Why are fantasy world accents British?

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

if you had to get me to tell the difference between say American and Canadian

Good luck with that. Considering that both countries have tonns of immigrants from all over the place, I doubt you can have a clear-cut American or Canadian accent. And both are pretty big, so different areas have different accents. Even Bethberry and I have different accents, though you wouldn't say that we talk with an accent!

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Good luck with that. Considering that both countries have tonns of immigrants from all over the place, I doubt you can have a clear-cut American or Canadian accent. And both are pretty big, so different areas have different accents. Even Bethberry and I have different accents, though you wouldn't say that we talk with an accent!

I feel, at least, a bit less ashamed about my dad asking a woman we said hello to wandering on her own in a Lancashire churchyard last summer: "What are you doing such a long way from America?" She was a bit indignant and said "I am a Canadian!"

I think many British people can't tell the difference between a Lancashire and a Yorkshire accent though, looking at inconsistencies on the regional soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale. Whereas I can often tell which village someone from Lancashire is from.

That's perhaps why I found it a bit jarring that the Hobbits' accents weren't consistent in LotR - a mishmash of 'posh', Scots and generic 'yokel'.

[Galadriel55]

I'm completely accent-deaf. I could tell that it's not how I speak, but for my life I wouldn't be able to tell you what accent is it. I've been known to mix Irish and Aussie and Brit and perhaps something else, possibly the "types" of American/Canadian. I recall one time when my family met a couple - he was from New Zealand and she was from Ireland; but before they told us that I thought they were both Brits. Well, you know, I haven't had a Higgins train me!

You have a real talent, Lal, and all others who have the fine ear to hear inconsistencies in LOTR.

As to me, well, I haven't heard them, I probably wouldn't even have noticed if Frodo spoke like your average Torontonian (unless I knew otherwise, which I do), and I think that Brittish accents are more round and are softer on the ear.

[Dilettante]

I'm not entirely accent-deaf. While I may notice the odd difference, I can't really tell you where someone is from (region-wise that is, although I can usually get the country right).

I've lived so many different place I don't really have an accent, although I say certain words in ways that I have picked up here and there.

Canadians do have an accent, even compared to Americans, but it's very subtle, you have to know what you are listening for.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Dilettante

Canadians do have an accent, even compared to Americans, but it's very subtle, you have to know what you are listening for.

Eh?

In what is probably my favorite "fantasy" film, this one, the main actors have British accents because that happens to be where most appear to have come from.

Is there really a conscious effort to "Anglicize" the fantasy genre, or is that just a perception? Do filmmakers actively seek out British actors for certain types of movies? Somehow, it doesn't seem like a worthwhile pursuit for such a nebulous goal as adding "loftiness" to a production. Maybe it's more luck of the draw.

[Formendacil]

As a Canadian, I've become slightly more attuned to my own accent since moving to New England, though as a general rule I think western Canadians have accents a bit less distinctive within the family of "broad American" than central Canadians. Nienna watches a lot of home improvement shows (a guilty pleasure I liken unto eating junk food) and there is a GLUT of them made in Ontario--and the Ontario accent stands out: not just against the American accents, but also my own as a western Canadian--which might explain, in part, why you and Bêthberry have different accents, Galadriel66, since I believe she's also a western Canadian in origin.

On the subject of Fantasy and Tolkien, however, I think this is one point where you can see how North America is the major market for the LotR movies, since most of us aren't as attuned to the nuances of accent outside our own ken. Not that I believe everyone in England is a Lalwendë, but there is a much greater blurring of "Englishy" exotic accents in our ears, to the point that we pretty much NEED Gimli to speak Scots just to differentiate him... though I think I'd have preferred him undifferentiated, myself, instead of causing all Dwarves henceforth to be Scottish.

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

...and the Ontario accent stands out: not just against the American accents, but also my own as a western Canadian--which might explain, in part, why you and Bêthberry have different accents, Galadriel66, since I believe she's also a western Canadian in origin.

Yes, that's so. And that also proves the earlier point that you can't have an all-Canadian or all-American accent, since they're too big. But I thought Ontario accents are the same as New England accents. Well, guess not.

Gimli is Scottish? Nice to know. When/if I watch TH (or watch LOTR again) I'll pay attention to how the dwarves talk.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

On the subject of Fantasy and Tolkien, however, I think this is one point where you can see how North America is the major market for the LotR movies, since most of us aren't as attuned to the nuances of accent outside our own ken. Not that I believe everyone in England is a Lalwendë, but there is a much greater blurring of "Englishy" exotic accents in our ears, to the point that we pretty much NEED Gimli to speak Scots just to differentiate him... though I think I'd have preferred him undifferentiated, myself, instead of causing all Dwarves henceforth to be Scottish.

I'm pretty sure all dwarves were inexplicably Scottish long before that. I don't think you can blame the LotR movies for that particular stereotype. (Laziness in going along with it is another matter, of course.)