Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodfather
I'm about to make a sweeping generalisation and apologies if it offends... but there is no way that a British film about royalty that, if nominated, would ever not win at least one Oscar - regardless of quality. It was obvious.
While I happen to think The King's Speech is excellent, it's a repeat of The Queen all over again. I like Helen Mirren and there's no doubting her talent but that film is in my opinion flawed, to say the least. Last night's Oscars have just pandered to the particularly American/Academy obsession with British aristocracy. I know this does not apply to everyone but when it does it's predictably ridiculous and does not paint those involved in a flattering light at all.
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I do agree with you that there is a tendency for Americans to perceive the British as being somehow more refined and intellectually superior (I don't know how/why they came to this conclusion!
), especially when it comes to the aristocracy. But I think
The King's Speech phenomenon has more to do with the American's love for old fashioned triumphing-against-the-odds stories moreso than it being just another voluble English movie.
Not for nothing, there was a skit on
Saturday Night Live a couple of weeks ago, actually more of a mock movie trailer, which was a send-up of one of those typical Guy Ritchie-type gangster movies. The joke (and the only joke) was that the English accents were so cockney and thick (they didn't pronounce any consonants at all!) that it required English subtitles.
It was a stupid premise but it was pretty funny, if I do say so myself.