MovieChat Forums > Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012) Discussion > Why is there always a Brit in the rarest...

Why is there always a Brit in the rarest of places?

posted 13 years ago by roycant07
43 replies | jump to latest

I really want to see this film but I cannot stand the trend of sticking a British or Aussie in the most rarest of places.

So far in these quirky comedies there have been Brits as CIA special agents, grocery store clerks, Southern Baptist Pastors, local store managers, bank clerks, loan officers, etc.

And these films are usually set in podunk towns or small cities, yet there is always a British person working at the local so-and-so.

Since when do Americans run into a British person in their every day lives much less at a local shop?

Why aren't they sticking Americans in random places in British movies? How about an American manning the local pharmacy in the next Simon Pegg film?

[–] SandersOnPPW 12 years ago

My favorite is when American sitcoms CONSTANTLY cast Englishmen as Roman Catholic priests in the U.S. Yes, there are English Catholics, but the "TV population" of ocean-crossing British Catholic priests is way out of proportion to reality. Weird.

[–] gds555 12 years ago

Over the last few decades, I've run into quite a few Brits living and/or working in out-of-the-way places in the United States. Maybe it doesn't happen quite as often in reality as it does in American movies, but it does happen.

Perhaps the most memorable instance was when I was waited on by a waitress with an English accent of some kind--I forget what kind specifically--in a second- or third-rate restaurant in central Florida (and it wasn't in the immediate vicinity of Disney World, either). I think she may have been there because of a boyfriend.

[–] private_tj 12 years ago

I live in South Texas and know two British people. So...I can only imagine how many Brits live in places that don't suck.

[–] pol96-1 12 years ago

Since when has New York City been "the rarest of places"? It's actually a very common destination for foreigners (including the British).

[–] Corner_House_guest 12 years ago

so they have a "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster up in their flat, sorry, apartment in a movie about the end of the world.

Intriguingly, there is an area of London called World's End after a local pub. Bob Dylan has a house near there.

[–] DenimChicken 12 years ago

In all honesty I'd don't know what the Brit population is actually like in the US but I've been trying to get my green card for *beep* ages to no avail.

While we're on the subject, why do Richard Curtis films have at least one American in and a mostly white cast yet are set in London where most white people are from Australia or South Africa and it is very multicultural??

[–] sedgwick8-1 12 years ago

"why do Richard Curtis films have at least one American in and a mostly white cast yet are set in London where most white people are from Australia or South Africa and it is very multicultural??"

This is to appeal to the American market who seem to find comfort in a cosy view of England. At the last census in 2009, 50% of London's population were classed as "non-white" and of the white population the largest non-indigenous ethnic groups were Irish, Eastern Europeans and Latin Americans. Australia and South Africa are well down the list.

[–] Corner_House_guest 8 years ago

" set in London where most white people are from Australia or South Africa...."

It seems your experience of white people in London is confined to the bloke serving behind the bar in the pub........

[–] modgirl-3 12 years ago

The irony is you ask this question on the Internet. The WORLD wide web. Really? I met someone from England on the internet. Met them. Fell in love. Turns out when I got there I'm the odd American in a British scene. You're being silly.

My last boss here in America? A Brit. What? Yeah. Really. He was a real life British speaking dude living in America. Watch Holby City on BBC1. There is an American doctor as a main character. Hari Dhillon. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0223561/bio Pretty scary stuff, eh?

[–] Jack_rabbit 12 years ago

British actors are the vanguard of an invasion force. Basically, since the experiment of "independence" the British government has become increasingly displeased with the way the colonists have been managing their affairs and have sent in spies to ease the transition back into the commonwealth.
The initial stage was fattening up the population so that they would be less inclined to move from the sofa and complain, the next step will be making you realise that american sweets are inferior in every way to the european chocolate bars and once you are all addicted to them will come the final stage, re-integration.
I would start stockpiling "u"s, cucumbers and fine bone china as you are going to need them pretty soon.

[–] adamseven7 12 years ago

thread fail

_________
H is pronounced Aitch NOT Haitch !

[–] AzaleaRose 12 years ago

Thanks to Equity, hiring British actors works out cheaper than hiring Americans. But in this case, Penny's nationality is less than incidental.