Sounds just like any other place in the world. :thumbsup:
Do you think they should just make Scotty English?
- Thread starter MadBaggins
- Start date
As a Glasgow born Scot of Irish ancestry, I think I'm more qualified than most on here to say that Pegg's Scottish accent in that clip is more than acceptable. I'm sure he got the part over Paul McGillion simply because he's able to do a more convincing take on a Scottish accent.
McGillion's accent in Stargate Atlantis simply comes off as too fake, like he's putting it on (which he is). It might be convicing enough for American TV, but to me it sounds almost like a phonetic tour of the various accents you can hear in different regions of Scotland. His accent is - in the main - soft with a slight hint of a Highlands lilt, but then he throws in Glaswegian language and vernacular that someone with a Highland "accent" would never use - "you're a cheeky wee bugger!" or "bloody hell!" for instance.
And no, Scotty should not be English. The whole thrust of the character was that he was Scottish because the Scots have a reputation as being wonderful engineers. The fact that Simon Pegg can do a more than passable Scottish accent makes the idea of changing the characters nationality slightly ridiculous.
McGillion's accent would pass muster with the vast majority of the worldwide audience (many of whom, remember, will be watching the movie via subtitles) and wouldn't have had any noticeable impact on the box office.
Lost is a huge international hit (second most-watched TV show on the planet after CSI: Miami) despite Daniel Dae Kim's horrendous attempts to pronounce Korean, ditto for Naveen Andrew's utter butchering of Arabic. Heroes has also gained a global following despite James Kyson Lee's unspeakable attempts at Japanese, Sendhil Ramamurthy's phoney Indian accent, and the magically delicious Oirish accents of Peter's friends from S2. Stuff like that doesn't seem to be much of an issue when you look at the big picture and Hollywood hasn't shown much concern about getting stuff like accents and pronunciation right.
Pegg got the job because he has a well-known name, and McGillion doesn't. Not the first time that's happened in Hollywood.
Lost is a huge international hit (second most-watched TV show on the planet after CSI: Miami) despite Daniel Dae Kim's horrendous attempts to pronounce Korean, ditto for Naveen Andrew's utter butchering of Arabic. Heroes has also gained a global following despite James Kyson Lee's unspeakable attempts at Japanese, Sendhil Ramamurthy's phoney Indian accent, and the magically delicious Oirish accents of Peter's friends from S2. Stuff like that doesn't seem to be much of an issue when you look at the big picture and Hollywood hasn't shown much concern about getting stuff like accents and pronunciation right.
Pegg got the job because he has a well-known name, and McGillion doesn't. Not the first time that's happened in Hollywood.
No reason to change. As has been pointed out, Doohan was from Canada and no one here in the US cared. No one will care about this either
And let's not forget Chow Yun Fat's (from what I've been told) horribly bad pronunciation of Mandarin in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I hadn't heard about the accent problems for the other actors you mention -- are "horrendous," "utter butchering," and "unspeakable" colorful hyperbole, or are they really that bad? I'm genuinely curious.
As for Scotty, I agree - McGillion's accent wouldn't have mattered for the vast majority of the audience of the film. But for those who *can* tell the difference accent-wise, a bad accent can -- depending on its severity and the tolerance of the listener -- utterly ruin an otherwise fine performance, so (all things being equal) it's generally better to get someone who can pull it off.
For what it's worth, I also think Pegg's a better choice than McGillion for the part, accent aside. But we'll all see in a year or so.
having the Enterprise without Scotty is like having tea without biscuits!
Yeah i agree, i think Pegg will be able to pull off a Scottish accent that wont have us sticking cold porridge in our ears the way McGillion's had.....Ye ken laddie and all that nonsense.
Of course being Scottish does not guarantee a perfect Scottish regional dialect.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLxLmFhROqY
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I couldn't understand a word in that video!
Of course being Scottish also does not help when it comes to Star Trek auditions....(Star Trek audition sketch starts at .49 seconds).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYMoLVhgIko
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYMoLVhgIko
Everytime I see this thread I think it says "they should make Scotty wear fishnets".
^^^.Oh....Maybe some type of deep seated subliminal desire is trying to manifest itself......
Non-Trekkie Trekkie
Captain
I don't care what they make him as long as they kill him off, then somehow, in the real world, it causes a timewarp ripple that goes back and deletes Scotty from Trek altogether.
Sorry, can't stand the guy nor the over acting character.
Sorry, can't stand the guy nor the over acting character.
You rang...oh, you said "Malki."
Sorry, as a Scotsman I disagree, Pegg's accent sounds so obviously fake to me, Paul McGillion's accent in Atlantis is far more convincing to me that Pegg's fake accent will ever be.
Change him to an Englishman, or just change the character completely.
... only if he brings along his tiny pony, tee-hee. I loved that show.
Anyway.... Britain is a tiny island and it makes no difference? That was a joke, wasn't it? You can't walk a mile from any given point on the Isles without there being a difference in accents. Plus there's the sociolects. And having a Scot speak like an Englishman and saying it doesn't make any difference would probably not please the people of Scotland at all.
Well, I usually am a little nitpicky about these things, but I'm not worried in this case. I love Simon Pegg, he'll do a fantastic job, I'm sure.
Anyway.... Britain is a tiny island and it makes no difference? That was a joke, wasn't it? You can't walk a mile from any given point on the Isles without there being a difference in accents. Plus there's the sociolects. And having a Scot speak like an Englishman and saying it doesn't make any difference would probably not please the people of Scotland at all.
Well, I usually am a little nitpicky about these things, but I'm not worried in this case. I love Simon Pegg, he'll do a fantastic job, I'm sure.