Star Trek (spoilers are likely)

[malloc]

One thing that always bugged me about Star Trek: if Picard is French, why does he have a British accent?

«Merde!» cried Picard, «Les borg sont revenus.»

[Man in Space]

One thing that always bugged me about Star Trek: if Picard is French, why does he have a British accent?

«Merde!» cried Picard, «Les borg sont revenus.»

The weak anthropic principle.

[zompist]

Probably Gérard Depardieu just wasn't available.

It's a trope in films that an actor of nationality X has to have an X accent... but there's no such necessity in reality. People can speak a foreign language with no discernible accent!

[Raphael]

One thing that always bugged me about Star Trek: if Picard is French, why does he have a British accent?

«Merde!» cried Picard, «Les borg sont revenus.»

Obligatory Justin B. Rye quote:

There is for a change one English‐accented character who isn't a baddy; but despite his taste for tea, identification with Horatio Nelson, and willingness to take seriously a woman named Vache, he's supposed to be French! Deanna, meanwhile, is an alien, and therefore speaks with an Americanoid accent – even though the actress is a Londoner!

(Yes, I like both Trek and Rye - so sue me.)

Probably Gérard Depardieu just wasn't available.

Well, supposedly Stewart was forced on Roddenberry by the higher-ups, and Roddenberry never forgave Stewart for that.

[Glenn]

There have been occasional attempts at an in-universe explanation for Picard's Britishisms; most notably, the TV show Star Trek: Picard introduced the idea that the Picard family fled from France to England during World War II and spent several generations in England before returning to France, and that Picard's accent and habits were connected to that legacy. (There may have also been a reference to Picard spending time in England during his youth as well, but I'm not sure.)

More generally, while I think that Rye has a good point, one could just as easily say that Picard learned to speak English from teachers or learning materials that used British English, or note that a person can like and/or embrace a culture or cuisine not their own - I know, e.g., Americans of European descent who adore Pakistani or Ethiopian food.

(More generally, of course it is a narrative convenience that characters in Star Trek speak modern-day English at all, when the language would presumably have changed over time, and the use of the "universal translator" as a plot device means that frequently there is no guarantee as to what language a character is actually speaking.)

[Raphael]

(More generally, of course it is a narrative convenience that characters in Star Trek speak modern-day English at all, when the language would presumably have changed over time,

That's what rubbed me the wrong way about one aspect of the Vic Fontaine holodeck character on Deep Space Nine: In one scene of one episode he's shown using mid-20th century slang, which the 24th century characters have trouble understanding.

Um, what? Either he's speaking 20th century English. In that case, problems with understanding won't just be about a few slang expressions. No, he should sound as old-fashioned to the 24th century characters as Shakespeare sound to us. Or he's speaking 24th century English, for the convenience of the people he's talking to. In that case, that should include updated slang.

[zompist]

The idea of accents reminds me of when I got interested in the voice actors for Overwatch. Now, Blizzard makes an effort to find actors of the right ethnicity and language (they often have to speak lines in the character's language).

The character Widowmaker is French, and they found a French actor for her, Chloé Hollings. I found an interview with her in English, and she speaks perfect English with no accent. But Widowmaker speaks with a heavy French accent.

I imagine the director supervising her recording voice lines and saying "Yes, good, great... only... can you make it more French?" After all, when they're going to the trouble of finding a French actor, they want that effort to show!

But perhaps someone told them this was silly: two recent new characters are Japanese and Vietnamese, and though they got actors of the right ethnicity, the characters have no noticeable accent.

[Ketsuban]

The idea of accents reminds me of when I got interested in the voice actors for Overwatch. Now, Blizzard makes an effort to find actors of the right ethnicity and language (they often have to speak lines in the character's language).

Conversely when deliberately going for a campy aesthetic Valve tried to get voice actors who were the wrong nationality for the character being voiced.

[Man in Space]

Obligatory Justin B. Rye quote:

There is for a change one English‐accented character who isn't a baddy; but despite his taste for tea, identification with Horatio Nelson, and willingness to take seriously a woman named Vache, he's supposed to be French! Deanna, meanwhile, is an alien, and therefore speaks with an Americanoid accent – even though the actress is a Londoner!

Nitpick: It’s “Vash”, not “Vache”. (If that was deliberate on Rye’s part, ignore this.)

[Raphael]

Nitpick: It’s “Vash”, not “Vache”. (If that was deliberate on Rye’s part, ignore this.)

Yeah, now that I think of it, I should have put a "[sic]" in there

[keenir]

One thing that always bugged me about Star Trek: if Picard is French, why does he have a British accent?

Maybe by the 24th Century, that is the French accent for the region of Gascony or Brettony that the Picards are from (with or without all the time travelers, temporal displacements, and reenactors who don't always need a holodeck)


Along that line, though, why doesn't Worf have an accent? I mean, even his younger brother has a stronger accent than Worf does.

{i recognize that Worf probably has an accent when he speaks Klingon -- unless he learned it from one of the parents of she who would become Worf's girlfriend, fiance, mate, and mother of his child}

[Travis B.]

A simple answer to the Picard's Britishness conundrum could simply be that Jean-Luc Picard, without requiring a complex backstory, could be that Jean-Luc Picard specifically learned the 24th century equivalent of SSBE as a European (just like how present-day Europeans very often learn and prefer SSBE over GA) and in the process became an Anglophile. As pointed out, there is nothing requiring a native French speaker of English to speak English with a noticeable French accent.

Edit: Apparently, according to the TNG episode "Code of Honor", French has become obscure and is on its way out by the 24th century.

[Raphael]

Edit: Apparently, according to the TNG episode "Code of Honor", French has become obscure and is on its way out by the 24th century.

That episode is probably best forgotten.

[Travis B.]

Edit: Apparently, according to the TNG episode "Code of Honor", French has become obscure and is on its way out by the 24th century.

That episode is probably best forgotten.

In that episode it's Data that pronounces the coming extinction of French, and is chided for it by Jean-Luc Picard.

[Richard W]

Along that line, though, why doesn't Worf have an accent? I mean, even his younger brother has a stronger accent than Worf does.

Worf grew up amongst humans; I don't believe his younger brother did. Worf's Klingonness is biological or adopted; it is not handed down from parents and friends.

[naz]

o

[rotting bones]

I heard they will only have one Star Trek series from now on. They even cancelled Lower Decks. Does this mean Strange New Worlds is finished, or have they changed their minds?

[naz]

o

[keenir]

very belated reply...also slightly rambly.

Along that line, though, why doesn't Worf have an accent? I mean, even his younger brother has a stronger accent than Worf does.

Worf grew up amongst humans; I don't believe his younger brother did.

apologies, I meant his human brother, who nearly got in trouble when Enterprise evacuated that settlement from a prewarp planet.

Worf's Klingonness is biological or adopted; it is not handed down from parents and friends.

Some of it, definately is biological, yes. One could make an argument that a lot of it was from his foster parents always trying to make sure he had good Klingon food while he was growing up.

Is it signifigant that Worf has only had two romantic relationships {at least that i can recall} in his life -- one being a half-human Klingon, and the other was a Trill with Klingon memories. *shrugs* The comparison pool {of Klingons or partial Klingons not raised in the Empire} is fairly small...there's Alexander son of Worf's mother (whose name escapes me, sorry), and B'Ellana of Voyager, and...that colony of Cardassians and Klingons and their kids who kept isolated after Khitomer.

was that all?
(i'm honestly surprised we've never seen a Klingon go native - heck, even Kirk did...I imagine in Kirk's day, the Federation would've told him to do whatever it takes to win them over)