Ridiculous bourgois snobbery...

[miserable_rose]

Today I had an uncontrollable laughing fit when I heard what my aunt had been talking to my parents about. Basically, my cousin is about to go to secondary school and my aunt wants to send him to a private, rather a comprehensive, school.

Her reasons are as follows:

• He went to a private primary school.
• He will be subject to "bad influences".
• He'll end up "speaking with a common accent like Vicky Pollard"

Oh, and did I mention this woman is a teacher. I can understand how if he went to a private primary school then going to a would take a bit of getting used to. But the other two. OH. MY. GOD! Bad influences? My cousin really could not be corrupted in any way. While that's not necessarily, a good thing it's true. That should really be the last of her worries. Seriously! We are talking about the kid who last time I saw him spent the whole time talking about how he loved Jesus and quoting the bible. If anybody offered him drugs, he'd probably pray for their souls. Besides, I just learnt that my ex-public schoolboy father was something of a bad influence himself. There are bad influences everywhere. In fact, I would be more a afraid of bad influences at a private school. Particularly influences like elitism and snobbery. And the last point. These people do know that they are talking to a family that lives in the scuzziest, most depraved part of the east end, right? I am serious. In fact, the inspiration for Albert square is a stones throw from our house. And they have heard my sister and I speak, haven't they? We both speak with my father's public school RP. I'm actually a little ashamed at how posh my accent sounds. I often get gently teased for it. The thing is, I used to have a genuine Eliza Doolittle cockney accent. I don't know how I managed to lose it but I have. Probably because people (well, adults) are a lot nicer to you when you don't sound rough and coarse. But actually, I don't think a cockney accent sounds bad at all. Would you say that about Nancy Sullivan? I wouldn't. In all honesty, I don't think your accent is much of a handicap. In fact, in musical theatre terms, a cockney accent is really useful for roles like Nancy, Eponine, the aforementioned Eliza Doolittle, Mrs. Lovett etc. It's something American actors get quite badly wrong. For instance, I was beside myself with laughing at NPH and Patti LuPone in Sweeney Todd. Their accents weren't Dick Van Dyke awful, but they were not right.

This has just turned into a very weird rant about accents. Basically, my main point is that worrying about your child's accent is snobbish and ridiculous. And Vicky Pollard doesn't even speak with a cockney accent anyway. She sounds much more west country.