dialects in film

[Alan Baragona]

I had a similar experience with "Sophie's Choice" as Carrie Lowery had with
"Braveheart."  I thought Streep's accent was great . . . until a few days
after I first saw the movie when I met three Poles who had seen it and
thought her accent was terrible!  She sounded Russian to them, which, you
can imagine, they didn't appreciate at all.  Perhaps Sally was hearing her
Polish guide with American ears.

Alan B.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sally O. Donlon" <sod at LOUISIANA.EDU>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, February 21, 2005 1:20 PM
Subject: dialects in film


> ---------------------- Information from the mail
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Sally O. Donlon" <sod at LOUISIANA.EDU>
> Subject:      dialects in film
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
>
> Meryl Streep did a fabulous job of some regional Polish dialect in
> "Sophie's Choice."
>
> I didn't notice it so much at the time because I had no real frame of
> reference. However, several years later I found myself in a pitch black
> elevator shaft and descending I-don't-know-how-many-hundred-feet to
> view these incredible carved caverns in an old salt mine in Poland. The
> darkness was so deep I literally [used literally] could not see my hand
> in front of my face when I held it up to test the old colloquialism.
> Suddenly, Meryl Streep's "Sophie" rushed into my consciousness. I saw
> her as I could not see my hand. The trigger: the local tour guide, a
> young woman whose disembodied voice was exactly the same one I had
> heard years ago coming from Meryl Streep.
>
> The odd thing is that I hadn't noticed it earlier in the visit.
> Presumably because other sensory input had distracted me. But, in the
> deep darkness, the mental representation was triggered by the single
> sensory input of the tour guide's voice.
>
> sod