before the first flashback aired when they realised David Boreanaz wasn't doing a good accent they could have changed the origin for the character. And I've seen Alan Rickman doing American

[kattahj]

Still, it's often the case that someone who clearly cannot provide a good accent is set to play a role where the accent doesn't even have a point. That's when I get cranky. For example, Angel doesn't have to be Irish - at some point before the first flashback aired when they realised David Boreanaz wasn't doing a good accent they could have changed the origin for the character.

David Boreanaz is really horrifyingly bad. I mean, James Marsters wouldn't fool an actual Brit, but he's not bad (and it's supposed to be a fake accent anyway). Boreanaz makes my ears cry blood.

As for Robin Hood - like you say, there is no way they could have depicted accurate accents anyway. Which means I think they could have let Costner drop the faux-British one in the first place.

But he's not. I don't know how long it's been since you saw the film, but his accent is clearly a subdued American (more newscaster than cowboy), not a faux British one. Maid Marian and Friar Tuck have faux British ones.

And no, I don't think RHPoT is a good film, even when

[lilith_morgana]

For a long time, my sister and I had DB's 'accent' as a standing in joke. She would call me up and just say "Whatcha doin' all alone in an aalley-h". Seriously. Spike's accent goes with his entire created persona, it's very appropriate. But Angel...

but his accent is clearly a subdued American (more newscaster than cowboy), not a faux British one

Ah, my mistake. I haven't seen the film in ages, no.

I don't know why I never liked this as a pre-teen, either. I always missed out on the cool stuff - like Take That, NKOTB, all those cute boys.

[kattahj]

I always missed out on the cool stuff - like Take That, NKOTB, all those cute boys.

Every time I bought an album or mentioned liking a song, my brotehr would tell me how crap it was and how better other kinds of music were, so eventually I stopped trying.

No one in my family cares about films as much as I do, though, so there I was free to have as poor taste as I liked. A friend and I had Robin Hood as our two-person cult item: every time we met (a few times a year) we'd watch the film, and inbetween we'd send each other letters full of quotes signed with the names of different characters. It was a form of socializing that made not only questions of accents, but such questions as "Can all of these people relaly act at all?" utterly irrelevant.