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

[kattahj]

Haven't seen most of the movies you're talking about, but now I'm tempted to go rewatch LotR, because I don't recall hearing any Aussies. They were probably all baddies or New Zealanders. :)

*grimaces* Yes, it's possible it was a Kiwi accent rather than an Aussie one. Anyway, whatever accent it is, the Orcs are the ones using it. Baddies are from the Southern hemisphere, evidently.

Aragorn's accent was always the one that jolted me out of those films, while I found, say, the hobbits' accents to be perfectly appropriate.

I've never thought of Aragorn's accent - does he sound more American than the other yanks in the cast? Or is it the Danish bit?

I don't think they could have gotten away with giving one of the Middle Earth cultures an American accent, because the dialogue would sound too funny. Do you know what I mean? It would sort of clash somehow.

Yes, I think it's unthinkable too. I just don't think it makes much sense that it's unthinkable. If Emperor Claudius can be a Brit and Shmi Skywalker a Swede (while her son and grandson are Americans), logically speaking Middle-Earth should be no different. But it is.

They think of medieval English as Ye Olde English, Shakespearean era, and forget that spelling once reflected pronunciation. :P

Yeah. I read reviews where people complain about the vocabulary and suggest more Shakespearan stuff, forgetting that event that is 400 years too late. Now, imagine this with a bit of old French added... Coolness.

Since the stories are set in England (or an England-like fantasy world), any accent other than English sounds wrong. Especially American, as it's the accent most often heard on TV and in movies. Exotic sells, I guess.

Exotic, but not too exotic - which is why the "Europudding" type of films (European collaborations) are nearly always in English.

[mudskipper]

Yes, I think it's unthinkable too. I just don't think it makes much sense that it's unthinkable. If Emperor Claudius can be a Brit and Shmi Skywalker a Swede (while her son and grandson are Americans), logically speaking Middle-Earth should be no different. But it is.

I think part of it is that Tolkien based his world and his stories firmly in old northern-european legends (such as Beowulf, the poetic Edda, Nibelungeleid etc), and while those weren't written in modern-day english, LOTR were, and names and such are adapted to that (after all, Tolkien was a linguist). The kiwi accents I think pass because they sound more "rural-english" than american would have (possibly because we are less used to hearing them).
Star Wars, on the other hand has its roots not only in classic hero-fairytales, but also in cowboy- and samuraimovies, making the american accent more acceptable.

There's also the whole old/new-world issue, but that's already been brought up elsewhere.

[kattahj]

One thing that really fucked my head up when I read the LotR original was the "this is all a translation, and none of these characters were actually called this" appendix. I went into a growling rage of "NO, GODDAMNIT, I have not abandoned my Ohlmarks to be told I'm just reading another translation!"

I think part of it is that Tolkien based his world and his stories firmly in old northern-european legends

I think it's a bit more complicated than that. The main (elven) mythology is Nordic/Celtic. The hobbits are Englishmen, though a non-classy kind (not Oxbridge), and Gondor is more Greek/Roman than anything else. The Rohan are old English/Saxon mixed with Viking.

Having Bilbo, Galadriel, Theoden and Denethor speaking in the same way does work, but it wouldn't hurt to differentiate them more.

But yeah, you're right that American sounsd more New World than Kiwi, even though that's not technically correct.

[mudskipper]

I think it's a bit more complicated than that.
well, it always is, isn't it?

But yeah, you're right that American sounsd more New World than Kiwi, even though that's not technically correct.
Hay, why be correct when you can be rambling incoherently :)