A French accent isn't that hard

A French accent isn't that hard and there is such a thing as French actors (and there is even such a thing as unpretentious French actors) so I don't understand why some movies have people speaking with a British accent when the character is French.  If it were an all-British production it would be more understandable but even the American actors put on a British accent. Almost everything is in English except they will say "monsieur" and "mademoiselle" instead of Sir and Madam and French proper names, some or all written text, and the names of locations are said in French.

They could simply make the point that the setting is France with a graphic in the beginning that says "Location : Paris, France" and then carry on in English. Or they could do it in French and subtitle it.

I assume the reasoning is due to one of or several of the following :
a) A shortcut to let it sound foreign and yet understandable.
b) Hollywood has a very, very poor grasp of geography.
c) A ploy to piss off the frenchies.

A couple examples from the movie Hugo (2011)  (keep in mind that every single character is supposed to be French) :

As I recall, another example would be the 1998 movie version of Les Misérables which had a mess of accents, mostly not French – specifically, Liam Neeson didn't bother putting on an accent and Claire Danes' French character alternated between an American and a British accent.

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It's an interesting poster/mural from the movie Hugo.  A globe, a chubby body with something exiting his heart, a blob and a VU on either side. It looks vaguely familiar but I can't place it. I'd love to know what it is.

How Orwellian #2

Military-style assault weapons should be banned in ways that honor the Second Amendment

The NRA and the USA By Brent Budowsky, theHill.com 12/19/12

Next he'll want to censor books in ways that honor the First Amendment.  And then he'll want to allow unreasonable searches and seizures in ways that honor the Fourth Amendment. And then he'll want to allow people to own slaves in a way that honors the Thirteenth Amendment.



see a previous example of Orwellian doublespeak.

Giant-Sized

A publisher has an idea : take existing comic book titles and put out a special, extra large issue. Since it has more pages than a regular comic it makes sense to highlight that fact. So, it makes sense to add "Giant-Size" to a regular title and you get "Giant-Size Spider-man" and "Giant-Size Hulk" etc…

But one of the titles is called "Man-Thing." Oh, well, the idea is already rolling. Most kids wouldn't notice anything odd but I bet there were giggles in the office. Maybe people would buy a copy just so they can say "Sure, I have a Giant-Size Man-Thing."

Context matters

Betty and Me #16 comic book where the text out of context of the image could sound more sexually suggestive than one expects for an Archie Comic.

"You see, I'm a lawyer."

In the movie Doctor Detroit (1983), Dan Aykroyd asks if he can buy/rent the clothes of a surprisingly self-aware lawyer :

Dan Aykroyd : Would you be willing to part with certain elements of your unique wardrobe for a cash retainer?
Lawyer : Sell my clothes?! … look, if there were thoughts in that direction, I mean, what sort of offer are we kinda talking about?
Dan Aykroyd : Well, I wouldn't want to insult you…
Lawyer : You can't insult me, you see, I'm a lawyer.

Goya's Maja

click to embiggen

A comparison of Francisco Goya's Maja nude (La maja desnuda) and his Maja clothed (La maja vestida). I had thought that they were the same figure with clothes painted on one but they are not an exact match.

And although the canvases are the same size (38 x 75 inches) the nude figure is smaller (the clothed figure had to be scaled down to make the comparison)

photo of Las Majas side by side at the Prado, Spain