Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
Accents associated with certain types of characters
French accents and
African American Vernacular English (AAVE): characters with this accent are usually seen as entertainers
Aladdin
Aladdin: MUSE accent
Jaffar: Arabic sounding accent
Good versus Evil
Lady and the Tramp
Cats: Asian accent
Reason for Standard American English accent
Heroes/ heroines speak with Standard American English accents even when they are non-caucasian and should have a different ethnic accent
The Little Mermaid
Sebastian: Jamaican accent
Fosters a sense of understanding between the main character and the viewer (most viewers are American English speakers)
Beauty and the Beast
Lumierre: french accent
Most villains speak with a foreign accent even when they are animated animals with no ties to race/ethnicity.
The Lion King
Simba: Mainstream U.S. English accent
Scar: British accent
Review
Many stories are set abroad yet most of the characters have a Standard American English accent
Effect: children might grow up having negative connotations toward foreign accents
These Disney films show that foreign and minority accents are associated with malevolent behavior
By: Holly Parminter
Linguistic Profiling: based upon auditory cues that may be used to identify an individual or individuals as belonging to a linguistic subgroup within a given speech community
Solution
Foreign accents should be recognized equally to Standard American English accents
Foreign accents should not be related to only "evil" or "bad" characters in films
Disney Films
Problem: Accents are used as a form of profiling to place characters into archetypal categories
Conclusion
Disney films market to children of impressionable age that foreign accents are "bad" or "weird"
A Fresh Start:
Brave
In order to diminish this concern, accents should be portrayed equally among the different characters (good and bad)
A step in the right direction: Brave
Scottish accent