MovieChat Forums > Kingdom (2019) Discussion > Why have "Asian" accents with the Englis...

Why have "Asian" accents with the English audio? LOL!

posted 5 years ago by whatwazdat (418)
11 replies | jump to latest

Think about it, that makes no sense. The English audio should be fluent because it's simply a translation. The characters aren't actually using a second language to talk. So why make it sound like Korean people speaking English with accents? Just imagine the flip-side...imagine an American movie that needed to be dubbed in Korean. Wouldn't you get the best fluent Korean speakers? Why would you dub it with audio that sounds like a Westerner trying to speak Korean? You wouldn't. Am I right, or am I right? LOL!

I would actually watch foreign flicks in their native tongue and read subtitles, but in this case, my Chinese wife isn't fluent in English. So we thought the perfect plan was to use the English audio for me, and Chinese subtitles for her. Since I can't read Chinese, and didn't understand some of the "English" that was spoken, she ended up having to translate some of the parts for me. LOL!

[–] kukuxu (5409) 5 years ago

That's a common trend nowadays, and it's just plain stupid.

Traditionally, when you dub, you use a neutral accent to represent people from the main setting (this case, Korea). You could use, for example, Chinese accent to represent a character speaking Korean with Chinese accent, but native Koreans should be dubbed without any accent.

I have seen it more than once. The most ludicrous case I've seen were the Assassin's Creed Origins and Odyssey games. In Assassin's Creed Origins, in Ancient Egypt, the Egyptian characters spoke English with Arabic accent... even though Egypt wasn't invaded by Arabs until much later, so WTF? The main character spoke English with some weird African Black accent, WTF?? And the Romans, who were the villains, spoke with a perfect British accent, WTF??? I had to change the language to Spanish, which was dubbed without any accent, because the English dubbing was simply unbearable.

Besides that, English dubbing in Asian series sometimes 'changes' the dialogue to include some woke political agenda. I don't know if that happened with Kingdom, but it has happened in Japanese Anime more than once:
https://medium.com/@sarahhamidi2010/funimation-caught-changing-dialogue-continues-to-face-backlash-789a74130976

My advice is: skip dubbing. Use subtitles (that's a problem with your wife not speaking English well, though, but it's a good way to practice)

EDIT In SMPlayer, you can display two subtitles at the same time. One is displayed in the bottom part and the other is displayed in the top part.

[–] whatwazdat (418) 5 years ago

Thanks for the SMPlayer tip. They should make this feature available in Netflix, prime, Plex, etc.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

speak Korean? You wouldn't. Am I right, or am I right? LOL!

No! well , not in my onion. This is the exact same discussion as on that Russian thing the other day! In that discussion someone was saying same as you , so im outnumbered.

Bu I think watching foreign people speaking your language in your accent would be weird, far better to have your language in their accent - as if they were really speaking it as a second language EVEN tho , i know , in the story they arnt . In the story they are in their own country , own 1st language , own accent.

I think this is because hearing a foreign story in a foriegn setting with my accent would just lose the immersion. You could possibly get away with it if it was incredibly clean , bland, REGIONAL accentless , like a newsreader.

But can you imagine Watching a Jackie Chan film with English dub done by FogHorn Leghorn?

[–] kukuxu (5409) 5 years ago

You could possibly get away with it if it was incredibly clean , bland, REGIONAL accentless , like a newsreader.

That's how (good) dubbing is done. When you dub a foreign movie, you dub it without any regional/foreign accent.

I know it because it's a good way to practice a language. Movies dubbed to any language use to be extremely easy to understand because they (usually) have a very clear and neutral accent.

[–] whatwazdat (418) 5 years ago

Jackie Chan is an exception, not the rule. He was the only one doing his own voice.

I just don't see the point. They are not speaking English, they are speaking Korean. So just translate it so I can understand the way you translate subtitles. If they are going to do this for the audio, why not for the subtitles? Should we purposely put n grammatical errors in the subtitles? LOL!

[–] brux (14736) 5 years ago

You think about it, it makes sense.

[–] whatwazdat (418) 5 years ago

Nope, makes no sense.

If Tom Cruise's Mission Impossible needed to be dubbed in Chinese, it would be pretty weird to hear Chinese, but with a white man's accent trying to speak Chinese. LOL! Maybe this is the new trend and I've been out of the loop.

Anybody remember Bonanza, the 60's Western TV show? Well, there is a Chinese character name Hop Sing, and he spoke with a very thick accent. There is an episode where Hop Sing speaks to his own Chinese family. When they are speaking, it is perfect fluent English. But the moment he goes back to the ranch where he works for the Cartwrights as a cook, his English is back to being broken. I always thought it was strange that his English would be perfect when he's speaking to other Chinese people, but broken when speaking to Americans. And someone explained to me that when he speaks to his Chinese family, they are supposed to be speaking Chinese, but it is translated for us to understand, so there is no need for faking an accent. When he speaks to the Cartwright, he's really supposed to speak English as a second language, hence the accent and broken English. You see, that's how it's been for a long time. Even the kung fu dubs in the 80's, the timing of the lip sync has been comedy throughout the decades, but nevertheless, those characters spoke perfect English, many even with an English accent since many were dubbed by British people.

So I have thought about it. This new style doesn't make sense with my upbringing, but if this is the new trend, I'll adapt. LOL!

[–] brux (14736) 5 years ago

It's not the same You analogies are flawed. The case you mentioned are like foreign movies, with foreign people in them speaking foreign languages. What do you want to give the men in The Seven Samurai in Southern Red Neck accents? You list one episode of Bonanza to prove your case. Sorry, that doesn't do it. Good comic relief, but it would be unusual for foreign people in movies that are in English to not have accents. One good question is why most movies set in ancient Roman times have the characters speaking in a refined British accent? Except for Tony Curtis in Spartacus who sported a heavy Bronx accent. The accents have a connotation, a context, and they use them to make sense of the story and the context in which it occurs.

[–] whatwazdat (418) 5 years ago

I'm not quite sure where you're getting at. I'm kinda lost. LOL! I wouldn't want Seven Samurais with a red neck accent, just as I prefer not have Kingdom with "fresh off the boat" or "English as a second" language accent.

So if Bonanza, or any modern American show for that matter, were to be dubbed for a foreign country, lets say Vietnam. Then the Cartrights would be speaking Vietnamese, but like a white man trying to learn Vietnamese. I have some buddies with parents in the Vietnam war so I know what a white man trying to speak Vietnamese sounds like, and that's how Bonanza would sound like if Netflix did it for Vietnam. That makes sense to you? I've seen American movies dubbed in Chinese and Vietnamese for those audiences, and let me tell you, it's perfect Chinese and it's perfect Vietnamese. It doesn't sound like a white man trying to speak Vietnamese or Chinese. Why can't we have perfect English for the Kingdom? Why does it have to sound like a Korean who went to adult school in the US to learn English? You talk about a "connotation" to these accents. That's the connotation I'm getting. A sorta racist, unimaginative connotation. This is what Koreans sound like when they speak English in America, so lets apply it in the audio. LOL! Except it's unnecessary. The time period of the Kingdom, as well as it's people and language spoken has nothing to do with how Koreans sound like speaking English as a Second language in the US. So just directly translate it, no need for the accent "connotation." If they think it adds to the viewing experience, it does not. It doesn't add to the ambiance of the time period of the Kingdom, it only reminds me of liquor store owners in 2020 America. LOL!

Talk about flawed analogies, weren't those Roman period movies, as well as Spartacus Hollywood creations with Hollywood actors? All those old classics like the Ten Commandments and stuff. They were Hollywood creations using Hollywood A-listers. Moses and Jesus didn't really speak English, right? If the Chinese had made the ten commandments, it would have had Chinese actors playing Moses and speaking Chinese. What If the Chinese did Spartacus? What if they had a big time Chinese actor introduce a Chinese accent from the region the actor grew up in? So what? What are we talking about? I don't see how those movies apply in our discussion. We are talking about how a foreign movie is dubbed for another country. In this case, a Korean show dubbed for the US market.

[–] whatwazdat (418) 5 years ago

We just realized there is a Mandarin audio option! This is perfect! Now I can go ahead and use the English subtitles, and she can have the audio. BTW, the Mandarin is fluent. It isn't broken Mandarin, or sound like a Korean speaking Mandarin as a second language. LOL!

[–] TylerAArse (2885) 5 years ago

I didn't pay attention to know that was an option. I watched it in Korean, with English sub-titles. But I'm glad I didn't know about that because I never know which way to go. The spoken Engish is always different than the subtitles.