MovieChat Forums > The Butcher's Wife (1991) Discussion > Demi Moore bold to go with the little kn...

Demi Moore bold to go with the little known Ocracoke, NC accent...


I think that Demi Moore was bold to go with the little known Ocracoke, NC accent because most people will probably (wrongly) think that she was doing a very bad job at a North Carolinian/Southern USA accent.

Ocracoke is a small, fisherman's island at the bottom of the North Carolina Outer Banks island chain and is only accessible by ferry. This isolation has kept the accent there mostly unaltered since the 17th century days when it was inhabited by British seamen. The Ocracoke accent sounds like a mixture of Brit and Yank, so what you hear Demi Moore doing in this movie is really quite accurate.

I also enjoyed the cozy portrayal of the Manhattan (NYC) side street neighborhood life. The NYC avenues tend to be wide, impersonal and busy, but the narrower, townhouse and small shop filled side streets can be quite friendly. It gives me some nice, childhood nostalgic memories to see the happier, day-to-day aspect of NYC life shown in this film.

I watch this romantic comedy whenever it is on TV, and I have no complaints about it at all. I find it to be a sweet, feel-good film with occasional hints at magic realism, but without plunging too far into that iffy genre.

I feel that all the players did good jobs, and that the locations and settings felt very true. Nice production values too.

If you like "Moonstruck", then you will probably like "The Butcher's Wife" too.

reply

[deleted]

Some of my dads family is from Ocracoke but I didnt really notice anything about her voice. Her natural voice mixed with southern I suppose could come out like that. I decided to look up this movie on here since I just finished watching it. It was alright. Its okay for a saturday movie, when you stuck at home with nothing to do!

reply

[deleted]

That's good to hear because at some points during this film, I did notice her accent slipping, or changing. I didn't know about the Ocracoke island accent. Thanks for sharing. :)

Sweet, feel-good film is right. I watched it last night and loved it.

Tomorrow's just your future yesterday!

reply

Her accent reminded me a little bit of Aniston's in The Good Girl.

reply

[deleted]

You hit the nail on the head-the narrower, small shop-filled side streets of NYC gave a cozy, friendly feel to the movie
Thanks for the education about the Ocracoke accent

reply

actually, the lighthouse is cape lookout, not ocracoke. i have been there and it can only be reached by boat.

reply

I'm from North Carolina and I am currently living here still. Sorry, but her accent was a mess. A big, bad, sloppy mess. There ARE very distinct accents on the coast...this isn't one of them.

Dammit Carol Sue, where is the vodka?!

reply

...and I have to say. . .bold to go with Kim Bassinger's trademark Hairstyle.

reply

I am from the Wilmington area, and I just thought she was just trying to do a Southern accent like most of Hollywood.

The Divine Genealogy Goddess

reply

If you want a real southern accent watch Cybill Shepherd in Texasville or The Last Picture Show. True, she's southern so she doesn't have to try hard. Sally Field in Steel Magnolias is very real too.

Dammit Carol Sue, where is the vodka?!

reply

Agreed. I saw Cybill Shepherd on the "Mike Douglas Show" years ago when I was a little girl, and she was talking about the differences between Tennessee and Texas accents. That was about 1979, so it must have been when she made "Texasville".

The Divine Genealogy Goddess

reply