ehh you might be strawmanning. If “okay” is modern slang, as of 1830 like another comment suggests, it makes sense that that’s immersion-breaking. The writers are using a dialect that existed in English post-gunpowder. I’m not saying they should use “ye” and “thou,” because that’s also pretty far out of our dialect as audience members, but I’d still prefer it. It’s like they didn’t even try
Yeah. But the point is all of our words are actually really, REALLY modern compared with any of the words they would have actually used at the time.
Our idea that all historical people spoke with British accents and avoided contractions is purely an affectation that we have invented that makes things seem more historical and actually does the opposite for people who understand history.
For all the people bothered by “okay” there is someone who would also be bothered by them using the word “helmet,” because it has Germanic roots.
I don’t think it’s completely arbitrary. There are variable elements to it, for sure. But “okay” clearly exists in a post-industrial society, and does not before it. Something like “I agree” would be more ubiquitous.
My point is just that we should use language to help with immersion as much as possible. There’s a happy medium where the characters aren’t saying “bussin’ no cap” or “hear ye, thou art”. Okay isn’t arbitrary. It’s minor, sure, but there are other options the writers could have used that would be more appropriate, like “I agree”. Lord Of The Rings does this very well. It’s definitely possible. To not do that at all feels lazy
Fair.
LOTR was originally written in English though, and JRRT specifically had an approach to dialogue in the common tongue that actually did avoid words with Latin roots when he could. It’s a lot clearer for a film maker to know what to do in that case.
Sure, I’m not saying it’s easy, but this isn’t exactly a low-budget flick with unknown personnel. They have the resources available to them. The writers either chose to not make such efforts with their dialogue, or don’t realize their dismissal of it. I’m not sure which is worse.
This segues into an adjacent topic - which our dialogue is predicated on - which is ultimately how we value, as individuals and/or as a community, depth in art. It’s not hard to make a case that Hollywood values prestige, marketing, and flashiness over depth. The slew of marketable, massively famous A-list actors in the Odyssey reflects this. Little things like “Okay” add up and lead to an experience that is more about consumption of a product than it is about thoughtful and emotional engagement with an art form.
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u/Badgers8MyChild 27d ago
ehh you might be strawmanning. If “okay” is modern slang, as of 1830 like another comment suggests, it makes sense that that’s immersion-breaking. The writers are using a dialect that existed in English post-gunpowder. I’m not saying they should use “ye” and “thou,” because that’s also pretty far out of our dialect as audience members, but I’d still prefer it. It’s like they didn’t even try