Hollywood Hates the South: Southern Accents Edition.

[Captain Huk]

Hollywood Hates the South: Southern Accents Edition – Abbeville Institute

​Where can we hear the worst southern accent of all time? Is it Tom Hanks as the lovable but stupid Forrest Gump? Is it SNL alum Dan Akyroyd in Driving Miss Daisy? How about the mess present in Django? Often, British, Irish or Scottish actors will nail a southern accent before Hollywood even thinks of hiring a southerner (see Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind or Kelly Macdonald in No Country for Old Men).

Any way you cut it, a southern accent in a Hollywood movie is bad news. Either the accent is designed to portray stupidity, slovenliness and/or poverty (see Oh Brother Where Art Thou?) or it’s ready to spout a bunch of racism under the guise of Old South (see North & South). [1]


Hollywood does not hesitate to use the beautiful architecture and scenery of the South. Covington, Georgia has been the filming location for In the Heat of the Night, the Accountant and other award-winning performances.[2] Yet the local Georgia accent remains elusive to Hollywood executives.


The history behind a southern accent would make anyone stop short. With French boulevards heard in a Louisiana Creole accent, and British fox hunts heard in a Virginia accent, while Texan accents contain Mexican inflections, every southern accent is unique. It may be this originality that Hollywood struggles to grasp.


Moreover, accents are not unique to the American south. Rural communities on the Eastern Shore of Maryland have their own dialect, as do Pennsylvanians in Lancaster. Old timers in California speak differently than cattlemen in Idaho, and none of these American accents ever cross the screen except maybe in a podcast or two.


When given the opportunity to honor a southern man or woman, Hollywood can’t get out of dodge fast enough. For example, with Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, filming took place in Australia! Moreover, press releases talk more about Baz Luhrmann’s stars posing with Bombay Sapphire gin than the legendary southern crooner, so famous no one dares name their child Elvis again.[3]


While the South remains elusive to Hollywood, this is a strength. The true nature of the South remains out of reach of a money-making machine, less concerned with accuracy than image. So the South remains hidden. She does not reveal herself on camera. And she certainly wouldn’t think of doing so to a group that could not say “hey y’all” with any authenticity.

[consteacher1]

agree! but have a NYC actor try and do a good, authentic Cajun twang and you generally get a Texan drawl mixed with a bit of ne Ga. slant. as Bugs Bunny once said, "..it just don t add up!" Backala in NCIS New Orleans did his homework and comes real close to a 'yat' NOLA accent but he's the exception to the rule. haven't heard anyone in Hollywierd actually do a real Cajun accent. yankees suck. prep and pray, the end has arrived.