Really that's what annoys me in most of those movies. They travel to a place where they've rarely seen anyone except from their own tribe, and yet they manage to speak fluently English. Even the guys on top of the hill, who never seen ice.
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The hill people did say "Go away!" which surprised Fox because these people supposedly had never had contact with the outside world. Fox then learned that there was already a "white infiltration" by the three rogues. So that explains it.
As for the general townsfolk speaking broken English, like LittleRik said, they had been visited by missionaries for years (remember they knew the reverand by name?). Also, they weren't exactly savages like Fox keeps saying. I think one of the themes of the movie is that Fox considers these people to be savages, but his perspective is distorted by his arrogance.
If it's any help the movie was made in Belize the only English speaking country in Central America!
shareActually the mosquito coast is in Honduras/Nicaragua
The Caribbean Mosquito Coast (or Miskito Coast) historically consisted of an area along the Atlantic coast of present-day Nicaragua and Honduras. It was named after the local Miskito Indians and long dominated by British interests. The Mosquito Coast was incorporated into Nicaragua in 1894; however, in 1960 the northern part was granted to Honduras by the International Court of Justice
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_Coast
I would nevertheless take a Wikipedia article with a grain of salt... It's the same people who are discussing here who are writing that...
shareLos Brit *beep* no dominan una mierda.
shareAlso, Dude, primitive is not the preferred nomenclature. Indigenous people, please.
share'Primitive' may not be preferred by you (and other PC nitwits), but it is no less accurate a description of indigenous tribes than the word 'indigenous', and, in the context of the OP's (unintentionally ironic) question, it was perhaps a more appropriate word to use.
Indigenous people tend to be primitive, unless their culture has been interfered with by outsiders trying to 'civilise' them.
Although the word 'primitive' has, in recent years, become one of a plethora that PC nutters consider offensive, it is a perfectly reasonable and accurate word to describe people who live a primitive lifestyle: hunter-gatherers residing in jungle habitat and going about their business in a natural and uncivilised manner.
PC people hear the word 'primitive' and think 'ape-like'. From that, they infer some kind of racial slur. But the word, when used to describe jungle-dwelling tribes as described above, simply draws a parallel between the tribes and their primate cousins whose lifestyles are in many ways quite similar.
you are out of your element. This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps!
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"Primitives" is an outdated and condescending term used by social Darwinists to pass judgement on other cultures. Like referring to blacks as "negroids."
~ I'm a 21st century man and I don't wanna be here.
Great Post you just made me do a spittake!!
.....Or My Name Ain't Nathan Arizona
Okay, two things...
First, what's a spittake? (It sounds fun).
Second, is that sarcasm or did you really enjoy my pompous and unnecessary lecture? I've not taken my meds today, so I can't tell if I should be pleased or paranoid!
first, i think a spit take is sort of like a lol...
second, i assume he was refering not to your post, but rather to anasy's, where he yanked a line from "the big lebowski" to fit the situation.
in "The Big Lebowski", mid rant, John Goodman's character stops to say, "Also, Dude, Chinamen is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian Americans, please."
it was hillariously executed in the movie, and fit this thread perfectly.Also, i pulled from it above.
Spittake offends me. I am from the spittle tribe.
Guns kill people, just like Spoons made Rosie O'Donnell fat.
It is what is known as poetic licence. For example, does it irritate one that in classical films about Rome such as I Claudius performers don't speak Latin but English with Eton College accents or in Quo Vadis where some, like Robert Taylor speak English with Hollywood accents and others with the proverbial English potato in the mouth such as Peter Ustinov as Nero or a Scots St.Peter apparently hailing from Glasgow? Would you really want to watch such works in Roman Latin with subtitles? Except for avowedly documentary works, movies let us enter the world of imagination and fantasy for 90 minutes or more where we are mostly willing subjects seeking entertainment to relax body and spirit from the cruel realities of our own world, crying our hearts out over a tragedy sic Teh Pianist, or split our bellies with laghter over a good comedy such as Analyze This.
shareThats been happening in movies since the "speakies". German nazi officers who speak english better than the queen , merchant ivory movies where natives speak like they were educated at oxford , and aliens
shareAssuming your post wasn't meant to be sarcasm in any way...
It's called a "reversal." A dramatic or comedy technique.
Basically a trick or surprise. It's a common comedy technique which forms the basis for just about every single American sitcom you've ever seen, and in this case, illustrates the hypocrisy and cultural hegemony of the main character.
It's been a while since I've seen the film, but I think all they said was "go away" which their white captors would have taught them to say, and not 'fluent' as you say.
the guy makes impossible machines, and you're willing to suspend disbelief for that. he goes to an imaginary place that doesn't actually exist, and you're willing to suspend disbelief for that. and you're getting hung up on people speaking English?
p.s. primitives?
Imposssible machine? it is possible to create ice from water within a matter of seconds, it is also possible to create ice from heat...
Then, and now. It would definitely have been tricky to do it in 1885 though when Doc Brown did it in Back to the Future part III.
Opinions are just onions with pi in them.
It's reminiscent of Dr. John Gorrie.
shareEnglish patois is not uncommon on the Caribbean coast of Central America, due to the presence of afro-caribbean communities.