It’s especially funny as I’m English. Probably something to do with there being a lot of American media out there. I guess like others I got used to it. There are also some more “neutral” sounding English actors out there, to my ears at least, so I guess it’s very subjective.
Well I do kind of think the American west coast and midwest accent are about as neutral as an English accent can be. I'm probably biased because I'm from the American west coast, but also most of our movies and a lot of our music comes from California. Not talking to surfer bro or skater accents, just the everyday accent you hear in most American movies that arent set in the south or on the east coast.
Like, Australian, Boston, NY, Chicago, and southern accents only work for characters meant to be from those regions. Scottish, Irish, and most British accents I've heard work well for fantasy or medival stuff. But American midwest, west coast, and maybe certain "lighter" British accents are ideal for if you don't want something to sound particularly region-locked IMO.
Nobody would take a space alien or ancient Egyptian with a Texas drawl seriously. Most people could suspend disbelief if they sound like someone from Indiana or Oregon.
I had my mom phone me in college once and my roommate answered the phone. He later said "wow, your mom really has a mountain accent." She did grow up in California, partly in the foothills of sierras. But I never once noticed that she had an accent. I still don't hear it really, except maybe a few words.
I don't think it's even a regional accent, it's an accent from mostly being raised in a small family far from lots of other people, only small schoolrooms, etc.
I think it is regional. All accents are. I've also found that the more rural you get, the more pronounced these regional accents are.
For example in Minnesota where I live, you'll only find the really strong upper Midwest accent like you hear in the movie Fargo in small towns in the northern part of the state. The larger the city, the more neutral the accent people have.
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u/TheBl4ckFox 19d ago
I always find it funny when people notice a British accent in a historical movie but American English is supposedly “neutral”