Okay, it doesn’t matter to the plot very much, but Dutch speakers don’t often get a character that represents them, so it is a shame that the Dutch character of European Space Agency administrator and boss lady Eva Stratt was changed into a German for the movie Project Hail Mary.
To be fair, “Stratt” was always more of a German name, and it seems perhaps author Andy Weir made a research mistake when he named her. (Though there are plenty of Dutch people with German names, like author Herman Koch and historian Philip Dröge. So perhaps she was one of those.)
Another “to be fair”: actor Sandra Hüller did a phenomenal job and seemed just right for the part, bringing humanity in just the right dosage. Well done her.
But since I write a newsletter about (among other things) how Dutch speakers are represented in English-speaking media, this is worth a mention to me. In the book, Eva Stratt is Dutch. In the movie, she is German. Now you know.
Heddwen Newton teaches English and Dutch, and is also a translator and a linguist. Her newsletter
English and the Dutch is about all the funny and interesting ways Dutch and English overlap.
Photo source: Amazon MGM Studios
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