the corner office : She got the Oscar

She got the Oscar

So ole Charlize Theron (it's pronounced Terrawn, dammit) won her Oscar and became the first South African to do so. Of course, half of the country is lank chuffed and the other half is rather cynical when it comes to Charlize and her fake American accent. Ekse. Some critics attributed the Oscar to the weight gain and uglification as much as any acting prowess: she probably had plenty of inspiration from some of the rof tannies she grew up with in Benoni.

But still. It must a really cool thing for her. She's got the Oscar, and that's no mean feat for someone who could've ended up another wish-I-was-a-star poppie in an East Rand town. So I say hats off to her.

(and LoTR: 11 Oscars. Good heavens!)

{2004.03.02 01:21}

Comments:

1. Richard Schwartz (2004.03.02 - 06:00) #

Haven't heard anyone atribute it to weight gain and uglification. I've heard several respected critics say that it was one of the best performances by any actress in any film... ever. Hope to see it sometime, but it's not a movie to take the kids to, and we rarely go out to grown-up films.

-rich

2. sandy (2004.03.02 - 10:02) #

I was having a real moan about her accent thing recently. But when I think of it, Suf Efrikins get a real grilling for their accent the world over, since they're just EVERYWHERE! So I can kind of understand.

But well done to her anyway.

3. Tom Nichols (2004.03.02 - 19:41) #

My expert analysis: umm.....she's hot.

4. Colin (2004.03.04 - 10:50) #

Tom - then you probably want to consider visiting South Africa. In our neck of the woods, she has very stereotypical 'girl-next-door' looks.

(That's what makes the accent grate that much more, you *know* she shouldn't sound like she does. On screen it's one thing, in interviews you just want to shout "stop it! Talk normally!" :)

Rich - you're right - only watching the movie will tell - Ronwen's a bit of a serial killer fundi, so I believe I'll be dragged off to see it soon enough.

Sandy - our accents aren't that bad, surely? At least we don't sound like Aussies ;)

5. sandy (2004.03.05 - 10:39) #

Leathal Weapon ? was on telly last night. Now *those* accents were bad!! But yes, Colin, I haven't come accross many people outside of SA who think South Africans have a nice accent. The other thing is that, to us, we speak a perfectly good English, but in fact, our language has evolved somewhat. 9 years down the line and I'm still discovering phrases and words that I use aren't *proper* English. People excuse me because I'm foreign, but that's quite insulting for me. I may be foreign but my first language is English!!

6. Colin (2004.03.05 - 11:25) #

Lol! The shame! What sorts of things do we get wrong (beyond the obvious ones)? It could be pretty cool to start a list of lesser-known (and better-known) Sefrikanisms.

But even if someone tuned you grief you could always throw them with a stick! ;)

7. sandy (2004.03.05 - 19:01) #

Besides the fact that we use "is it?" all the time and say "now now" or "just now" when we mean "in a short while". And say "so long" when we mean "in the meantime".

We also use the preposition "with" incorrectly (you wouldn't believe how many people I've wound up re this one in particular!).

We say "stay" instead of "live". i.e. I stay at 123 Penny Lane in Beatleville. I think this comes from translating Afrikaans ("bly" instead of "woon"), but I could be wrong.

I'll need a bit of time to think about some more.

8. Colin (2004.03.06 - 17:31) #

Cool, keep 'em coming! Our withs and family of nows and izzits are pure colloquialisms, but in the matter of 'stay', I think we're actually using (fairly) proper English that's just not common elsewhere, because one of the meanings of 'stay' is to 'take up residence at'. If you think about it, 'live' isn't much better: the unambiguous expression should be "I reside at..."

With - you mean 'Can I come with' varieties?