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Of Blood Diamond And Accents
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Of Blood Diamond And Accents | |
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Submitted by capdog on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 - 19:55 | Movies | |
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The spoken word Firstly, the English South African accent, which is many things depending on who you ask - I've heard locals call it guttural and blunt, whereas some foreigners find it to be well pronounced, distinguished and even sexy - a comment I've heard many times from a diverse range of people, from Canadians to Australians. (Please note that I'm not talking about the Afrikaans South African accent, a.k.a. "wif a jean pant", but rather those of us that are first language English, a common thing here in "The Last Outpost" a.k.a. Durban)
And what about our music - I can name many South African bands that would be indistinguishable on stage from the American version that they are imitating; from Texas pop-punk to Seattle grunge, if there's one thing we can do well it's copy-catting the American vocals to blend in perfectly. However, let's not go there right now; rather let's look at what happens when the roles are reversed, and American actors try their hand at the deep, throaty accent that we are so good at. Mostly it's a disaster, as their nasal, drawn out vowels translate poorly to the South African pronunciation. This view of mine was recently re-enforced after watching the movie "The Constant Gardner", where Pete Postlethewaite delivered such a phenomenally poor South African accent that I had to inquire online as to whether he was attempting to be German or Australian. It was that bad.
So now we have the prodigal DiCaprio himself dabbling in the dark art of the successful Saffa tongue, in his latest movie "Blood Diamond", set in Sierra Leone. He's the protagonist of the story and plays a South African mercenary who attempts to locate a hidden diamond amidst the turmoil of a country devastated by war. The snippet of info that lead me to writing an article was the revelation in this month's Heat magazine (how embarrassing that I was reading it - I know) that Leo had practiced his accent in Mozambique, where the film was shot, by getting his Saffa friends drunk and imitating them. That must have been fun for everyone! Can you imagine sitting around a braai with some buddies, trying to sip down a cool 2M beer, with every sentence you say being squawked out parrot-fashion by the American sitting next to you?! Fun. Of course, the movie hasn't been released in South Africa yet; all I've seen is the trailer and judging from that he may have nailed it. Only just though. It's a fine line, and he's walking it, if you catch my drift. We'll reserve judgment until after it screens in January!
Most scandalous though, is some people's response to the film on American movie critic forums, where it has been chastised by bleeding-heart liberals for exactly the kind of reasons I always cite when I criticise Hollywood blockbusters. Essentially, that Hollywood has glossed over an African story of human tragedy by throwing the emphasis on the love tale between a white guy and the white reporter who is attempting to get the big story on the conflict. These American 'critics' have posted some fairly strong-worded opinions about the movie, from deriding DiCaprio's accent as appalling and completely ridiculous (because they have no idea what our accent is supposed to sound like); to calling the movie-makers racists for super-imposing a white guy as the misunderstood villian in what should be a black African story, devoid of all palefaces. The irony of course is that the filmmakers have the plot of the movie spot-on; and for once these activist-type liberals are showing that even their knowledge of the third world can be limited. They don't seem to realise that there are, in fact, white people with funny accents living in Africa. And that the character Leo plays, the heartless white mercenary from Zimbabwe who smuggles diamonds at the expense of the war-torn country, couldn't be more accurate. It's dead right. There are people like that. Remember the mercenaries who were arrested in Harare en-route to Equatorial Guinea in an alleged coup attempt? There were plenty of white South Africans in that lot. Proof that this stuff is still big enough to be making headlines today, and it's portrayal in an American film makes perfect sense. Well perfect sense from a historical point of view, but from a Hollywood perspective? I mean, I like the fact that they're making a film about a white South African, even if he's the bad guy in the plot... Wait... Shouldn't we get angry about this? Aren't they perpetuating the negative stereotype that all white South Africans are heartless animals that bleed the African continent of it's natural resources?!? In true American style, we should sue them! We could join forces with De Beers and the diamond industry for a class action suit! God I can't decide. This is one movie that I'm dying to see. [ add new comment ] |
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I'm keen to check this out as well, i was just trying to think of movies with south african accents in em. i think one of the lethal weapons, constant gardener like the article says, is there a guys in die hard? anyone else got a couple, my mind has gone blank. in london, dreaming of glassy sessions on north beach and black label quarts. [ reply ] |
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This is a little off-topic, but does anyone else find that FNB Advert with the patronising Australian at the Airport, annoying? I keep fighting the urge to track the guy down and then drop him off in Warwick Triangle for the night. :-) [ reply ] |
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Yeah I've seen the ad, find it a bit patronising, but agree in principle with the message. [ reply ] |
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Hey Capdog, Happy New Year and all the best! :-) I must admit, I'm not all that sure if I do agree even in principle with the message. There seems to be a growing trend in SA to fob off serious issues and justifiable concerns as "negativity" and therefore "a bad attitude" which this ad only serves to perpetuate. Just because a view is unpopular doesn't make it any less valid. [ reply ] |
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Thanks man, you too! ;) Maybe I need to watch it properly, I only caught it in passing (don't watch TV at home). I see what you're saying about it fobbing off serious issues. No sense in sticking our heads in the sand. However there has been a disproportionately large amount of gloom and doom in the media about 2010, rather than celebration and preparation. So yes, there should be discussion about the issues and problems, but these should be outweighed by discussion on how we can turn the event into a long-lasting success. At the moment, it's all doomsday prophecy, and very little talk of opportunity. Although it's unclear how everyday citizens can clean up crime and sort out transport issues, the possibility of earning a lot of money in 2010 should be enough to kickstart business ideas and things like that. So instead of saying "What about crime, it's going to be a disaster, etc.", we should be asking ourselves: "How can I profit in 2010?" and "How can this once-off opportunity to profit be translated into sustainable business?" Maybe instead of sponsoring TV commercials, the 2010 committee should be hiring economists to research the effects of a World Cup, and publish their results in the media as a "Entrepreneurs Guide To Making Money In 2010". Criminals won't be the only ones getting their hands on the tourists' money! (just a joke) :) [ reply ] |
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solid comments there capdog yes the ad is an ad, and must be seen as an emotive tool, to manipulate and provide some hype. However this is the main problem - that there is too much hype, leaning towards extremes, that have reduced the arguments down, and stripped away alot of the complexities and contextual elements, ending up with 2 propaganda streams - extreme negativity [doom and gloom/shock and awe], and overly saccharine feel good, everything is going to come up roses messages. The key is dialogue/communication intiates a process, but is not going to ultimately achieve the results needed. Information exchange, ie communication is a key part, but its pratical actions [or inaction] that will see the tangible results, either +ve or -ve in consequence. ie talk about building or not building a new stadium and the affects of either outcome, but the reality is by 2009, either a stadium will be standing there or not, that will be the real result, ie Was the outcome achieved or not, we will only know when the World Cup starts, at this point everything is conjecture, the role players involved that have the means to deliver [or not] hold the cards. In our media hyped, info-overloaded world where everything[generalisation] tends to be reduced to vox-pop soundbite and one liner, sms friendly interactions, the hope of seriously identifying issues/chllenges/problems, and developing workable solutions to action, is severely problematic, and holds back the real developments needed to grow this country, economically, socially and culturally, in my opinion. Not to waffle on too long here, but to sum up, maybe we need more energy spent on action rather than words, and maybe we need more engineers and less ad execs in the economy ? 2 cents + change courtesy of... KLIKTRAK [ reply ] |
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I'm gonna go out on a limb here (so correct me if I'm wrong), but most of the negativity around the 2010 games is because it's soccer and not cricket or rugby, simple as that. Hypothetically, if rugby World Cup drew the same number of visitors as soccer, and S.A. was awarded the Rugby World Cup 2010, I doubt there would be as much gloom. People would be like "Yeah, there's crime, but we will make a plan, don't worry about that! Just come!" I don't remember there being very much negativity around the cricket or rugby world cups that were held here? Our national pride is solidly behind the Proteas and Springboks. Bafana Bafana are a national embarrassment. People just don't care as much for soccer. Maybe they'll start once the cup is over? But without the additional excitment of being in with at least a chance of winning, the doom seems that much more... [ reply ] |
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Capdog, I hear what you're saying, but once again I think it's a lot more complex than that. Both the Cricket and Rugby World Cups are significantly smaller affairs. I don't believe we had to build new stadiums for either of them, so their economical (and environmental, in the case of Green Point) impact in that regard was minimal. I'll be very interested to know if there is a projected profit for SA for the Soccer World Cup, and if so, what it is. I know the Durban A1 made a substantial loss last year. And of course, the level of crime (especially violent) has increased dramatically since the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Back then, I remember actually being surprised and shocked to hear of someone being killed during a hijacking in Hillcrest. But "crime" as an issue seems to be somewhat of a cheap shot now. Anyway, having said that, I do agree with both of you. My biggest beef is primarily with the ad's style of argument: Using twee rhetoric to knee a straw man in the gonads should not be rewarded with a slow clap. :-) [ reply ] |
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Valid points, what I was saying was hypothetical anyway, so ya... damn, I remember that ad a bit better now... everyone claps at the end... yeah it's definitely insulting! [ reply ] |
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Its ever so easy to say that the A1 made a "loss" or the 2010 world cup will make a "loss", but you have to look at the broader context of what the events constitute. Both provide massive media exposure for the city and country, additional spend by attendees, and the knock on effects they may have in terms of future investments. i for one know that there is alot of money from the middle east being pumped into durban at present, and much much more planned simply because the A1 provided teh platform for the city. these investors knew nothing about durban before coming to the city last year and had no intentions to invest here. Now we face investment worth over R3 billion in the coming years... So did the A1 really make a loss? key focus events are there to grasp attention. The first rule of advertising is do not expect to see a direct sales result initially from exposure. You have to harness the mind and develop a brand and long term support. Thats what event s liek these provide. a platform that Durban can use its advantage for the betterment of our fine city [ reply ] |
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According to Jacki Selebi, crime has decreased since the Rugby World Cup in 1994. Who am I to argue with that? "I like maxims that don't encourage behaviour modification." [ reply ] |
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Thabo even thinks it's all hunky-dory. Damn fools. He was recently quoted saying "It's not as if someone will walk here to the TV studio in Auckland Park and get shot, that doesn't happen and it won't happen". It was revealed by the police that in fact 20 people were murdered in the area 2005-2006. They're all completely out of touch... [ reply ] |
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Ya thats a ridiculous mockery of our country - you'd swear blind it were an Aussie ad! [ reply ] |
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tim robbins in catch a fire. [ reply ] |
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dangerous ground [ reply ] |
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a very large percentage of the movie was shot down the south coast over a 3 month period [ reply ] |
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Cool, where was that? [ reply ] |
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I watched Blood Diamond last night and absolutely loved it! Brilliant movie, very long but still highly engaging and entertaining. Factually I thought it was spot-on, a bit of artistic Hollywood-style license in the action scenes of course, but the bits about the R.U.F. and the mercenaries were great. Before you go watch it, do some research about Sierra Leone, the rebels and "Executive Outcomes", a private group of South African mercenaries who were hired by the Sierra Leone government to squash the rebel forces. About 200 of these ex-South African Defense Force (SANDF) members, who specialised in bush war, defeated thousands and thousands of rebels using superior tactics and hardcore helicopter gunships. In less than a year, they stabilised the entire country. If only the Americans could do that in Iraq. As for Leo's performance, it wasn't so perfect. His accent was inconsistent - when he was calm and telling a story or reminiscing, it was absolutely brilliant; but when there was action and emotion it slipped back into American a few times. I'll give him credit though, it was the best attempt I've seen to date, and although it slipped occasionally, at least it didn't sound Australian. So well done, but not an Oscar-deserving performance in my opinion. I loved the fact that they threw in a bit of Afrikaans, and that the other mercenaries were South African actors, not Americans. Leo also used plenty of S.A. slang which was great: "Howzit china, score me a loose there bru!" He also does some scenes at the end which should touch a nerve with any fiercely patriotic South African who would rather die than leave this continent. A feeling that will be quite familiar to most of us! Overall, highly recommended! Get it while it's hot. Executive Outcomes - Good article [ reply ] |
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Have any of you seen stander?? excellent saffa accents going on there! good movie too... [ reply ] |
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