Real Time with Bill Maher: New Rule: Brit for Brains (HBO) 

_"I shouldn't be saying this - high treason, really - but I sometimes wonder if Americans aren't fooled by our accent into detecting brilliance that may not really be there."_ - Stephen Fry

Reminds me of one of my favorite Doctor Who exchanges: ROSE: "Why do you sound like your from the North?" DOC: "Lots of planets have a North."

Funnily enough, the guy who played R2-D2 was British.

Funnily enough, R2-D2 is played by a Brit.

I bet John Waters is thinking, you call THAT a butt plug?

To be fair Bill some of those actors were actually British.

And when movies have an ignorant uneducated person, they have a Southern accent. :-)

You can always tell which alien is the captain because he's the one with an upper class British accent. I once heard a movie Nazi say "Jolly good" in a British accent. Nazis were many things, jolly doesn't come to mind. Okay, maybe Goering.

In the recent Assassin's Creed, everybody had a British accent despite the fact the game was set in France (and who's publisher is from France and the main developer is developer is from Canada, so why British accents?)

The thing is, the Star Wars cast you mentioned, Alec Guinness(Obi-Wan Kenobi), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) etc. didn't "put out" a British accent. They ARE British.

Game Of Thrones with American accents would be hilarious. Plus a British accent is a Hollywood shortcut to convey foreignness, whilst making the dialogue intelligible to Americans, we aren't in Kansas anymore, so to speak.

"Unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent." - - Cary Elwes, _Robin Hood: Men in Tights_

Game of Thrones is based on medieval Britain so it makes sense. Also Tywin wasn't the king... not officially anyway.

Kind of a random new rules segment but that bit was one of the most lucid observations about western perceptions of poshness and gravitas I've seen in a while. I've always wondered what the constant presence of the British accent in entertainment was for. Now I realize that when it comes to speaking English well, it helps to consult the originators of the bloody language.

In fairness, all those actors in Star Wars *were* Britons...

Sir Alec Guinness had an English accent because he's ENGLISH!

To talk about the obsession Americans have with British accents and not even mention Madonna and Johnny Depp? Both born and raised in the Midwest and now take their afternoon tea with crumpets.

In England our stereotypical idea of a bad guy is someone with a German accent.

“I love a British accent “ “Oh yh , which one ? We’ve got 34,000 “

It's the accent(s) that ruled the most vast empire the world has ever seen. It projects power and confidence.

lol! As a Brit I totally hadn't noticed! Hahaha I'm so cushioned by British accents. Not that it's a surprise, I mean, British accents are the best accents in the world (not all of them).

"And this product still goes in your butt." Bill Maher 2016

This is one of my fav clips... I've been referencing it for many many years :)

Well, the Star Wars characters he mentioned were played by British actors...

i adore a proper British accent. class through and through.

to be fair Game of Thrones was heavily influenced by medieval England so it is a little more appropriate

To be fair, the Dornish have spanish accents

The American accent as we hear it today came into common use around the early 1800s and is a mixture of northern European accents, not forgetting the many families that traveled across America as depicted in cowboy films were from Scandinavia,.Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, speaking English but with their original accents...

To everyone offended that he didn't give the connection between the War of the Roses and the plot of Game of Thrones: *it's just a bit meant for laughs*. Personally I love the way he holds a mirror up to American society just for the lulz; not taking yourself too seriously and being able to laugh at the stupid stuff we all do is a sign of maturity and self-confidence.

I had the impression classical times were represented with British accents because most of the great Hollywood "epic" (=big) films from the 40s to the 60s were filmed in London or elsewhere in Europe (in part because UK law required UK box office reciepts had to be spent in the UK and that was the best way to use the money) and thus, after filling the main roles with big Hollywood stars, British actors were cheaper for secondary roles than importing Americans. That tuned the American ear to think of Romans as speaking "British" rather than anyting else.

The critic from Ratatouille was voiced by Peter O'Toole and spoke with a British accent...despite the fact that he was French...FRENCH! They're Britain's archenemies.

Tywin Lannister was not the king, he was the hand of the king, essentially chancellor or Prime minister.

"We drink wine from a box" Bitch please, I'm Australian. We invented wine in box.

Fun fact. If you opened up the little robot in Star wars (R2-D2) you really would have found someone with a British accent. The little guy inside/operating R2-D2 was British actor Kenny Baker.

Most of the actors in game of thrones are British. Plus westeros is clearly modelled on the British isles...so there :p

To be fair, Game of Thrones is loosely based on British history and I think the Star wars movies have parralels to the British Empire

I think the most logical/path of least resistance explanation is that film is an offshoot/offspring of theater, and since Britain has a long theater history our theater tries to mimic theirs. Hence British accents. Don't overthink this.

Not just "a British accent" - it is specific RP. English language without any regional accent. Very few Brits speak RP.

Insightful

I don't think you can say "British accents are used to sound serious" and then use C3PO as an example of that seriousness.

"They [British] have the gravitas, we [Americans] have the swag..." What does that leave the Irish with?

Could that be because Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness and Kenny whatsisname are from England? Just a thought.

"And I bet if you cracked open the other robot that only made beeping noises, there'd be a guy in there with a British accent." YES! THERE WOULD BE! xD #KennyBakerFTW

I think it's a bit more simple than that, which is that we absolutely know nobody was talking with an American accent more than about 350-400 years ago because it is a new country, with new citizens, and a new culture. Even though modern day British English is far away from its historical roots, we do at least know that there's been a British english variant for about 1500 years. So its history does lend it gravitas. I am Australian, so we face the same thing - except at least the US owns popular modern culture. Our accents, and many other English variants really have no significant place in entertainment and our voices are made either American or British.

There is NO British accent ! ~ What American's are hearing is a south-east English accent, an often of the posh variety. Its also sometimes called a home counties accent. Tho this excludes russell brand, Michael caine, david beckham, etc -its complicated ! PS- Sean bean in game of thrones has a Yorkshire accent + gritte.

That's why thy call it the English language

To be fair, Alec Guiness, Peter Cushing, Anthony Daniels, and Kenny Baker (the dude in R2D2) are all Brits.

Speaking as a Brit, having just watched this video I feel compelled to mention that most of my heroes are American: My favourite artist is Steve Lukather and he is the lead guitarist of Toto, my favourite band since childhood. My absolute favourite voice in music is Richard Marx. I'm a fan of Journey, Chicago and I never even looked at Fleetwood Mac before Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined the band! My favourite stand up comedian is George Carlin. My favorite film is Back to the Future. I own most of the Marvels movies. I'm a full on Star Trek nerd from the classic television series right through to all the current stuff and I buy into all that Gene Roddenberry idealism... Babylon 5, The X-Files, Stargate SG-1 are also favourite shows of mine. Sit-coms? - Frasier, Friends, Big Bang, Goldbergs, Young Sheldon. For over a decade now I've taken a keen interest in works by the activist Peter Joseph of the Zeitgeist Movement and then recently I discovered Bill Maher ;-) -- Americans all. Americans all! ...and of course there's my Dad who is from New Jersey. As for the British accents in the make believe productions of hollywood, consider that in the UK every pre-teenager from primary to middle school ages, whenever they play characters in make believe productions of their own, they'll typically reel off their "dialogue" in an American accent. - Fact! The Brits are becoming more American with every passing year.

I love Killer Mikes reactions, priceless. He is the perfect straight guy for Bill's jokes.

Since Tolkien was such a big influence on fantasy, English accents in the genre make sense as part of borrowing from him. Alec Guinness (original trilogy Obi-Wan) was British. So was Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin). Maybe casting British actors is part of this phenomenon as well as having actors from other countries fake an accent

Obviously, Bill has no idea that Alec Guinness, Peter Cushing, Antony Daniels (C3PO) and Charles Dance had British accents because they are British.

Ok. I have a British accent, always have, I was born there. It has been of some use in Canada, usually people think I’m from Australia, but, hey, let’s keep it in the Commonwealth.

I was surprised he didn't squeeze in a John Oliver reference

There is no such thing as a ''British accent''. There's an English accent, Scottish accent, Welsh accent and Irish accent, then there are the Geordies.. they are a different breed though. But in some parts of England there are different types of accents. I wouldn't refer to it as a ''British accent'' though.

American humor: State the obvious British humor: Don't

The worst evil is a Brit playing someone with a German accent. Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber for instance.

This sketch was written thirty minutes after he saw how his ratings stacked up against Last Week Tonight.

Maher is the funniest man on earth.

He should check out skyrim. First time I heard American accents in a medieval fantasy world.

When it comes to showbiz and the theater, it's all about the convincing command of the "Shakespearian" accent.

British=English, Scottish and Welsh.

It's not rocket science. The American accent is a very new accent. Plays were being performed long before the American accent existed, so if it is a classic tale based in ancient times or of an Epic quality then the English accent makes perfect sense to suspend disbelief. A well spoken English accent is also much clearer to the ear seeing as they invented the language.

It's true! Look at the number of viewers on John Oliver's show.

2:53 "Is this for real?" YOU BET YOUR ASS ITS FOR REAL!

"British accent"? Which one, there are only around 100 of them.

Brilliant

This is partially why some people idolized the Clockwork Orange droogs.

Always British upper-class accent too. In Britain you go 10 kilometres and the accent changes.

It is because British people and culture is more respected around the the world than American people and culture. The American accent around the world has become linked to stupidness and lacking class. So people only take that accent seriously in an American situation and not outside that because Americans are not viewed as smart around the world. America is that place that goes crazy for a boring sport called football when they use their hands.

King died in the toilet? That's Geroge II. He died on the Royal Privy.

Well all the game of thrones actors are British..... and in the books I don't remember the accents being described

2:38 I love how someone from the audience randomly says "yeah" when Bill talks about the butt plug.

I'm not sure what Brad Pitt thought he was doing in Troy but it sure as hell wasn't a British accent.

Taking it to the next level :) bloody awesome, just brilliant 😂👍

the English "accent" is just how English sounds when pronounced properly...

Have wondered about this since forever.

star wars is 'Made in Britain"...

Not what i expected, still funny.

Sorry Bill, we brits don't speak with an accent. We speak English. You're the ones with the accent....

In the first episode of the Young Ones, a character who puts on an Eastern European accent says "I'm not really foreign, you know. I just do it to appear more sophisticated!" Apparently, the British themselves consider foreign accents to carry more gravitas than their own as well.

Swag is for boys, class is for men.

The little guy in robot was British 😂 kenny baker…. Star was was mostly filmed in the Uk which prob account for a lot of it .

Tbf Alec Guinness (Obi-wan), Peter Cushing (the bad guy), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) and Kenny Baker (R2) are all actually British and aren't putting the accent on

It's in the script!

I still prefer American accent.

Pharrel's hat is British! Haha designed by Vivienne Westwood

even britians enemy's the nazis classic

He was right. The actors in Starwars were British. Darth Vader, R2D2, C3PO and more. And 99% of the cast of Game of Thrones are British.

That's because Alec Guinness (Obi-Wan Kenobi) was British, Bill Maher you pleb!

All this talk of British accents. Meanwhile everyone in Scotland is going "FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU"

no such thing as a " British " accent.

I'm a Brit and this made me chuckle out loud!! :D

Um, just so you know Bill, a sentence does not need an object. A sentence needs a subject and a VERB. Also, I'm an American teaching English language in Russia, using mostly British published textbooks. This brings to light for my students many of the differences between American and British English. The students, by a wide margin, tend to prefer the American vocabulary/pronunciation/phrasing. The British may have more gravitas, but Americans are generally viewed as 'cooler'. Take from that what you will...

oh man this one should've come with a warning to not lean back in your chair when listening to the part about the sexy marry poppins. "Just a spoon full of sugar makes the ding a ling pop up" made me laugh so hard I fell out of my chair.

And also the typical American actor can't even do a decent British accent. Just pay extra for John Cleese!

I'm British and I speak with a British accent - I spell colour with a u, I wear trousers and I call people Mate. It's all as cute as fuck. Now love me. *LOVE MEEEEE!*

The actor inside R2 D2 was an English actor, Kenny Baker.

Brilliant!

A sentence just needs a predicate to be a valid sentence, not a subject or an object. Ex.: "Walk!"

Wine out of a box lmfao Maher would do well in UK he is good.