Why is John Malkovich in Deepwater Horizon omitting words?
In Deepwater Horizon, John Malkovich says phrases like:
You nervous as cats.
or
We a big company, Mike, BP.
or
So they the big picture. They the little picture, like you and the malfunction' shitters. But you see, in point of fact, they all kind of interconnected.
or
Kaluza and I have talked about this drill pipe, until we blue in the face.
or
And if they zero pressure, Mr. Jimmy, then that gonna tell us all we need to know.
Now I am given to understand that apparently, he is supposed to speak with a Cajun accent. I have watched some videos on Youtube with people speaking Cajun, but albeit that accent has its peculiarities, none of the speakers were omitting words.
So my question is: Is there any reason Malkovich speaks the way he speaks?
Update: I should probably refine my question; @Paulie_D pointed out that this is probably just an interpretation of the role. However, I am interested in the reasons as to why somebody would speak like this, given they are able to speak flawlessly. I am not a native American speaker and am trying to comprehend the rationale behind this (if any); could it be just some boss-subordinate-thing?
Best Answer
Yes, this is simply an attempt at a Louisiana Creole (or Cajun) accent, albeit probably an exaggerated one.
Malkovich is portraying a real person called Donald Vidrine, a BP supervisor from Louisiana who was tried for the Deepwater Horizon deaths in 2012. Seeing that he was born in Louisiana in 1947, it's possible that his accent and synthax were more pronounced than modern-day variants. And yes, in some extreme forms, certain words are omitted in Creole. From an analysis of some constructions used by English-based Creoles (in LANGO: Language Organisation by Robert Craig and Antony Alexander):
(1) The third person singular does not alter verb declension in the present tense: e.g. "he run, she sing". [...]
(2) Possession may be denoted by juxtaposing nouns rather than using the genitive with the apostrophe: e.g. "this woman child, that man field". [...]
(3) A plural is often not marked by an [s]: e.g. "two house, them rabbit". [...]
(4) Verbs are negated by the word "no": e.g. "he no work today". [...]
(5) Adjectives are used as adverbs: e.g. "he walk silent, she sing soft". [...]
(6) Auxiliary verbs like "be" or "do" are often omitted: e.g. "the sun hot, he old man, them hungry, why you bring this?" [...]
(7) Serial verbs are commonly used in creoles: e.g. "she go try find it, he start run escape".
It should be mentioned, though, that Malkovich is somewhat known for exaggerating mannerisms, inflections, and accents, and it's very possible that this is just one of those cases; The descriptions of his portrayal in reviews of the film ranged from bemused adoration ["an insane and delightful Cajun accent"] to bemused... not-so-adoration ["Malkovich (is) notoriously bad at accents — his Cajun here is a work of outsider art"].
Pictures about "Why is John Malkovich in Deepwater Horizon omitting words?"
How accurate was the movie Deepwater Horizon?
\u201cThe Deepwater Horizon movie is Hollywood's take on a tragic and complex accident. It is not an accurate portrayal of the events that led to the accident, our people, or the character of our company.Did BP approve Deepwater Horizon movie?
LONDON (Reuters) - BP has criticized the new \u201cDeepwater Horizon\u201d film as being an inaccurate Hollywood dramatization of the deadly oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. \u201cThe Deepwater Horizon movie is Hollywood's take on a tragic and complex accident.Did Andrea jump off Deepwater Horizon?
But that leap, and the events leading to it, are pure Hollywood. Movie Mike is alone on the burning platform with his 23-year-old co-worker Andrea Fleytas (Gina Rodriquez), who, overcome by fear, is afraid to jump. Williams valiantly saves her by throwing her from the rig, then jumps himself.What happens to ignite the oil in Deepwater Horizon movie?
Prior to the explosion, the rig lost control of its coupling with the entrance to the well. The resulting gaps allowed oil fumes, gas, and hydrocarbons to be released. The expelled fumes found an ignition source on the rig, triggering the initial fire and explosion.John Malkovich: DEEPWATER HORIZON
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: James Wheeler, Rachel Claire, Pavel Danilyuk, Brandon Imbriale