Apr 19 2009
Being Someone New
I sort of took this blog idea from another blogger, Rocketscientist, yet the idea also sprang from something I’ve been toying with for some time. You see, if you know me well, you know I’m an Anglophile, meaning I love everything English… the language, English literature, the accent… the accent especially.
And I work on my own British accent all the time. My kids are used to me using it, or an Irish one, or Scottish (my Scottish is probably the worst of the three–makes me sound like a man)… and the accent pops out in other ways, too. I can’t say this is a recent thing, either, since my husband first met me after seeing me in The Importance of Being Earnest, where my accent was good enough that he thought I really did speak like that.
Just this last week, I discovered that a new member of the choir thought the same. I used it enough during rehearsal (a recent habit of mine) that she thought it was real, and was surprised when standard “American” speech came out of me all of a sudden.
Okay, this story is getting far too long. The point of it is that I’ve always wondered what it would be like–how people would treat me differently–if I really did have a British accent. My husband suggested I try it the next time I interview for a full-time job. If I started out with an accent, they’d assume it was me, and I could speak like that for the rest of my life (and I would LOVE that). I’d have my own alter ego, a prim British ex-patriot with a sassy sense of humor. I can’t tell you how much the thought of speaking like that for the rest of my life thrills me. I would be a completely different person with that one change, more confident, funnier, etc. I know this because every time I use the accent, I feel different. I say things I wouldn’t say in my normal voice. I would love to try this some day.
But I won’t. I just can’t do it. Would a fake accent be grounds for dismissal? Would I be falsely representing myself? Would I be found out immediately? I don’t know, but the prospect of breaking some unknown rule is enough to keep me from trying.
That leads me to a question, though. If you could pretend to be someone else, who would you be? What alter ego is inside you, waiting to get out?
Wouldn’t we all like to be someone whom we are not? To pretend to be anyone else than what we perceive ourselves to be is a delightful game. We can escape the humdrum of our lives for a moment, or as you have discovered, Shakespeare, escapism can last quite a while. I would like to be the woman that turns heads when she walks into a room, and everyone vies for her attention. This woman has the type of personality that everyone is drawn to and is the life of the party. I know women who are like this, and I have often wondered what it must be like to have their life. I don’t know that my alter ego needs to change nationality, but if I had to choose an entirely different persona, she might be a sassy Southerner or a sexy Latina.
I’m too shy to try it, Stephanie, despite your encouragement… and I think my urge is natural, neenee. I like your choice of Southern woman or Latina, too. I might be able to pull the Latina part off…but not the sexy.
Do you want to be rich and thin, flit, or just PRETEND to be thin and rich? It’s hard to pull both of those off for real… but I guess if you bought yourself one really expensive outfit, a tight girdle, etc., and then saved up a month’s spending cash for one spree, you could pull it off.
And Musing, that’s a cool idea, too. Didn’t some old movie cover that?… Shirley MacLaine in MY GEISHA… I’d love that idea, too… especially the whole kimono set-up…
Anyway, fantasy time’s over. Must get to work.