From: jeffo@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (J.B. Nicholson-Owens)
Subject: Re: Stewart's/Picard's accent
Reply-To: jeffo@uiuc.edu
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 07:56:59 GMT

Jim Cambias writes
> I'm not sure I understand your point here:  are you saying that
> Stewart-as-Picard should speak in French [..]

No, I'm not saying that Picard should speak French all the time.  I'm
saying that it very much goes along with a notion I find
ethnocentric--the misrepresentation of people in their home culture.
People who are French, in the company of their French-speaking
relatives and friends (sometimes even) in France, when French has been
shown to still exist, to hear them speaking English to one another is
something I find very unrealistic.  I sense that this is to cater to
an American audience most of whom speak nothing but English and carry
the thought that if it isn't in English, it can't be worth hearing or
reading.  This is very much the same complaint I have with ST:TNG in
the related area of handling other worlds.

According to ST:TNG, there are many other beings on planets in other
parts of space that speak English.  Some even name parts of their
world with names of places that exist on Earth (such as "New Seattle",
a place referenced by scientists in a rerun I recently saw).  I would
think that people on different planets with differing cultures would
also speak different languages.  It wouldn't matter what that made up
language is, it could be jibberish for all I care, I would care that
the scriptwriters cared enough to make their show seem more realistic
by expressing the uniqueness of each culture.  To me, this seems like
a fine way to introduce some other plots and more intricate character
relationships.

To get the conversation across to viewers, subtitles can be used.
Although it isn't always necessary (as seen with the episode where
Picard talks to another being in dealing with a common foe; the other
being spoke lines like, "[someone] and [someone else] from Tanaka"),
subtitling doesn't bother me.  Placing subtitles has been done before
with Klingons talking to one another, therefore I see no reason why
they use subtitles for French-speaking characters who are speaking
French.  They should hire someone to translate Picard's appropriate
lines into French (examples of appropriate lines would be those lines
spoke by French-speaking characters in France with their
French-speaking friends, or a French scene on the holodeck).

Another way to get the lines to the show's audience is using the
Universal Translator (UT).  When the crew are communicating with other
beings through the viewers on the Enterprise, I would expect the UT to
come into play.  However, the UT is rarely used.  I know it's rarely
used because of it's distinctive monotone voice.  An example of what
it sounds like is in the episode where a miner colony comes upon a
being that is photosynthetic and really small (it controlled the
miner's laser gun and killed a few of the miners, hence the crew of
the Enterprise became interested to know what was really going on);
Dr. Crusher places some of this being under a force field and uses the
UT to translate it's light pulses into English.

I realize the implications in hiring Stewart (an actor with a British
accent) to play a French speaker, however, I'd rather take some of the
hundreds of thousands of dollars he earns per episode to take some
French lessons and be able to more accurately act scenes such as those
in France with his brother just after Picard was attacked by the Borg,
or speak with his mother in a hallway on the Enterprise.  I realize
that only the episodes to come can be changed, but I think that such a
change would only make the show better not worse.

Johnny Piscitello writes
> I think your comment about "he could take French lessons"
> comes off as, well, "snooty"

I'm not doubting his acting ability, I think he does a fine job acting
the part of Jean-Luc Picard.  However, the English lines in situations
when Picard clearly would not be speaking English are fixable.  As for
Shakespeare's texts, they are in an English variation not requiring
years of training to learn, so as far as learning what Shakespeare
wrote, to me, that's no great feat.

Christopher Stone writes
> Please confine the comments as to why a *24th century*
> character from France would speak with a British accent.

I don't believe that anyone has been given sufficient evidence to
defend any notion that fictional future native French-speakers would
speak with British accents.  This show is merely one opinion of what
the 24th century will be like for some beings.  And it just so happens
that some opinions expressed in the show are easily refutable.
However, to most accurately answer that question within the realm of
the show, I think, would be impossible since we haven't been given any
evidence to believe that (for instance) the British got generations of
the French to speak with British accents for one reason or another.

I think the only current answer for why a fictional character from
France would speak with a British accent requires going outside the
realm of the show.  I believe it is simply because someone on the show
hired a British actor to play the part.  I have no problems with that,
because I realize that he is acting the part of the fictional native
French character Jean-Luc Picard, he is not actually Jean-Luc Picard.
However, I do expect Stewart to do more research in this area; such as
taking French lessons (one or two college semesters would be
sufficient for what he needs to know).

Speaking to the non-fictional current problem of becoming adjusted
toward functioning in a multicultural world is something I believe we
can remedy now, here and today.  I believe that learning a second
language (even partially) can go a long way toward the acceptance of
other cultures.  Learning a second language early in life is also a
great way to develop a valuable skill that (right now) many Americans
lack.
-- 
-- Jeff (jeffo@uiuc.edu)
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