Once, when my youngest son Gabriel was about 12, I found him in the midst of a deep contemplation. Then the conversation was progressing approximately as follow:
Me:
“You look puzzled.”
Gabriel:
“I wish I would have an accent.”
Me:
“What kind?”
Gabriel (Dreamy)
“Russian.”
Me:(Cringing with misunderstanding)
“Russian? Why would you want a Russian Accent?
Gabriel: (Thoughtfully)
“Not a strong one. Just a hint, a droll.”
Me:
“There isn’t such a thing as a Russian droll. You either have a Russian accent or you don’t. I don’t even understand why you want to have an accent? I wish I could get rid of mine.”
Gabriel:
"No kidding. I would have wanted to get rid of it too if I were you. I hate your accent."
Me: (perplexed)
“What do you mean? I have is a real Russian accent.”
Gabriel: (In irritation)
“I know, I know, but it isn’t what I want.”
Me: (still perplexed)
“What do you want then?”
Gabriel:
“I want that Russian accent like have it in movies. (Gabriel says a phrase from a movie)
Me:
“Oh, I see. You don’t want a real Russian accent, but whatever Americans perceive to be the Russian accent. They can’t really reproduce the real accent so they have this substitute – sort of like having a sweetener instead of a real sugar. Do you understand?”
Gabriel:
“Yes, but…”
Me:
“There are no ifs and butts. What they say in movies is not the real Russian accent. It’s some kind of, I dunno, abstraction, fiction. They just have an accent in the Russian accent.”
Gabriel:
“It is a real thing if they say it in the movies. It’s yours that isn’t real.”
Me:
“Mine isn’t real? How could it be not real? It is as real as it gets.”
Gabriel: (in Irritation)
“Not for what I want it, it isn’t.”
In a way, his attitude didn't surprise me. I recall meeting a guy in the international club of UCSD, who, learning that I was Russian, had the hard time dealing with this fact because I didn't look like the Russian from an American movie.
"Sorry, pal." I shrugged. "Like America, Russia is a big country. Many different people live there. So many that, at times, you can actually meet someone who looks like the stereotypical "Russian" from an American movie, but not often."
Still, I felt bad for bursting his bubble. This guy was so upset that I didn't fit his perception that would rather want me to disappear than make an adjustment in his mental picture.
Fast forward to yesterday. Gabriel now is aspiring actor and is seeing to be selected for a role of a Russian mobster.
"How can I change my haircut that I would look like a typical Easter European mobster?"
“How can I change my haircut that I would look like a typical Easter European mobster?”
Not being a specialist in the Easter European mob, I advised him to watched him one of the Russian movies on Youtube, thank God that selection of those low budget flicks is plentiful.
Besides, here it wasn't so much a matter of a haircut or clothes. I still can easily spot a person from Russia among a westerner, even if they are dressed in Christian Dior, Ralph Lauren or Giorgio Armani. I think the main difference is in the micro expressions and overall behavior.
In a Western person, one always can sense the air of entitlement, entitlement a personal freedom, to the best service, to a fair trial, an assurance in his or her constitutional rights. At the same time, a Westerner is aware that freedom comes with a certain responsibility. Despite your freedom of speech, one cannot scream “Fire” in the dark movie theater because this could cause panic, as a result of which many people could suffer.
Persons from the Soviet Union and I think from nowadays Russia as well neither have the feeling of entitlement nor the assurance of their rights. While in the West they feel like imposters, consuming the rights that don't belong to them. Likewise, they have no feeling of what obligations does personal freedom imposes. I heard in one of the Russian talk-shows that in the Western world no person, under normal circumstances, would have an idea of driving on the opposite side of the road against the traffic, even if his or her side of the road is jammed and the opposite as free.
Gabriel, however, warned me off a possible cultural clash. Watching Russian mobster movies as well as scrutinize the sociological differences in his opinion was a waste of time. What we had to do was to watch American movies set in Russia or, at least, those that dealt with the Russian mafia anywhere in the World.
I would have to agree with him. A Russian mobster of an American movie is a Hollywood fantasy villain, much like Freddy Krueger (A nightmare at Elm's street), Hannibal Lector (The Silence Of The Lambs) or The Joker (Batman).
One should not disappoint the perception of a movie goer much like I disappointed a guy in the UCSD International Club in the episode I described earlier. This could reflect painfully on a movie’s gross. Thus, a person that produces the wrong visual image will simply not get the part.
And if one should do it, it should be done slowly, gradually and not by an aspiring actor.