Do Maine People Really Talk Like the Old Man in Pet Sematary?

Sometimes I think out-of-staters are just pulling our leg.

I wonder if people from the south have the same reaction we do when we see people do southern accents in movies? Do they cringe and want to run screaming into the night? I grew up watching Murder, She Wrote... So I feel like I've spent a good deal of my life explaining to people in other states that none of us sound that stupid.

But when you see our beloved accent being butchered in movies, it makes you wonder why? I've seen many actors nail a southern accent. Or New York. Heck, I've seen actors passably pull off a Boston one without too much trouble. What makes it so tough for Maine? Worse, it makes people believe it.

Fred Gwynne in Pet Sematary may have been one of the worst of all.

A couple years ago, I watched The Lighthouse with Robert Pattinson and Willem DeFoe. Both of them had to utilize two historical Maine accents. One more Downeast, one more old school. But both did a pretty good job. Granted, that movie was weird and creepy AF, but no one ever asks if that's what we sound like.

Nope, never. But one flatlander on Reddit asked the brave question of whether or not we all sound like Fred Gwynne from Pet Sematary. Like, his accent is undoubtedly the worst in history. Granted, he was most famous as Herman Munster. But, when I read this thread on Reddit last night, I pretty much didn't sleep, thinking that there were people out there who think we sound that idiotic.

Look, maybe what needs to happen in movies, is they just stop trying. It always sounds about as authentic as Keanu Reeves' British accent in Bram Stoker's Dracula. For real, if people from away are going to be convinced this is how we are, we may as well just quit trying. It's been a good run folks... Hollywood has left us out to dry. Hahaha...

Let's just enjoy how bad it is together...

Maybe some of the "rules" set forth here, will give out-of-staters a better chance to understand who we are...