Who knew my griping about lousy accents in film would stir such feedback?
The new cop drama “Brooklyn’s Finest” inspired my rant, but it’s something that’s been simmering in the back of my mind for some time.
Apparently, I’m not alone.
WWTW reader Bobbo added a smart comment to the post, looking back at an era when movie stars paid their dues before their names appeared on theater marquees:
In the studio system, actors took lessons for diction and accents, singing, dancing, fencing, horseback riding, etc. Whatever you were expected to portray, you had to ace it. Comedians grew up in vaudeville, working for years before they were ready. Sure, they all had talent, but to perfect your craft, you had to work your BUTT off. Laziness seems the order of the day – plus, no studio taskmaster ready to fire them if they didn’t produce.
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…at least they had the trains running on time….
This is one of the now-lost benefits of the defunct studio system: an enterprise-level adherence to craft. I agree with the observation, but not with any logic that would inspire a return to that system as a whole.
A better approach, if possible, would be to introduce business pressure and rewards to actors who take their work seriously, end-to-end.
…of course, if audiences – the final arbiter of success – increasingly are indifferent to these efforts, can you fault the actors for their laziness?
D.