> Easy there, Tex. Was Northam's character from Texas? Just because he > visited the town doesn't mean he had to talk the talk, so to speak.
But Gil, we were talking about accents. But, he could have been trying to just sound American, I suppose. > > >The > >entire movie was ridiculously silly. In Happy, Texas, they would not put up > >with a couple of homosexuals for more than a few moments and the movies > >premise that they were somehow accepted is not true. Sure, there may be > >homosexuals performing the stereotypical tasks in towns like these but they > >don't come out and say they are queer. If so, not very loud. And if they > >do, they don't last long. The Texas Panhandle is the bastion of the > >Baptist, church of Christ, and Methodist churches. They don't tolerate this > >kind of thing. > > a. It was a movie. > b. It was filmed in California. All of it. That is my point Gil. We discussed this a while back. Hollywood takes major liberties with their films and often do not put much effort into being accurate. I mentioned then the mountains they show in the background in the silly "Dill Scallion" movie when not only are their no mountains anywhere near Muleshoe, Texas, there are no hills either. Others pointed out more examples. The one I remember the best is some inaccuracy concerning D.C. > > Did the rest of the actors sound remotely Texan to you. What was that > accent Steve Zahn had? As with most productions that are supposed to signify Texas, it did not, nor did the actors. I will have to watch it again. I am not sure who Steve Zahn is. Flicks that have done a good job representing Texas and the accents, customs, behavior are "The Trip to Bountiful" and ( I am getting old because I cannot think of the name of it) the one with Sally Field that she won the Oscar for. With Danny Glover, John Malkovich. Picking cotton, etc. > > And while we're at it, does Texas have regional accents, as does > California? Really good question Gil. I would say yes. I spent the first 27 years in the Panhandle for the most part) and the people there do not sound like the ones here. I would be unable to say just what the difference is. In those years I lived there I was asked (and if I had money for every time I was asked I would be a rich man today) if I was a Yankee. I would hear myself on tape and it didn't sound like my voice but, of course, it was. It was very smooth with nary a trace of Texas. I did not sound like the others. That is no boast. I would much rather have sounded like they did After living here these years, I can now hear myself on tape and I do have a noticeable accent. My old friends and acquaintances say I sound like a hillbilly. That covers the Panhandle and Central Texas. As far as the rest of it, I don't know. Haven't noticed a real difference between the accent in the Panhandle and those in Ft. Worth. This area is rather isolated, like a throwback to something. Down south,???? Donna Binkley could probably answer that one. Great discussing with you gil, great posts. mack
