# My ears! my ears! (bad accents in movies) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 7, 2002, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746 "2002-08-07T11:04:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/41 "2002-08-07T18:17:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CalMeacham \* > \*\* Much as it pains me to say it, this is probably an urban legend., and one I’ve helped propagate on this Board. We’ve had a thread about this in the past. People chimed in to say that they watched The Black Shield of Falworth all the way through without this line ever coming up. \*\* :o Well, damn, Cal! I hadn’t seen the movie in over 30 years when it appeared on NBC’s “Saturday Night at the Movies,” but I could have sworn that line was in it. And like you, I had heard the “castle of my fadda” story confirmed by what I considered to be very reliable sources. But the threads you cite (as well as the Maltin biography cited in one thread) demonstrate it to be bogus. So color me ashamed for helping to propagate a legend. :o But thanks for giving us the straight dope! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/42 "2002-08-07T18:39:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Strainger \* > \*\*What the hell was with the accents in _Raising Arizona_??? \*\* Well, Holly Hunter is a native of Conyers, Georgia, and was doing a Georgia cracker accent (very naturally, I might add). Nicholas Cage seemed to be doing his damnedest to imitate Holly’s accent, with limited success. Now why Arizonans would have that accent, I do not know. I suppose they could be transplants. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/43 "2002-08-07T18:46:04Z")
Rachel Griffith’s boston accent in “Blow” - at least i think it was boston. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/44 "2002-08-07T18:52:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spoke- \* > \*\* > > Now why Arizonans would have that accent, I do not know. I suppose they could be transplants. \*\* Yeah, that’s what I was getting at, especially in Tempe (on a side note, the setting in the movie looked nothing like Tempe). You do hear more rural accents and colloquialisms in the rural areas in Arizona, but nothing like portrayed in the movie. For the most part, Arizona natives (few that there are) sound pretty much like your typical damn Yankee. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/45 "2002-08-07T21:42:09Z")
Actually bad accents in comedy I don’t think deserve to be chastised necessarily. A lot of the time the accent is purposely stylized and bad, for example Mike Myers Fat bastard or Brad Pitt in _Snatch_. Comedy is often based on exagerration and stereotype, so when you hear all those accents _Fargo_ it is reality blown up to 11 in a sense for comedic effect. I am not saying folks in comedy’s don’t want to do good accents or that isn’t the intent, but a lot of the time it is on purpose. But in a dramatic movie, a bad accent can be very distracting and grating. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/46 "2002-08-07T21:48:16Z")
Oh I forgot: Sean Connery, in everything he’s ever done. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2002, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/47 "2002-08-07T23:17:20Z")
You’d have to be from Quebec to know it, but Rosanna Arquette’s accent in _The Whole Nine Yards_ was atrocious, made even worse by the fact that the movie was filmed and set in Montreal. They could easily have gotten an attractive local actress to play Matthew Perry’s treacherous wife. The local actress playing Arquette’s mother, Carmen Ferland, sounded poetic by comparison. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/48 "2002-08-08T00:24:34Z")
All the accents in Amadeus were horrible. This was the first film I ever saw that IMPROVED with German dubbing…suddenly all the actors were speaking German with Austrian accents. (On the flip side, you should have heard Dallas and Dynasty in German…oi vey!) I haven’t seen the film but the trailer for K19 - The Widowmaker - well, didn’t sound all that Russian to me. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/49 "2002-08-08T00:58:41Z")
Kirk Cameron’s heinous attempt at a southern accent in “Listen to Me” will forever be \*burned \* into my poor wittle brain. Happy ---
**Author:** ![buckgully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@buckgully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buckgully)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/50 "2002-08-08T01:14:48Z")
Another vote for Ewan and Orlando in “Black Hawk Down”, those really bothered me and took away from that movie. Also, Heather Graham in “From Hell”. She was all over the map with her accent. It drove my girlfriend so crazy that we couldn’t finish watching it. ---
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/51 "2002-08-08T03:58:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*Oh I forgot: > > Sean Connery, in everything he’s ever done. \*\* _raises his hand_ What about **Finding Forrester** where he’s actually supposed to be Scottish? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/52 "2002-08-08T12:25:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheOnlySaneOne \* > \*\* > > _raises his hand_ What about **Finding Forrester** where he’s actually supposed to be Scottish? \*\* Yesh, that’sh a good point. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/53 "2002-08-08T12:59:20Z")
Well, I found it funny they cast Connery in _The Untouchables_ as an Irishman. **QueenAl** , I don’t think Portman was supposed to be speaking with an English accent. She was just supposed to sound formal and stilted. I have to agree with the comments about southern accents. Not everyone in the south sounds like Foghorn Leghorn. What really kills me is when they use “y’all” as a singular. Guy walks into a restaurant, alone. The waitress asks, “So what’ll y’all have?” ---
**Author:** ![Go\_alien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Go\_alien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_alien)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/54 "2002-08-08T14:22:05Z")
Russell Crowe in Gladiator - an Australian with an adopted American accent playing a Spaniard speaking Latin. Should’ve done the whole film in Latin with sub-titles (a la Sebastian). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/55 "2002-08-08T15:40:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Irishman \* > **QueenAl** , I don’t think Portman was supposed to be speaking with an English accent. She was just supposed to sound formal and stilted. She was supposed to sound like her mother did in “Star Wars,” and pulled it off reasonably well. The hoity-toity people in “Star Wars” speak in a sort of formal Englishese. Note how Leia completely changes her speech patterns when she’s speaking to Han and Luke as opposed to Tarkin and Vader. Amidala does the same thing; when saying something official to someone important, it’s stilted pseudo-English. To anyone else, she sounds like just another member of the Screen Actors’ Guild. And how can you criticize someone for an accent that doesn’t exist? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/56 "2002-08-08T23:23:21Z")
> [@](#): > > She was supposed to sound like her mother did in “Star Wars,” and pulled it off reasonably well. Her _mother_ in Star Wars? Lucas is really playing hob with the continuity in the new pictures, isn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/57 "2002-08-08T23:38:40Z")
The woman who played Marla Singer in _Fight Club_, who was from England, did an excellent American accent. I didn’t know she was English until I saw her being interviewed, talking in a thick british accent. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/58 "2002-08-08T23:43:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Aro \* > \*\*Got to be Tommy Lee Jones in _ **"Blown Away"** _ doing an Irish accent. Badly. \*\* * * * _Blown Away_ also featured a horrendously slippery accent from Jeff Bridges. I’m sure I heard at least four different ones from him: Californian, Bostonian, Irish, and some variation on all three. (If he actually even managed the others.) ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/59 "2002-08-09T00:38:22Z")
I would be shocked, SHOCKED, if Costner actually attempted a Brit accent in “Robin Hood.” They were broadcasting the movie at Blockbuster and I – not knowing what was playing – thought “why is that surfer dude talking about invading the castle?” My other accent story has to do with “Monty Python’s Meaning of Life,” when Michael Palin and his “wife” (Terry Jones I think) were portraying Amurrican tourists, speaking in a flat tone, as if SuperGlue had bonded their nostrils together, and I thought “Christ! What horried accents!” It was years later, listening to a Patrick O’Brian novel being read, that I realized that, to Brits, we do sound that way. [pinches nose]It was a revelation, let me tell you![/pinches nose] (BTW, Branaugh’s accent in “Dead Again” was spot-on, and so was Guy’s in “Memento.” ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2002, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746/60 "2002-08-09T01:33:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blalron \* > \*\*The woman who played Marla Singer in _Fight Club_, who was from England, did an excellent American accent. I didn’t know she was English until I saw her being interviewed, talking in a thick british accent. \*\* * * * That’s Helena Bonham Carter, and you’re right. She also did a good job of sounding American in **Novocaine**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ears-my-ears-bad-accents-in-movies/122746.md?page=4)