Catch what the iller serial killer can deliver

[Glizdka]

WARNING: The links contain profanity and graphic descriptions of violence.

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In The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal Lecter famously imitates Clarice Starling's accent to mock her.

In Epic Rap Battles of History, Hannibal Lecter is played by Lloyd Ahlquist, a native speaker of American English. His opponent, Jack the Ripper, is played by Dan Bull, a native speaker of British English.

While Lloyd maintains his American accent throughout the whole battle, with all its characteristic features like the flap T, final R, or using /ɑ/ instead of /ɒ/, for a brief moment he seems to be trying to imitate Dan's British accent, or at least one element of it, dropping the final R, in the rhyme chain "iller, killer, deliver, liver, shiver, and litter".

His exaggerated facial expressions at the schwas and the generally disrespectful nature of what rap battles are make me think this might be a reference to how the real Hannibal imitated Clarice's accent in the Silence of the Lambs; it's a way to mock Jack.

I might be conjecturing here as to why he's doing that, but I'd like to know what you think about how he pronounces the words in that rhyme chain. Does it sound like an American trying to sound "British" by dropping the final R while keeping all the other features of their American accent intact?

 

[slevlife]

I'd like to know what you think about how he pronounces the words in that rhyme chain. Does it sound like an American trying to sound "British" by dropping the final R while keeping all the other features of their American accent intact?

No. If so, it's too subtle for most people to pick up on, and Epic Rap Battles of History is not exactly about subtlety.

In the clip from the movie, the change in accent is clear and obvious. In the rap line you highlighted, all I hear is the Hannibal Lecter impersonator trying to imitate Hannibal Lecter's style of speech while also trying to add a cool and dramatic flow to the rhyme.

 

[jutfrank]

As slevlife says, Ahlquist is trying there to do an impersonation of Hannibal Lecter. Or more precisely, an impersonation of Anthony Hopkins doing Hannibal Lecter.

I believe the character of Hannibal Lecter was written by Thomas Harris with a slight Lithuanian accent, although in Silence of the Lambs Hopkins uses an odd and unsettling British accent. In the film Manhunter, Brian Cox also uses a British accent. In the TV series, Mads Mikkelsen I think is going for a nonspecific north- or north-eastern European accent.

In none of the films nor the series of novels does Lecter speak with an American accent.

 

[Glizdka]

I feel dumb that it did not occur to me that Ahlquist is just trying to imitate Hopkins's Lecter's accent that is already pseudobritish. I think this might be it; he's pretty good at doing impressions when he puts himself into work. I think his impression of Pennywise, for example, is excellent.