For much of the first episode of “Southie Rules,” the show’s producers provide subtitles. As if the Southie accent — dropping the “r,” saying “wicked” and “doll-ahs,” and yelling “Ma!” — is hard to understand. Maybe I’ve lived in Boston too long, but I don’t find it hard at all to comprehend the characters on the A&E reality show, which premieres Tuesday night at 10. Lines such as “Where are you going?” and “This is going just swimmingly” — they’re pretty easy to follow if you know how to speak English.
But the subtitles are part of the producers’ strained effort to make Southie seem exotic and interesting. OK, we get it, Southie is a neighborhood of triple-deckers and tough-talking men and women who hate yuppies and love sports. We get it, we get it, people were entertained by “The Departed” and “The Fighter” and “Mystic River” and are familiar with the Wahlbergs. And yes, the Southie accent and attitude — fierce, and fiercely loyal — can be really funny. Just check out the “The Real Housewives of South Boston,” a YouTube series from the comedy team Paulilu. It’s spot on and hysterical.
Comments
Dude! I guess you don't know when you're not wanted, Boston :(
This is such a false picture of the South Boston I have known for more than 75 years. I live in Newton, but have been very close to
a host of relatives on my mom's side who have lived in South Boston. Many still do. I see them frequently along with many of their South Boston friends. None of them are anything like the characters you see depicted in this or the other Southie movies and shows. Maybe this is why the show has no debth or substance. It's all mallarkey as Joe Biden and many of these relatives would say.
It doesn't make me want to visit Southie, but then I live in Roxbury..
It seems like the producers were looking for New Jersey-like people living in South Boston. Only Devin, and maybe Jarod, seem like they're Southie people. There's enough characters in Southie that could have made this watchable but it looks like the producers were intent on manufacturing a sitcom-like show based on stereotypes. Then again, that pretty much applies to all reality tv.