Last night’s episode of Mad Men connected the dots between the globalization of the automobile industry and the sexual awakening of preteen girls. It was awesome — check out Karen Valby’s full recap here. There was, however, one part of the episode that I couldn’t handle. We saw the reappearance of Phoebe, the comely nurse neighbor played by Nora Zehetner. Since Phoebe’s first appearance in the Christmas episode, Zehetner seems to have suddenly developed a bad case of “Y’allitis,” a rare disorder which causes terrible Southern accents to emerge from actors’ mouths. Y’allitis isn’t necessarily a bad thing — it’s been known to cause total zeitgeist domination — but I found Phoebe’s disappearing-reappearing accent beyond distracting.
PopWatchers, did any of you notice Phoebe’s shifting vocal patterns? It’s not the worst Southern accent ever — that honor still belongs to the cast of A Love Song for Bobby Long — but it’s jarring to see a stray wrong note on a show so committed to its attention to detail. Or maybe I’m missing some deeper symbolism here?
I noticed it too! Hey, at least it’s not as bad as Keanu’s accent in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (still love you Keanu!).
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Tara’s accent is the worst. Its beyond way too much. But I still love her charactor and TB.
It’s possible she did it on purpose; I only noticed it popping up when she was upset by something which could indicate her character’s a southern girl trying to hide it living in the big city. Or I just wasn’t paying attention to her dialogue half the time.
I got the exact same impression, like she was supposed to act as if the character was trying to hide her accent, but couldn’t pull it off. Oh well. She was still good in Brick and on Heroes. Same actress, right? Plus, of the current pool of Draper’s potentional love interests, she’s the nicest and most stable, not that he deserves it.
That’s how I interpreted it too. The accent became stronger whenever she got upset. I grew up in the South and haven’t lived there for years, so I’m used to accents that come and go in the course of a sentence; it’s natural.
I buy into this theory too. The folks involved with that show seem to pay way too much attention to details like this to have it happen on accident.
Maybe she’s just another person pretending to be someone she’s not. Like Don.
Yeah I couldn’t remember at times if she was supposed to have an accent or not. Totally distracting. :/
I agree. With so little time committed to her in S4 of Mad Men, it is amazing how many of us have been distracted by her on again/off again accent. Surely she could have a voice coach that could help her master two pages (max) of a script every few weeks. Weird!
well i feel stupid! i didn’t notice it! ya’all are forcing me to watch it again!
I know she was trying to sound honeyed and cute to Don before, when she woke him up from hammering or trying to get him to behave when he was drunk. This was not the proper approach when apologizing for the mishap that took place during her babysitting, and I’m not surprised that she reined it in a little for such a discussion.
Personally the most grating accents around belong to Stephen Moyer and Rutina Wesley on “True Blood”-
For sure. Rutina wants me to spork my eardrums out at times. Moyer just makes Bill sound stupid.
Agreed. What to much.
The actress, however, is southern.
Glad to know I wasn’t imagining that accent. I really hope there’s more to it, tho.
maybe phoebe is concealing her true identity too?
it’s funny, i noticed the accent too, very distracting, but the actress is actually from texas, so maybe she was trying to hide her accent, and it slipped out a little and sounded like a bad southern accent instead of a failed ‘northern’ one….
Forget Phoebe’s disappearing accent, lets talk about Phoebe Cates disappearing top in, Fast Times at Ridgemont High!
Poof! It’s gone, baby!
I didnt notice that — but I must use this space to complain that MAD MEN has the most annoying previews for the next week’s episodes. They are ridiculously edited to tell you NOTHING. ha
I love Glee! They don’t have any accent trouble. Glee rocks!
they don’t have accent trouble, it’s just that none of ‘em can act worth a damn.
You can’t act worth a damn!
That’s how I interpreted it too. The accent became stronger whenever she got upset. I grew up in the South and haven’t lived there for years, so I’m used to accents that come and go in the course of a sentence; it’s natural.
Yeah Texas Accents! I didn’t notice her accent at all – maybe cause i’m used to hearing folks talk that way all the time…