# Jean Luc Picard--how is he viewed in France? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [September 29, 2025, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-luc-picard-how-is-he-viewed-in-france/1023479 "2025-09-29T13:18:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-luc-picard-how-is-he-viewed-in-france/1023479/41 "2025-09-29T22:48:44Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > This is because they, like so many of the secondary regular characters in TOS, were conceived as one-dimensional stereotypes, to illustrate the wide variety of humans embraced in Star Fleet (some of them eventually were allowed to develop small other facets to their characters). Yes, this was 100% the real life reason for the accents. Roddenberry was trying to show a very diverse crew that could have international appeal. He did it in a way we’d find ham-fisted today, but for his time it was very progressive. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-luc-picard-how-is-he-viewed-in-france/1023479/42 "2025-09-29T22:52:27Z")
Picard does speak with a French accent in Star Trek:Picard while pretending to be a villain. It’s a good thing that was just one scene. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-luc-picard-how-is-he-viewed-in-france/1023479/43 "2025-09-29T22:53:34Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > This is because they, like so many of the secondary regular characters in TOS, were conceived as one-dimensional stereotypes, to illustrate the wide variety of humans embraced in Star Fleet (some of them eventually were allowed to develop small other facets to their characters). And, of course, James Doohan wasn’t actually Scottish (he was a Canadian, born to Irish immigrants), and while Walter Koenig was of Russian Jewish descent, he was born in Chicago. In this season of _Strange New Worlds_, Scotty is finally actually being played by a Scottish actor. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-luc-picard-how-is-he-viewed-in-france/1023479/44 "2025-09-29T23:04:07Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > And, of course, James Doohan wasn’t actually Scottish (he was a Canadian, born to Irish immigrants) Simon Pegg played Scottie in the “Kelvin Timeline” films by JJ Abrams, but he’s an English actor. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Walter Koenig was of Russian Jewish descent, he was born in Chicago. Also in the Kelvin films, Chekov was played by Anton Yelchin, who was born in the Soviet Union. However, he immigrated to the US with his parents when he was six months old, so he grew up completely in the US. He probably based his accent on the way his parents spoke. So maybe a bit more authentic. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-luc-picard-how-is-he-viewed-in-france/1023479/45 "2025-09-29T23:07:54Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Yes, this was 100% the real life reason for the accents. Roddenberry was trying to show a very diverse crew that could have international appeal. He did it in a way we’d find ham-fisted today, but for his time it was very progressive. What he did is beautiful, and it still gets me misty eyed even in objectively bad episodes of Trek. I didn’t watch TOS but this progressive ethos carries in some way to all other Trek series. He invented a positive vision of the future that included everyone. And that still has resonance today. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-luc-picard-how-is-he-viewed-in-france/1023479/46 "2025-09-29T23:31:55Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > He invented a positive vision of the future that included everyone. And that still has resonance today. It’s pretty unique among futuristic sci fi stories. Almost everything else is dystopian in some way. Star Trek shows a future where so many problems are solved. It’s not _perfect_, of course, or it would be a boring show, but it’s still a rare vision of hope. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-luc-picard-how-is-he-viewed-in-france/1023479/47 "2025-09-30T02:44:42Z")
Easy explanation: The Second Hundred Years War was won by the English. 🇬🇧 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-luc-picard-how-is-he-viewed-in-france/1023479/48 "2025-09-30T13:36:22Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Simon Pegg played Scottie in the “Kelvin Timeline” films by JJ Abrams, but he’s an English actor. He cosplays as a Scot, though… [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/SimonPeggApr09.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/SimonPeggApr09.jpg) Actually, he has said “half my family is Scottish” in the past. Although he may just be talking about his wife. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-luc-picard-how-is-he-viewed-in-france/1023479/49 "2025-09-30T13:48:28Z")
To explain Picard’s accent, I just assume that France got around finally to surrendering to the British in the Hundred Year’s War. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-luc-picard-how-is-he-viewed-in-france/1023479/50 "2025-09-30T17:22:59Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I don’t know where you get that idea. [There is in fact a tea culture in France](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_in_France). Thank goodness, because I’m a tea drinker myself and I would have been sad if tea had been utterly unavailable there during my visit. [tea snob alert] I had some of the best tea of my life in France, specifically [Mariage Freres](https://www.mariagefreres.com/en/?srsltid=AfmBOopxmtZvSOXo_y3NwDpWZMJZm6X5-GE52aZaO-9pXvBS00ac1NNz). They have a lot of high quality tea, including their French Breakfast, but the Milk Oolong is truly sublime. [/tea snob alert] ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-luc-picard-how-is-he-viewed-in-france/1023479/51 "2025-09-30T18:59:01Z")
Seconded. I still have some of their Christmas blend Also, the pastries … _L’Étoile mystérieuse_ is one I still dream about. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-luc-picard-how-is-he-viewed-in-france/1023479/52 "2025-09-30T21:46:05Z")
Palais des Thés has also had boutiques for decades, there are tea salons… it is not like tea is unobtainable or superlatively expensive in France (also, you can order it off the Internet, like everywhere) but the question is, would a random cafe have anything passable or just a few bags of floor sweepings? I do not have the latest statistics, but the number of French who do _not_ drink tea should be in the minority these days. That was not always the case, e.g. in the 1990s. So who is to say tea will be regarded as in any way exotic in the Star Trek future? (especially with cheap transporters making import trivial, at least on Earth—Terran tea might not be readily available on Romulus) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-luc-picard-how-is-he-viewed-in-france/1023479/53 "2025-09-30T21:54:58Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > So who is to say tea will be regarded as in any way exotic in the Star Trek future? (especially with cheap transporters making import trivial, at least on Earth—Terran tea might not be readily available on Romulus) Plus, matter replicators, such as the ones on the _Enterprise_ from which Picard was ordering his “Tea, Earl Grey, hot,” which even eliminate the need for transport of things like tea leaves. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-luc-picard-how-is-he-viewed-in-france/1023479/54 "2025-09-30T23:07:22Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Actually, we don’t know that they’re speaking English. Even if they were, their English would be different than our English. (Contrast modern English with that of the 17th Century, or the King James Bible/Shakespearian English depending on which point in the ST timeline you’re talking about). It’s “translated” to our archaic language so we can understand it. Kinda like this? 😁 [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/period_speech.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/period_speech.png) from **[xkcd: Period Speech](https://xkcd.com/771/)**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jean-luc-picard-how-is-he-viewed-in-france/1023479.md?page=2)