Informative Documentary Analysis: American Tongues

With a close up of various regions of countries, one can see how everyone who speaks a language will not speak it the same way. Created in the 1980s, American Tongues is an informative documentary that illustrates the theme of dialectal variation in the United States. America has been considered a melting pot for multiple diverse people and cultures. In the past, settlers who traveled to and across the United States left their mark on various regions as they brought their accents, such as African languages molding dialects of the South and how French and English is intermingled by Cajuns in Louisiana. However, the documentary demonstrates and highlights how people tend to create stereotypes for people who do not speak the same way they do and how people may even change their accent to be accepted. Because the filmmakers used many examples of regional speech and the attitudes that …show more content…
The film displays how criticism can show what people like or don’t like about an area. Through a Southerner’s point of view, they see their accent as having a sense of hospitality and observe that they utilize many pleasant adjectives in conversation. Meanwhile, they view the New Yorker accent as nasally and typically not kind in conversation. I find it intriguing and strange that there are such comparisons between such distinct lifestyles as the South focuses on family life and traditions and the East focuses on independence and fast-paced work environments. Furthermore, specific social groups are more desirable, such as the preference of urban over rural and whites over blacks. Tied to racial prejudice, “white trash” and black dialects are looked down upon. However, Black Americans argue that it is unfair to be seen inferior and mocked as they use dialect to connect and bond with each other. It is simply just another variety of English and no accent is better than