USD Conference Systems, UNDERGRADUATE CONFERENCE (UC) 2025

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THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN BRITISH ACCENTS AND INTELLECTUAL ARCHETYPES IN AMERICAN FILMS
Farrel Camilus Waruwu, Restu Utomo

Last modified: 2025-06-08

Abstract


This study will examine how British-accented characters in US films, particularly AI/robots, are used to represent intelligence and sophistication. We'll look at how characters (such as J.A.R.V.I.S. from Marvel and Cogman from Transformers) are portrayed. This analysis utilises AI-assisted thematic analysis, a quick design framework to query ChatGPT for dialogue and character descriptions from scripts. Repetitive and transparent prompts (role assignment, clarification) allowed for the identification of recurring traits (e.g., "intelligent", "refined", "educated") associated with British accents. We also look at current sociolinguistic and media research. For example, Americans consistently prefer Received Pronunciation (RP) accents over regional accents, and RP has historically been linked with elitism and trustworthiness.



Keywords


American films, British-accented characters, Sociolinguistics