Sociolinguistic Artifacts

Marisa Tomei demonstrates a native Brooklyn accent in "My Cousin Vinny" that is much better than Mike Myers'. I also think its interesting to consider how linguistic style is used by the director/actors to construct fictional personae. In the case of this movie, the contrast of southern drawl vs. quick Brooklynese builds a tension between "sophisticated southerners" and "stupid northerners" that plays into the film's plot.