Worst movie versions of a Boston accent
By adamg - 1/22/10 - 12:29 pm
The AMC Movie Blog compiles a list, unfortunately, with its own stupid headline that suggests the author is not really from Boston, either. Also, they left out Kevin Costner in that Kennedy movie.
Comments
OK, I will go first. I think
OK, I will go first. I think Julianne Moore was consciously doing a really bad MA accent on 30 Rock last night. I think it was meant to be funny--a poke at ALec Baldwin. What do you think?
Whit
My friends and I have been debating that
Her accent is a weird Boston/Long Island hybrid. I could see it as a parody of bad accents, except that she's doing a multi-episode arc. Seems weird to drag a parody out that long.
The broad in the departed
The broad in the departed also has a phantom disappearing and terrible accent as well. Luckily she's a smokeshow.
One Problem...
... is that many people from outside of the area believe there is only one Boston accent, or perhaps only one working-class accent and one Brahmin. There are, in fact, some significant differences from neighborhood to neighborhood and by social stratum. For example, some folks from Revere have a tendency to pronounce a leading 'R' with a 'V' sound, so that their pronunciation of 'Revere' is a bit closer to 'Vr'vere'. That spreads slightly into neighboring communities, but you won't find it at all in, say, Dorchester. And, when we hear someone combining certain aspects of hyper-regional speech that aren't normally combined, it grates on the native ear.
Enough of that twaddle, though. How about the BEST Boston accents you've heard in a filmed production?
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
What's funny is that you'll
What's funny is that you'll hear that R to V pronunciation in southern RI as well.
One egregious omission - Jeff
One egregious omission - Jeff Bridges in Blown Away, particularly as his character was supposed to emigrated to Boston from Ireland as a young man. Horrible. And if we're talking about bad accents in general, Tommy Lee Jones and Lloyd Bridges duke it out over who has the worst Irish accent of all time. Only Forest Whitaker keeps it real, with his accent sounding natural. Sorry Laurence Fishburne, but I have yet to meet an African-American with a classic Boston accent. And yes, Costner was bad in 13 Days - the guys who played JFK and RFK played theirs down suitably.
Spot on. First thing that
Spot on. First thing that came to mind was Jeff Bridges in Blown Away. The worst of all time.
And you are also right about Jones and Lloyd Bridges have the worst Irish accents of all time as well. It physically hurts to hear them in the movie. It's like they got their accent training from the Lucky Charms Leprechaun.
But there is a black boston accent- among the Boston blacks that are descended from pre WWII Boston black residents- there is such an accent. Not as common as the white Boston accent- but you can hear it on occasion if you listen for it- it is a bit softer and not as harsh as the white Boston accent but similar. Go to the Mass Registry in Chinatown- the black people who work there have that accent- a lot of Boston Black cops do as well.
second
I definitely have to agree with what you've said. I moved to the suburbs when I was 12 and did not often interact with people who spoke with a strong regional accent. The people who I did meet with this accent were always white, and the Metco students I knew did not have a particularly distinct accent. One afternoon at a gathering of black Baptist sister churches in the area (one of which my father belonged to) I was surprised to hear a STRONG Boston accent coming from the mouth of a 40-something black woman.
To this day I love hearing the Boston accent from black people.
-on a side note, my mother is Italian and I had a similar experience a few years ago in Italy hearing the language spoken perfectly by a Korean.
It is interesting how surprised one can be when people defy our expectations.
Black Boston Accent
Agree. The joke in high school was that the white kids went to Ladin and the black kids went to La'in.
I've met a few
There are African Americans with Boston accents, tend to have grown up in the 60s in Roxbury-Dorchester-South End.
The accent is dying out in the city of Boston among all ethnic groups.
Holly Huntah
My petite Texas Goddess sounded horrible in Once Around. Don't forget Rob Morrow in Quiz Show. He was trying to do Martin Sheen doing JFK from the Missles of October.
The Departed had some awful
The Departed had some awful accents, but I think the worst in that movie was Vera Farmiga...even though I find this movie very re-watchable, her accent always makes me Cringe!
I give Jack Nicolson credit
I give Jack Nicolson credit for not even really trying to do a Boston accent. He did a minimalist accent- only on certain words (which is actually common- I have a lot of friends who sound like they are from ohio (standard american accent) but on certain words they betray their Boston/New England origins. I don't know where I heard this- but I remember reading about an accent coach for h-wood stars who said the toughest accent to get right is the Boston Accent- it really can't be imitated all that well unless you grew up around it.
One of my buddies says that Matt Damon's accent in The Departed was awful. I don't get that- I think he did a damn good job with the accent. And Ben Afleck's little bro did a real good job in "Gone baby gone" as well. But the lead woman in Departed was bad- yeah- cringe bad.
Damon and Wallberg were both
Damon and Wallberg were both good, but they have the local background. Of the non-locals in the Departed, I thought DiCaprio pulled it off best.
Laurence Fishburne
You are joking, right? Being from Boston and having left my house once in a while I can tell you that there are PLENTY of ethnicities with Boston accents. African Americans? Yes! And the accents are hardly dying out. And Laurence Fishburne's accent was spot on. The best I have ever seen. And I am an actor and grew up on the Charles. Do you even know where that is?