Question for Southerners

[Seshmeister]

Is Colin Firth's accent ok in this, to me it sounds pretty wrong...?

<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/IqnZbhe6Mfo?version=3&amp;hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/IqnZbhe6Mfo?version=3&amp;hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

[chefcraig]

The key to pulling off a southern dialect is to simply slow down the speech pattern and breathe through the sentences, like you are singing. There is a certain "Aw, shucks" tone to the voices of southern intellectuals. Here, it sounds forced, as if it's a self-conscious decision to pinch his words while simultaneously affecting a drawl. The vowels (particularly the "o"s) pop up in a mispronounced, elongated form. This is as odds with the clipped manner he offers every other word, making the drawl sound goofy.

UK actors have struggled with American dialects for years. Some, like Hugh Laurie, pretty much grumble their way through their lines in order to get rid of all traces of the British accent. While this works to an extent, it also fails because the actor sounds like he is from no distinct area of the country. In a way, the same can be true of actors trying to affect a "region", rather than a specific province. As a result, Firth sounds at times like he is from Texas, South Carolina, Louisiana and oddly enough, somewhere in Northern Pennsylvania.

In answer to the question, nope, it doesn't quite work.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

As a result, Firth sounds at times like he is from Texas, South Carolina, Louisiana and oddly enough, somewhere in Northern Pennsylvania.

In answer to the question, nope, it doesn't quite work.

Let's not get carried away....

[chefcraig]

Let's not get carried away....

Trust me, I have relatives all through that area. Everyone in the family has that clipped way of dropping or twisting certain consonants, and if I haven't spoken to them in a while, it takes me about 15 minutes to get used to it and understand just what in the hell they are talking about.

[jhale667]

...Another thing I notice (being raised in the wannabe-South that really isn't, and beaten as a child not to sound like a hick) about Southerner's speech patterns and inflection is that, even when they're NOT asking a question, the pitch of the voice raises at the end of sentences in a somewhat quizzical manner; it almost sounds like even THEY'RE not sure what they're talking about...I notice a lot of actors don't nail that bit of it.

I can still mimic it pretty well, but I'm finding the longer I'm away from it, the more it seems when I visit listening to people I have to think for a minute about wtf they're saying...much like trying to translate Spanish in LA...

[jhale667]

Trust me, I have relatives all through that area. Everyone in the family has that clipped way of dropping or twisting certain consonants, and if I haven't spoken to them in a while, it takes me about 15 minutes to get used to it and understand just what in the hell they are talking about.

Doesn't Eastern PA count as part of "Appalachia" anyway? Chef's right, though - I too can attest the area has it's own "hicky" sort of dialect as compared to say, people in Philly or somewhere more Metropolitan...

[VAiN]

I can't say for sure... everyone I come across here is from NY or a fucking island.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

or a fucking island.

Lyrics to Why Isn't There More Fucking On This Island? :
Lost leaves us with many unanswered questions
There are countless mysteries unsolved
But of the puzzles that confound
And the loose ends left unwound
One thing I wonder most of all

Why isn't there more fucking on this island?
You're on the best vacation of your life
I'd take Sayid and get everything I need
I don't care that he used to have a wife

Why isn't there more fucking on this island?
When everyone on it is so hot
Jack should stop debating, and start ejaculating
Take advantage of what little time he's got

And just fuck, fuck, fuck 'til the smoke monster takes you away
Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til you try to carry dynamite from Black Rock
Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til the tall lady from West Wing stabs you
Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til that guy forgets to push a button

Why isn't there more fucking on this island?
When you know you're never gonna leave
You're never getting off so you might as well get off
The babies all die so who cares if you conceive?

Why isn't there more fucking on this island?
Everyone's so careful with their heart
No need to commit, let them put you in a split
And hide their external body part

Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til you get between Michael and Walt
Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til your dad pretends not to love you
Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til you drown trying to do something selfless
Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til you're annoying and get buried alive

[Whit Hertford]
Why is there no fucking on this island?
Don't they know that they could have all this?
I should plow that ass before I smother them with gas
I'm evil but I still have needs

The girls here are so very, very pretty
And I also kinda like the dudes
Find some find fish to eat, then fill myself with meat
I'll say that Jacob told me to

Why isn't there more fucking on this island?
When you know you're probably gonna die
With carnage all around, all I'd wanna do is pound
You can crash your plane between my right thigh and my left thigh

Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til you fall down a well and set off a nuke
Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til you get crushed in a plane full of heroin
Fucl, fuck, fuck 'til time travel induces a fatal nosebleed
'Til you get strangled and your corpse is transported to the island, acting as a proxy for Jack's dad, then you're in another plane crash and you get impersonated by the smoke monster and leave a suicide note saying "If only you believed me"

[Seshmeister]

...Another thing I notice (being raised in the wannabe-South that really isn't, and beaten as a child not to sound like a hick) about Southerner's speech patterns and inflection is that, even when they're NOT asking a question, the pitch of the voice raises at the end of sentences in a somewhat quizzical manner; it almost sounds like even THEY'RE not sure what they're talking about...I notice a lot of actors don't nail that bit of it.

The dreaded high rising terminal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_rising_terminal

It has spread here now?
You know?
It started in Australia?
And then the Valley Girl types on TV shows?
Which made it?
Come over here?

[Seshmeister]

Also known as AQI...

[jhale667]

Well, TAR-nation!

The dreaded high rising terminal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_rising_terminal

It has spread here now?
You know?
It started in Australia?
And then the Valley Girl types on TV shows?
Which made it?
Come over here?

(Read with Appalachian accent) Ah ain't rightly SURE...that that's whut it iz yer tawkin' uhBOUT...? It's like ah don't KNOW....but they bin tawkin' like that dang near long as ah kin REMEMBUR....?


It's more of a lilt... not quite the same inflection as "Valley speak".
I'll never forget, on one of my first return visits after moving to LA, a friend there lecturing me for supposedly mispronouncing "I" (possibly the one word I drawled slightly back in the day)..."It ain't pronounced "eye" - it's "AH"!!"

But even though I hated every second of it, I'm SO glad my parents sent me to a private school that stressed proper grammar and pronunciation. When I moved to LA, I was in a band with (and worked at the same company as) a friend I grew up with and people ripped him mercilessly for sounding like a goober - one asked him one day "Why is it your friend speaks like a normal human and YOU sound like Gomer fucking Pyle??"



I DO think European actors are better at copping accents overall than their American counterparts - most American actors sound like idiots faking British accents for example, but the various southern dialects are tricky unless said actor actually spends some time in the area prior to trying to adopt the accent...you couldn't necessarily sound like someone from say, Georgia just by watching "Dukes of Hazzard" reruns, y'know? One of my friends is an Australian actress and she can do Valley speak or a NY accent without blinking...

[chefcraig]

One of my friends is an Australian actress and she can do Valley speak or a NY accent without blinking...

She isn't the only one. The song used in this vid is by Kasey Chambers, who has one of purest Appalachian voices you've ever heard and just so happens to be from Australia. The tune comes from her extraordinary album The Captain released in 1999, and in between a couple of tracks on it you get to hear her normal speaking voice, which comes as quite a shock.

Sorry 'bout the "Jersey Shore-like" clip, but it's the only one I could find.

[FORD]

Lyrics to Why Isn't There More Fucking On This Island? :
Lost leaves us with many unanswered questions
There are countless mysteries unsolved
But of the puzzles that confound
And the loose ends left unwound
One thing I wonder most of all

Why isn't there more fucking on this island?
You're on the best vacation of your life
I'd take Sayid and get everything I need
I don't care that he used to have a wife

Why isn't there more fucking on this island?
When everyone on it is so hot
Jack should stop debating, and start ejaculating
Take advantage of what little time he's got

And just fuck, fuck, fuck 'til the smoke monster takes you away
Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til you try to carry dynamite from Black Rock
Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til the tall lady from West Wing stabs you
Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til that guy forgets to push a button

Why isn't there more fucking on this island?
When you know you're never gonna leave
You're never getting off so you might as well get off
The babies all die so who cares if you conceive?

Why isn't there more fucking on this island?
Everyone's so careful with their heart
No need to commit, let them put you in a split
And hide their external body part

Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til you get between Michael and Walt
Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til your dad pretends not to love you
Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til you drown trying to do something selfless
Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til you're annoying and get buried alive

[Whit Hertford]
Why is there no fucking on this island?
Don't they know that they could have all this?
I should plow that ass before I smother them with gas
I'm evil but I still have needs

The girls here are so very, very pretty
And I also kinda like the dudes
Find some find fish to eat, then fill myself with meat
I'll say that Jacob told me to

Why isn't there more fucking on this island?
When you know you're probably gonna die
With carnage all around, all I'd wanna do is pound
You can crash your plane between my right thigh and my left thigh

Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til you fall down a well and set off a nuke
Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til you get crushed in a plane full of heroin
Fucl, fuck, fuck 'til time travel induces a fatal nosebleed
'Til you get strangled and your corpse is transported to the island, acting as a proxy for Jack's dad, then you're in another plane crash and you get impersonated by the smoke monster and leave a suicide note saying "If only you believed me"

Is that the new Chickenshit song?

[PETE'S BROTHER]

Is that the new Chickenshit song?

i don't see the word "love" or "dream", so probly not

[chefcraig]

Why isn't there more fucking on this island?
You're on the best vacation of your life
I'd take Sayid and get everything I need
I don't care that he used to have a wife

Why isn't there more fucking on this island?
When everyone on it is so hot
Jack should stop debating, and start ejaculating
Take advantage of what little time he's got

And just fuck, fuck, fuck 'til the smoke monster takes you away
Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til you try to carry dynamite from Black Rock
Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til the tall lady from West Wing stabs you
Fuck, fuck, fuck 'til that guy forgets to push a button