Bill Wang - Week 3 - The Controversy of Accents
The Controversy of Accents
Accents were pretty darn funny. Growing up, I had always enjoyed (and guiltily still do, despite having an ever-so-slightly more developed sense of morality), making jabs at a silly accent, such as the Chinese accent, with its heavy emphasis on basic syllables, or the British accent, skipping over consonants.
However, just like any other joke that targets specific nationalities and ethnic groups, the usage of accents can be ambiguous in their ethicality. Some may argue that leaning into silly accents can help people find solidarity and feel represented in a way.
For example, a Chinese character with a strong accent is seen as “completely Chinese”. Chinese people, especially immigrants may feel like they are being “naturally” represented without just being a “whitewashed” Asian character, who has to mention how they participate in Chinese activities. So, these accents are perfectly fine, right?
Not really.
While this may feel satisfying, this creates an “us vs. them” effect. Solidarity is a powerful tool : it gives people a sense of belonging and unity. However, solidarity can also be a negative. When people retreat into their own social and ethnic groups, there is no intermingling, which bodes badly for unity on a larger scale.
In January of 2021, we received an ominous forecast for America’s future. Restricted in their own pots, we saw both Democrats and Republicans boil over in an act of partisanship and polarization.
This leads us to the other side of the spectrum, where people may argue that making fun of accents is wrong. While the effects of leaning into accents are more abstract, I would argue that the negatives of this argument are more direct.
To criticize the usage of accents in media, depicting them as harmful jokes, seems to invalidate the existence of immigrants or social classes, who more likely than not, have a distinct manner of speaking.
While leaning into accents creates an “us vs. them” effect, leaning away from them creates a “normal vs. other” effect, in which people with accents are considered “outsiders”. Furthermore, people may feel like their culture is being reappropriated. In a way, accents are a way of portraying the diversity in America.
There’s also the side that may argue that it should not be taken so seriously. While seemingly a flippant and ignorant take, it is also valid in the sense that it asks everyone to simply be educated, and approach the matter in a civilized manner. However, it ignores how the media subconsciously affects people’s prejudices and biases.
(Bad graphic by me)
Overall, the usage and portrayal of accents is an ambiguous matter. They can be used to target groups, or to build unity. As for me, although potentially a rather controversial opinion, I lean towards not taking things too seriously. I think that we should find a balance, and keep ourselves educated about the potential harms while not outright censoring accents, and that my blogs seem to be getting too political.
(Bad graphic by me)
Hi Bill! The way you asked a question and immediately answered it was an effective way to transition from the ideas in your introduction to the body of the blog post—this rhetorical strategy really emphasized the nuances of joking (or banning jokes) about accents. I definitely agree with many of the points you brought up, though I slightly differ from your own opinion on the matter of how to treat accents; I believe that accents should not be ridiculed, but they should not be made into an excessively taboo topic, either. One other thing that I liked about your blog post was the graphic that you made. It captured how the situation regarding accents is not a two-sided affair, but rather a complete spectrum of different opinions. This spectrum is exactly what makes the issue of how to treat accents such a difficult topic. At the end of the blog post, I enjoyed the joke in the final sentence; it came at an unexpected time (the structure of the sentence did not hint at any jokes coming up), so it added to the overall effect of the humor.
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ReplyDeleteI actually never thought of accents in this way. I never knew there was a non-negative side to accents. To me, I always thought that people generally think mimicking someone else's accent is racist or playing into a stereotype. Of course, it depends on the context. The act of just copying someone's accent may not always be racist by itself, but when it's done to mock, belittle, has bad grammar to mock certain groups for having bad English, or discriminate against people because of their race or ethnicity, then it becomes a bigger problem. I am going to say, however, that race and accent are not always related. People can have different racial backgrounds, but live in the same place and have the same accent. I had a friend that was Indian whose parents came from somewhere in England and he himself grew up there. He moved to England when he was 11 or 12 years old, and he had a strong British accent. Race is determined by parents, and accent is learned or acquired from where you live. Also, if you for example copy a British accent, or Indian accent, that is not really racist because Indian is a nationality, not an ethnicity. I liked that you brought this up because I haven't really thought about this for such a long time, and it's nice to think about it again. The graphic that you made is also nice because it shows that there is not a clear distinction between right and wrong, and there are a lot of different opinions on the topic at hand.
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