Rarity and her Fabulous Accent · 10:43pm Mar 12th, 2013
Just about a few hours ago, my friend told me he didn't like Rarity. After secretly spitting in his coffee, I amiably asked him to supply a reason. He said it was because her accent sounds too British, and he just doesn't like those type of posh articulations, which was kind of ironic considering using 'posh' is already kind of British but that's not the real issue. The real issue is that apparently his ears don't work for crap. I haven't researched about it, but I'm pretty sure Rarity doesn't have a traditional South London accent, like my friend surmised. Rarity's accent and manner of speech sounds like the Mid-Atlantic English they used in theatres. I could be wrong, though, but whatever the case, I'm pretty sure my friend and his saliva-coffee drinking habits are definitely more, er, wrong. So, does anyone have any insights about this? Mainly just how ridiculously incorrect my friend is? In the meantime, I'm gonna go put toothpaste in his gatorade.
I don't like Rarity, but her accent -- if she even has one -- is not even close to the reason why I don't like her.
The reason I don't like her is because I can connect her with a few too many people who used to have -- and still have -- a negative impact on my life. So, in my case, the reason is a bit more . . . personal.
I love the way Rarity speaks. But I have no idea of why he dislikes a character just because of her accent, personaly I like the way she speaks because I can understan almost everything she's saying. And yeah so basically I love Rarity and she's the best, And yep, I'm not very objetive, either. Did I mention I love how she sings?
I just hate her because she's a bitch who uses her friedns, Spike and does not care about anypony, even her sister, least favorite pony EVER.....seriously
Like a true Poshchestershireite! Bravo.
I don't believe that it's possible to place Rarity's accent to a single location.
I think she's just making an effort to pronounce words properly, use good grammar, and sell herself as a respectable individual.
You've got to adjust to your audience, after all.
Also, ask your friend which accent suits her most: Canterlotian, or her native New Jockey?
As a Brit I kind of have to comment here...Rarity's accent is not what one thinks of when you think of "A British accent." That's kind of like what Hugh Grant does, or Stephen Fry. They have delectable voices. Rarity has a beautiful accent but it's typically what one uses in the theater, especially when doing Shakespeare. It's a kind of old English high class accent. I personally love it, although her singing voice is something that attracts me to her. I didn't like Rarity much until I watched Suited For Success. Art of The Dress remains one of my favourite songs from the show.
Anyway, her accent is wonderful and it's certainly not a reason to hate her. She has a very posh one, but it's not as posh as the ones they use in Canterlot. THOSE are the accents your friend actually despises.
She can be a tad snobby at times, but when push comes to shove, she's a true, true friend. And I find her accent lovely.
(And the same for her exaggerated, whiny tantrums. Tabitha st. Germain is freakin' incredible!)
[youtube=qQSz6gKdhO8]
Rarity is fabulous, therefore your friend's argument is invalid.
Funny enough, I was just reading Rarity's TV Tropes page when I saw this, and this is actually addressed:
I've been thinking it would be awesome if at some point she just went full Jersey Girl in a moment of passion and called somepony a cabbage. Anyway, I think the accent thing came about because she was supposed to be an expy for Audrey Hepburn. Of course, Tabitha didn't really know how to do an impression of her accurately, but it came out okay, anyway.
Also, 913030, I feel that interpretation of Rarity's character is a bit shallow. Notice that she often goes above and beyond what's required to give her friends what they (think they) want, often sacrificing things that she cares about for them, showed quite clearly how much she actually cares for her sister in her reaction--while alone--to her artwork and her willingness to get incredibly dirty in order to secretly participate in the Sisterhooves Social, that she's usually the first pony to notice and address when one of her friends is having a problem, and she is perhaps the most emotionally mature among the lot of them in that she usually recognizes her flaws and what she's doing wrong way before her friends would and much of her conflict comes from the fact that she knows she's gotten herself in a bad situation and wants to fix it even if she doesn't know how. She was specifically designed to evoke the image of the Alpha Bitch at first glance, but after one gets past the trappings of "beautiful, fashionable, popularity-obsessed, and flirty" you find that those are all quite superficial (and not necessarily bad) traits that cover all the ones mentioned above. She's not even really a Lovable Alpha Bitch, either, because she doesn't have any of the negative traits with Pet the Dog moments peppered throughout, she just has a few of the cues that make people expect her to be one. So... yeah... I might reevaluate that assessment were I you.
Huh. Finally came back to this blog and there appears to be a slight argument about Rarity's character rather than just her supposed accent. Seems legit. 912838 That said, I can sympathize that you have certain individuals in your life who make things difficult, and it's unfortunate that their characteristics overlap with a character on a show you presumably like so much. Hope you're doing well in spite of those alluded individuals.
912916 913030 913032 913070 913194 913340
I know Rarity isn't exactly the paragon of virtue, but she's also not perpetually consistent throughout the show. Heck, no one is, really. Fluttershy even bounces back and forth between courageous and irrationally cowardly, even though pretty much all of her episodes deal with her timidness and fears. It's like she didn't learn a darn thing all this time. I think that's the problem with Rarity as well. There's this character she should be, like the one we witnessed in the very first two episodes as well as several ones that allowed her to shine. And she still is that character, to an extent. It's just that in episodes where she's not the focus, the writers seem to like using her to generate humor. And I'll admit, it's funny. That's probably why I still like Rarity so much, despite the perceived issues. She entertains me to no end. Whether being fabulous, melodramatic, vain, understanding, sort of insensitive, emotional, outrageous, or even out of character, she just makes me smile and laugh. It's perfectly understandable that it's not the same with everyone. Because it's not really a logical thing. It's emotionally based. You can certainly name reasons, but they're still strongly tied to past experiences, existential outlooks, and accumulated perceptions. And when you dislike something, anything arguing against that notion will seem illogical. It's just how we humans are, and that's simply just fine. It's how we so immensely enjoy the things we do, after all.
As for the actual question, Bico pretty much provided a complete answer for me. I now feel justified for the booger in my friend's tomato soup. Gracias.
913070 Shout outs to Dasponi, who is actually British and thus has more speaking rights than all of us combined. Definitely concur with liking Rarity's fantastic songs. Whether you approve or dislike the character, the voice actor and the musical compositions make for one hell of a phenomenon.
913032 Wait, Rarity is from a fictional place called New Jockey? Where did I miss that information?
913340 That video was some kind of glorious. Thanks so much.
913340>>913672
i couldn't agree more..
913832
may i fall in love with your post?
913844 Pia! You should be sleeping!
913853
whoopsie!
i just wanted to upload certain chapter and for that i had to finish certain pic and of course i'm going to sleep ASAP!! xDD
913832
You didn't miss anything, it's just a pun on her parent's "New Jersey-esque" accent in "Sisterhooves Social," don'cha know.
914544 It struck me as more Minnesota or Wisconsin. Or i could be completely wrong, I'm not really up on American accents. I just know there's a lot of them.
1761136
It feels like nobody can manage to peg any of the accents in the show. I gotta call 'em how I sees 'em. Rarity's dad sounds pretty New England to me, but not far enough south to be Bostonian. He might have a little Wisconsin in him, but I thought Minnesota had more of a twang.
Regardless, his voice actor's from Canada (as far as I know). The coin's up in the air as far as accents go.
1762975 I'll confess, I was mostly thinking of her moms' accent rather than her dads'. When it comes to her dad, I usually just end up hearing the theme song from Hawaii Five-O in my head whenever he comes up. Mostly because I don't know the theme for Magnum P.I.