I agree entirely. A recent poll named Marlon Brando as the greatest ever movie actor, yet I could barely understand a word the man said in any of his movies! Nowadays it is mainly American movies and TV series with which I have issues, though I have experienced similar problems with British shows, including theatre performances. There seems to be a tendency for many actors (and, presumably, their directors) to think that in order to maintain "pace" the lines have to be delivered at high speed. The resultant cacophony of mangled vowels and stifled consonants is not pleasant on the ears of the audience, who are left baffled as to what is being said (or should I say "mumbled"). "Pace" is about picking up cues (with due consideration of the demands and effects of the dramatic pause) and keeping the action moving, but not at the expense of presenting the dialogue in an understandable form of the language. It is perhaps indicative of the times in which we live, that in our regular lives we perceive that no-one has the time to listen to what we are saying, as we anticipate (and are all too often vindicated in that anticipation) that we will be interrupted before we reach the end of our sentence if we take so much as half a beat to grab a breath. Is it any wonder, then, that people gabble their words in order to circumvent the premature termination of their sentence by the expected rude interruption? The gabbling actor will simply claim that he is being "true to life" in his high-speed delivery of the lines. How many excellent writers, having agonised over their choice of words, and crafted their works with great skill and wit, are then sold short by this slovenly speech pattern which defies comprehension? Actors are supposed to be the interpreters of a story, and we need that story told with understandable dialogue as well as meaningful action.
Geoff Goble
read Lia Beachy's article