Why British actor for French-descened captain?

[Anwar]

I think of the characters of "True Blood" when I think of "Southerner" these days...

 

[Nerys Myk]

My Dad learned to speak Japanese while in the Air Force. When we lived in Northern Japan the people in town commented on his Tokyo accent. (Maybe they were putting him on.)

Funny how often this topic comes up. Seems to get under a lot of peoples skins. They never seem to be British or French though.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I have wondered about this, too. I'm fine with a French captain who speaks English with a British accent, but what's wrong with a British captain who speaks English with a British accent? TV is a very odd business.

Well...it's not quite a 'British' (Received Pronunciation) accent, more a refined Yorkshire one. And there's nothing wrong with a accent from our isles we do, after all make the best villains

But why are they always German?

 

[The Grim Ghost]

I didn't read the entire thread, so sorry if somebody has mentioned this already..

But for me the better question is why make him French at all? Why not have him be a British Captain?

Did they really need him to have grown up in a vineyard so badly? How often did they really make any difference in a story?

 

[JB2005]

I have wondered about this, too. I'm fine with a French captain who speaks English with a British accent, but what's wrong with a British captain who speaks English with a British accent? TV is a very odd business.

Well...it's not quite a 'British' (Received Pronunciation) accent, more a refined Yorkshire one. And there's nothing wrong with a accent from our isles we do, after all make the best villains

But why are they always German?

Because we'd never believe the French as villains

 

[Hober Mallow]

From what I understand, poor Marina (who was raised in the U.K.) was given the impression that she needed to come up with a Betazoid accent, so she used elements of her own parents' Greek accent to create Troi's accent. Then, of course, no other Betazoid, including Troi's own mother, had an accent anything like hers at all. I can't remember anything other than generic American, though I could be forgetting something

Sirtis used to talk about how funny it was that Picard was supposed to be French but was allowed to keep his normal accent, but she had to come up with an alien accent.

 

[Hober Mallow]

But why are they always German?

For some reason, this scene just popped into my head.

 

[Lt.Cmdr.LaForge]

The character had already been written, and honestly, who could have found a better actor to play this part? patrick stewart is going to present me with my degree when i graduate =] so im a little bias =]

 

[Nerys Myk]

But why are they always German?

For some reason, this scene just popped into my head.

This is why I can never have German friends.

 

[TS-1838-SWATH]

Accents are funny things. I would have liked to have Patrick Stewart perform in a French accent, but whatever.

I recall reading or hearing somewhere that Patrick Stewart DID try to do a French accent but he sounded like:

Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau

... And that was the end of that idea

 

[ZMistress]

But why are they always German?

For some reason, this scene just popped into my head.

This is why I can never have German friends.

I never actually minded his accent or massive tea drinking or love for Shakespear. There have been some nice explanations for the accent in this thread and why shouldn't a Frenchman prefer tea over coffee (I know I do) or have good taste in literature?

What did annoy me though was that the man can't even properly pronounce his own name. Maybe I was spoiled by the German dub where all the voice actors payed attention to dropping the "d" at the end of Picard - as the French do it. But when I watched the series I was appalled by how much closer to "Pickerd" they were (sort of ruins the jokes on his name in Tapestry and Time's Arrow).

 

[iguana_tonante]

What did annoy me though was that the man can't even properly pronounce his own name. Maybe I was spoiled by the German dub where all the voice actors payed attention to dropping the "d" at the end of Picard - as the French do it. But when I watched the series I was appalled by how much closer to "Pickerd" they were (sort of ruins the jokes on his name in Tapestry and Time's Arrow).

They did? I have to see some episode again in original language. They did pay attention to that in the Italian dub. Also to the "Jean" part, not "Jan" or "Jon".

On the other hand, they did pronounce poor William as "Rrraaahiker".

 

[JustKate]

I don't remember Stewart himself ever pronouncing "Picard" any other way than pi-KAHD." Not a "pickerd" to be heard, as far as I can remember.

And he did give his brother Robert's name the French pronuciation.

 

[plynch]

"But if he learned English perfectly in Britain he'd pronounce things like a British person, even his name. Why can't a Frenchman mispronounce his own name? This is deeply offensive. We KNOW he was raised bilingually, ergo he MUST mispronounce his name and drink tea. . ."

See -- I'm learning. Insert smiley.

 

[JustKate]

No, no - not names. No matter how perfectly someone who is French learns to speak English, my smartasseriffic friend (insert smiley ), he will not pronounce a French name in the British manner. Quelle horreur! On the other hand, in this brave new world, maybe Brits, being liberated and all from their small island, will be able to pronounce French names in the French fashion. Oui? Or no?

(P.S. And what a coooooool avatar, Plynch!)

 

[ZMistress]

I don't remember Stewart himself ever pronouncing "Picard" any other way than pi-KAHD." Not a "pickerd" to be heard, as far as I can remember.

Okay, "Pickerd" was a bit exaggerated, but he shouldn't have pronounced it pi-KAHD but pi-KAHr (no emphasis on the r).

And he did give his brother Robert's name the French pronuciation.

Right, I almost forgot about that. So why did he pronounce that correctly and not his own name?

 

[JustKate]

^ I don't speak French, but I thought he did pronounce Picard without the "r." If it was pronounced, it was very, very, very slightly. Other people - including characters such as Riker and Data, and for that matter regular AmE speakers such as me - pronounce that "r," but I don't remember Stewart doing so. But hey, I could be misremembering.

 

[plynch]

No, no - not names. No matter how perfectly someone who is French learns to speak English, my smartasseriffic friend (insert smiley ), he will not pronounce a French name in the British manner. Quelle horreur! On the other hand, in this brave new world, maybe Brits, being liberated and all from their small island, will be able to pronounce French names in the French fashion. Oui? Or no?

(P.S. And what a coooooool avatar, Plynch!)

Thanks! You're the second noticer. I stole it off a blog who stole it from somewhere but I think i'm still going to give them credit, when I figure out how.

In my head, I can hear him saying the "d" as in "Picard out," when communicating. I didn't know the "d" was silent at the end of French words, frankly.

My mother taught my daughter when she was little to say, "Quelle mess!" when her room was messy. It was quelle cute. Be well!

 

[ZMistress]

^ I don't speak French, but I thought he did pronounce Picard without the "r." If it was pronounced, it was very, very, very slightly. Other people - including characters such as Riker and Data, and for that matter regular AmE speakers such as me - pronounce that "r," but I don't remember Stewart doing so. But hey, I could be misremembering.

I just mentioned that the "r" isn't emphasized, not that it isn't pronounced at all. It's the "d" that isn't pronounced - and I'm quite sure about that, at least I hope my years of learning French didn't go completely to waste.

 

[JustKate]

Oh, me too - your years of French, that is. I mean, I don't have any, and my three (somewhat ineffective) years of Spanish don't help much here.

But yeah, as far as I can recall, the "d" is pronounced, though not in a really emphatic way. I wonder if they had him say it that way because they didn't know the French pronunciation or if they just thought "pick-AH" would sound too odd? But if that's the case, why not just pick another French name? It's not like there aren't lots of options.