[Sage]

Inspired by a discussion in another forum
Which accents automatically say "Bad Guy" to your ears? Who sounds tough ordering a cup of tea, and who makes you giggle when they swear?
If there's a specific region in a country whose accent stands out as either "Good" or "Bad", please specify.

[RLacey]

As has been discussed in the thread that spawned this, there does seem to be a trend amongst American films that British = bad guy. Equally, in both British and American films Russian = evil.

Personally, I tend not to hear accents like that. I happen to enjoy listening to those with a foreign accent speaking English. And I can genuinely say that I only make fun of the people that I already know when it comes to criticising pronunciation .

[Sage]

Interesting.
I suppose because I've watched so much British television over the years I hardly even notice when a character has a British accent. Jeremy Irons, for example, has made a career out of playing unsavory characters yet I barely hear his accent at all. With him, it's all about the pacing and inflection when he delivers his lines, not about the accent.

[RLacey]

Oh, I just find it noticable when watching an American film and suddenly realising that the entire cast is American with the exception of the villian .

Of course, specific examples are now eluding me (aside from Robin Hood), but note that the evil android in Alien is British. And Hannibal Lecter (though he really shouldn't be, given the character's background). Or Julian Glover's Donovan for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

It always seems to work better, though, if the guy has a forceful British accent. That generic I'm-British-honest! accent that's sometimes put on by American voice-over artists (I'm thinking Warcraft, here). Now if that accent appears in a film the guy must be evil...

[Sage]

I think we are in accord about fake accents in general, especially those from our respective native areas.
Perhaps classically trained British actors are so often chosen to play bad guys because they can do so subtly and without reducing the character to a silly caricature.

[Fairygdmther]

I think that any language whose natural pronunciation garbles English somewhat is often seen as the bad guy. Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, German, Indian, Arabic, even Nordic languages can all seem foreign enough to make the character seem "bad".

[Jelena]

As I wrote in the other forum (and Panthera will plan a revenge I know) Norwegian is a language that sounds very dashing and healthy to Swedish ears. No badass material.
Danes on the other hand has a language that's sort of brutal and makes excellent material for bad guys. I can't judge my own language or our accent, but I suspect we sound kind of silly, Swedish chef of the Muppet show gave us a hint of how our language sounds to you. I guess the accent will be in that direction as well.
My problem when speaking english is I tend to act like a parrot. Speaking to a British person makes me imitate that accent and the same when I speak to an American.
My five weeks in the US when I was in my late teens inspired me to use the US accent as 'my english accent'.

[tabacco]

Originally Posted by RLacey

Of course, specific examples are now eluding me (aside from Robin Hood), but note that the evil android in Alien is British. And Hannibal Lecter (though he really shouldn't be, given the character's background). Or Julian Glover's Donovan for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Star Wars

[RLacey]

Well, Julian Glover is in The Empire Strikes Back .

And Peter Cushing is in A New Hope ...

[Jelena]

Are there any Finnish bad guys in movies btw?

[saucyminx]

Alias had the stereotypical bad guys, ranging from the "Evil Brit" Julian Sark (note the name - Julian) who happened to be a Romanov descendent (eyeroll) to the evil Russian-Cuban Anna Espinosa and her Eastern Block employers, the K-Directorate. And oh, I should also thrown in the very Ukrainian name Irina Derevko, who happens to be a very bad mother!

[Sage]

Originally Posted by LenaJ

Norwegian is a language that sounds very dashing and healthy to Swedish ears. No badass material.
Danes on the other hand has a language that's sort of brutal and makes excellent material for bad guys.

Now you've made me want to hear both those languages so I can draw my own conclusions.

Originally Posted by LenaJ

I can't judge my own language or our accent, but I suspect we sound kind of silly, Swedish chef of the Muppet show gave us a hint of how our language sounds to you. I guess the accent will be in that direction as well.

Eep! I was really hoping that you hadn't seen that particular skit. Then again the Muppet Show wasn't shy about doing parodies of all sorts of accents, including my own.

Originally Posted by LenaJ

My problem when speaking english is I tend to act like a parrot. Speaking to a British person makes me imitate that accent and the same when I speak to an American.
My five weeks in the US when I was in my late teens inspired me to use the US accent as 'my english accent'.

Parroting is a good thing because it helps you lose your native accent within another language. It means that you can hear yourself speak as you sound to others, and you'd be amazed at the number of people who don't have that ability. Perhaps that gift is related to to maintaining proper pitch in a singing environment?

[Kingzjester]

I am mortified of hillbillies, good ole boys and any kind of human vegetable. Needless to say, a deep-south accent is a reason for me to run away. Not too many southern villains come to mind. There was Kenneth Branaughhahuhgh in Wild Wild West, the hicks in Deliverance and, uh, that meaty guy from Lost.

[Wormsie]

Originally Posted by LenaJ

Are there any Finnish bad guys in movies btw?

Not that I'd know of... Many Finns tend to pronounce English as it is written, phonetically, and it sounds so ridiculous that it would be suited only for a comical effect - at least, that's what the accent is used for here in Finland. "Tö pööt is on tö teipöl." (The bird is on the table.)

Many people claim that Finnish is a very tough-sounding language, however.

[Sage]

Hehehe! Now I can't wait to meet you in person, Kings!
One question though..."that meaty guy from Lost"? Does Hurley's accent sound Southern to you? Sawyer is a Southern character on Lost, but I wouldn't call him "meaty".

[Jelena]

Originally Posted by Kingzjester

the hicks in Deliverance

Agree. They were Horrible, just Horrible!

[Jelena]

Originally Posted by Wormsie

"Tö pööt is on tö teipöl." (The bird is on the table.).

That's so funny! You probably have to be acquainted with the letter ö to fully appreciate that sentence.

Many people claim that Finnish is a very tough-sounding language, however.

To me it's an angry sounding language. I have a bunch of relatives living way up north in Sweden. They speak Finnish as well as Swedish, but since the Finnish language border goes through that part (Tornedalen) of Sweden I'd say they use Finnish more.
Anyway, I think they sound so angry even though I know they're not.

[Sage]

Originally Posted by LenaJ

Agree. They were Horrible, just Horrible!

Well, now, you're gonna get a few bad apples in every bushel, ain'tcha?
In fairness, Kenneth Brannaugh is one of the few actors that can do a convincing Southern accent. In both "Wild Wild West" and "The Gingerbread Man", if you didn't know he was British you'd never guess by his performances.

[Maquisard]

I guess that for every accent used by a villain, I can think of someone with that accent portraying a positive role, which kinda negates the stereotype. Except maybe an Italian accent. I don't remember any Italian villains per se, but when I hear an Italian accent I hear "I will steal your girlfriend!" So yeah.

[Jazhara7]

German, definitely. If it wasn't for the fact that you can't really have an german accent when speaking german.

It's just such a sharp language, and can sound very hard to foreign ears. It easily takes on an aggressive sound, as it's pronounciation is naturally more stressed and there's many hiss-like sounds (usually incomplete hissing, though. Cut off, you know.).



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