Yep, I'm an Anglophile

It’s no secret that I’m an anglophile. I adore a great many cultural and historical aspects of English or British life. I’m fascinated with the literature, art, architecture, TV programming, films and music of this realm that some of my ancestors hailed from. This hasn’t made me an expert of English culture, by any means. It’s just made me a keen observer of our “friends” across the pond.

Recently, I watched multiple hours of some British television shows as well as some American television with British actors, and I’ve come away admiring their use of language even more.

1.     I find their language vivid and colorful. And no, I’m not talking about their more common use of crude words here. I just mean that they use words with more depth, clarify and significance, and I like that mental stimulation. I like watching programs that make me consult a dictionary afterwards to make sure I know how to adopt a word into my own vocabulary.

2.     I love the variety of English accents. I’m no Professor Henry Higgins. I’m not even going to attempt to determine anyone’s origins myself, but I certainly like the diversity I hear. OK, I know, that according to the Brits, I’m the one with the accent since after all, our common language originated on their shore.

3.     I enjoy the British sense of humor. OK, sometimes I don’t quite get it all, but with a wee bit of practice, I think I’m getting a tad quicker – maybe just a smidgeon.

4.     I am struck with how many British actors are on American TV today and doing well with covering up their British accent. I love it. I just personally wish they got to be British more. I recently watched Andrew Lincoln in a BBC crime drama on Netflix. He was wonderful. A few weeks later, I was encouraged to start watching The Walking Dead, and the contrast made me chuckle. Here is this brilliant British actor now playing a U.S. Georgia sheriff on a television show, and his Southern gentlemanly charm is believable for the most part.

Damian Lewis is another amazing British actor, who has taken on American accents for several different films and TV shows. I just finished the second season of Homeland, and he does a remarkable and convincing job of playing U.S. Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody.