I was always tickled by how seamlessly Bollywood actors switch back and forth between English and their native language, even in the middle of very intense exchanges. It just seems so natural, like they're instinctively drawing upon whatever tools best express their emotions at that particular moment. Fascinating as it is, I still had mixed feelings about it, what with the residual stigma of collonialism, and all.
But now I was just flicking through some Swedish film, and noticed the exact same thing. It's not yet as pronounced - the English bits are sparse, and sometimes delivered with such a thick accent that even their own subtitlers seem to treat them as an integral part of the source message, and parse rather than transcribe them (for example, at one point a girl finishes her sentence with You can go now and the English subtitle states Go away). Then again, there's also a scene where a highly agitated guy yells at his cheating girlfriend and halfway through, without missing a beat, chucks in an almost textbook, pronounciation-wise, IN YOUR FUCKING DREAMS.
The stigma? Not so much residual this time, but for some reason I find this sort of hegemony far less objectionable. Some part of me rails against the encroachment, but at the same time it's so... exciting. Another tantalizing whiff of Cyberpunk Now.
