Much ado about Helen having an accent. Out of the whole cast, to me, hers is the least apparent. The two brothers have strong New Yorker accents, and all the other people talk funny. Especially Antonio. Helen sounds closer to General American. Although I do find it odd that she says she is from Texas when she has lived on the Island for well over 20 years- almost her entire life.
"Life is like a box of Krispy Kreme donuts".
Most people lose their accents as teenagers, so for Helen to have a very pronounced Texan drawl is quite unusual. Especially considering her mother and sister do not have one.
Most people in America tend to have a more neutral Mid-Western accent (or actors or professional public speakers are generally trained that way) than a Texan accent. That may be why some people think it is unusual for Helen/Crystal to have such a deep one.
I guess my point was, all the other characters have some sort of accent or another. Faye is probably the closest to "Midwestern" but she still has an accent. Midwest accents can be pretty thick- especially those from the Upper Midwest. Listen to Hillary Clinton and you'll hear what I mean. They aren't "neutral" because there is no such thing. I don't think Helen's accent stands out anymore to me than the other characters on the show. In fact, of all of them, she probably has the least noticeable accent. But on the show, hers is the only one to be under scrutiny.
"Life is like a box of Krispy Kreme donuts".
I guess it might also be in the ears (not eyes,lol) of the beholder.
I grew up in the NJ area and to me the only people with "accents" on the show are Antonio and Helen. Helen's sounds just like what I might expect a girl from Texas to sound like.
But I like her voice and character very much. She is a fantastic comedic actress.
Actors are supposedly told to practice a more 'neutral accent' Midwestern accent. As someone that grew up in the South, I think Crystal Bernard just says things a certain way that is typical of someone who is more southern or Texan than someone that lived on Nantucket most of their lives. Perhaps people just recognize a southern accent more than they do other ones. I am not sure. But you did make some interesting points to consider.
share I wouldn't say that most people lose their accents as teen agers. Of course people try to lose them on purpose at times. Actors do it to be able to take on other roles. The late Jonathan Harris, Dr. Smith of Lost in Space, had a very heavy Brooklyn accent which he worked hard to get rid of since he wanted to pursue acting. He said that he watched every British film he could find so as to lose his "deezes and dems" accent.
For Helen, it simply didn't matter. She spoke the way she always did. When her sister was introduced on the show, she explained that she traveled a lot and lost her accent. I think it was more that Casey was a snob and thought that a Texas twang wouldn't sound sophisticated enough for her snooty San Francisco friends.
Watching the first episode and Helen says she moved to the island when she was 10 years old.
shareI knew a fellow from the Netherlands who had lived in the Boston area since he was 15. Twenty years later, his accent was a combination of general American and Dutch. Although his English usage was good, he hadn't learned to pronounce certain consonant combinations, so he would say "hellup" instead of "help." And he had never learned the "oo" in "book" so he would say it like "boo" with a "k" on the end. Past a certain age, people have trouble learning new languages or new dialects/pronunciations.
I wouldn't say that Helen has a strong Texas accent -- I seriously never noticed it till I read this thread (but then I'm from Indiana, parts of which have a somewhat similar accent). People from Texas have a variety of accents, so it's possible that she talks the same as she always did. I would expect, though, that she's adapted to some extent, having moved at a somewhat younger age than my aforementioned friend.
Wt..? She had the strongest accent of all!
sharePeople on Nantucket don’t have that accent. They’re more “Hah vahd Yahd” types.
shareIt was more of a shoehorn plot point because they had to address Bernard's real life accent. How did they do that? They had her and her parents move from Texas at the age of 10 (who moves to Nantucket from Texas to run a lunch counter??) and then they leave her behind and go back to Texas. They address Casey's non accent as her being a snob but there's also some sister from Hawaii (can't remember the name) whose referred to early in the series but never seen. Fay claims to have lived in Syracuse but has a Midwestern sound; I never noticed Tim Daly having any New York sound despite being born there but at times Weber's New York style of 'tawk' slips in here and there.
share