Why British actor for French-descened captain?
- Thread starter plynch
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If we go by what everyone knows, we might as well stop writing fiction of any kind. Talk about pandering to the lowest common denominator.
Interestingly enough, in the German dub, Picard is able to pronounce his own name correctly.
What would be Jon-Luc Picard's Anglo name? John Luke?
I would of made Stewart's character an Englishman. The English had for many centuries some of the greatest sailing ships and the greatest Navies in the World. The English were some of the first humans to get out and explore other parts of their planet.
I just disregarded at the time that he was French, rather, his was an Anglo-Franco ancestory, his brother being more French, while Jon Luc preferring British ways. Most European American people have ancestors from numerous nations, so it is not much of a stretch to see this. Perhaps after WWIII, the family moved from England into France, and settled in with people who eschewed advanced technologies. After a generation of hardship, the community was developed, and by the time of Jean Luc Picard, became an English enclave of other enclaves of peoples from all over the World.
I met a Jon-Luc recently, but he was from Italy. Never heard of TNG. Weird, introspective guy.
I would of made Stewart's character an Englishman. The English had for many centuries some of the greatest sailing ships and the greatest Navies in the World. The English were some of the first humans to get out and explore other parts of their planet.
I just disregarded at the time that he was French, rather, his was an Anglo-Franco ancestory, his brother being more French, while Jon Luc preferring British ways. Most European American people have ancestors from numerous nations, so it is not much of a stretch to see this. Perhaps after WWIII, the family moved from England into France, and settled in with people who eschewed advanced technologies. After a generation of hardship, the community was developed, and by the time of Jean Luc Picard, became an English enclave of other enclaves of peoples from all over the World.
I met a Jon-Luc recently, but he was from Italy. Never heard of TNG. Weird, introspective guy.
He's French, guys. French, with a Standard accent.
Don't give a s*** personally. He's French, as in the French who suffered more per capita losses in WWI than any other nation in the world and who then again suffered massive losses from both the Germans and the allies in WWII (from the allies most of the dead were civilians). Yep, the French who don't always agree with the USA or the UK or their goals for the world - so what?
This was the people who got plastered by major powers - twice in 20 years.
Picard is French and proudly so. Good for him. There's a hell of a lot to be proud of - it's a wonderful, rich history of accomplishment.
And if I hear one more American carry on about French cowardice, let's just back up the bus just slightly to recognise that in WWl - where the hell were you?
Nowhere.
And in WWII - nowhere again - for 2 1/4 years.
Give us a break.
Don't give a s*** personally. He's French, as in the French who suffered more per capita losses in WWI than any other nation in the world and who then again suffered massive losses from both the Germans and the allies in WWII (from the allies most of the dead were civilians). Yep, the French who don't always agree with the USA or the UK or their goals for the world - so what?
This was the people who got plastered by major powers - twice in 20 years.
Picard is French and proudly so. Good for him. There's a hell of a lot to be proud of - it's a wonderful, rich history of accomplishment.
And if I hear one more American carry on about French cowardice, let's just back up the bus just slightly to recognise that in WWl - where the hell were you?
Nowhere.
And in WWII - nowhere again - for 2 1/4 years.
Give us a break.
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Stewart said they tried a French accent in the early stages, but it didn't work. Personally I find it my French accent when speaking English embarrasing, so I fully understand that decision.
And early on it was said that French was an "obscure language" in the 24th century. Meaning that they all speak Federation Standard, an artificial language, anyways as first language. So accents are probably pretty rare.
AND there are many people who have learned English and speak it perfectly without accent. Not everyone learning English is ending up like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jean Reno.
And early on it was said that French was an "obscure language" in the 24th century. Meaning that they all speak Federation Standard, an artificial language, anyways as first language. So accents are probably pretty rare.
AND there are many people who have learned English and speak it perfectly without accent. Not everyone learning English is ending up like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jean Reno.
That's the point that keeps getting lost in these "Picard's accent" threads.
Is it not true that if a French person learns English from an English school or teacher, the French person often ends up with an English accent (when speaking English)?
During the second World War a group of British Commandos carried out a daring raid on German ships in a French port (the famous 'Cockleshell Heroes'). As there were no means to extract them, they had to make their own way south to the Spanish border.
One of them, British but fluent in French, would ask for help from any locals they met, whilst maintaining necessary security. Despite this they were treated with a great deal of suspicion, even in areas where Intelligence suggested they would be helped.
Only later did they realize that their French speaker, whilst fluent, was talking with a German accent, having learned from a German teacher...
True, but usually not to the extant that the French person no longer is able to pronounce his own French name.
So you're saying Stewart pronounces "Jean-luc Picard" wrong?
I can understand the frustration of French speakers if this is the case.
But I do think picking French as the (then) new Captain's ethnicity was indeed a nod from Roddenberry to the great importance of French efforts in the social evolution of the species, as well as their bravery.
As far as I'm concerned, he doesn't.
Well, my father was in Morocco with Patton fighting the French who sided with Hitler. You?
Yes, he usually pronounces the final "d", which is silent in French.
Dusty Ayres
Commodore
Actually, it would have-more American involvement might have meant that the war would have been over sooner than later, with a possibility that the Americans might have helped out somewhat with the Battle Of Britain and a ton of other battles.
Locutus: "Reezistah eez, how yoo say... fyoo-tile."
Well, brave man as I'm sure he was, your father wasn't in Morocco with Patton in September 1939 nor September 1940, nor September 1941, nor indeed in September 1942. At the earliest (if he was actually onboard the USS Augusta) he arrived in North Africa in November 1942.
You've actually extended the timeline for my point about the lack of US involvement way beyond the 2 1/4 years I originally posited.
Those three lost years came at the cost of a lot of lives.
I know, i was being sarcastic...
Sorry that doesn't always come across on message boards!
If some version of English has become "Federation Standard" by the 24th century (this seems very ethnocentric, yet it would have been highly impractical to film an American TV series in any other language), it seems realistic that regions that were originally English-speaking might have reatined their original flavors over the years. And as France is closer to England than to the USA, it seems reasonable that continental Europeans would be using the local region's "accent" rather than the American one. (Though I, personally, would have loved to hear Picard speaking with a Texas twang.)
Perhaps the overall media saturation that we already have now, which seems to prevent quick overall change in "accents," would account for the immense similarity of 24th c. Standard to 20th c. American English. :-) I mention this because, from what I understand, the Elizabethan English of about 4 centuries ago sounded roughly similar to the English of isolated areas of the Appalachians today.
I merely point out that there isn't always perfect rhyme nor reason to "accents." My family is Texan born and bred. But my mother learned English as a second language from a German who had learned it from a Brit. So she sounds vaguely British sometimes; vaguely German at others. Since I learned my English from her, I also sound that way, particularly when I am angry for some reason.
Perhaps the overall media saturation that we already have now, which seems to prevent quick overall change in "accents," would account for the immense similarity of 24th c. Standard to 20th c. American English. :-) I mention this because, from what I understand, the Elizabethan English of about 4 centuries ago sounded roughly similar to the English of isolated areas of the Appalachians today.
I merely point out that there isn't always perfect rhyme nor reason to "accents." My family is Texan born and bred. But my mother learned English as a second language from a German who had learned it from a Brit. So she sounds vaguely British sometimes; vaguely German at others. Since I learned my English from her, I also sound that way, particularly when I am angry for some reason.
Yeps, it's not prononced correctly. The way he prononces it, I hear "Jian-Louc Picarde".
*shrug*
TNG is totally unknown in France and anyway, everything is overdubbed.
I think that during WW3 the UK and France began a union. It was for there mutual survial to protect them selfs(they let everyone else fight it out). The two began to act as one country. Families began to have mixed culteral identity. The Picards have both french and have english routes Jean Luc was sent to a bording school in England at a young age (prehaps he showed more promise then his brother) and evenually enrolled in Starfleet. He had that accent in Rascals, his brother choose to stay on Earth and continue the family line and business while Jean Luc travelled the stars.
