Why do people dislike reading subtitles?

[karloss01]

I don't mind subtitles i watch anime in sub titles because i ain't waiting for a the west to catch up (that'll take like two three years) and recently i went to see troll hunter which is in subtitles.

 

[Blow_Pop]

I hate dubbing. I love reading subtitles. Even on films in English. It drives my friends up the wall since they don't like to read and watch films at the same time.

 

[ultimateownage]

I'm fine with subtitles, I turn them on with most of my games just in case I couldn't hear something. I never watch movies that need dubbing or subtitling though, but as long as the dubbing is done well than I'm indifferent about which one I use.

 

[gruggins]

I have absolutely no problems with any dubs for any visual media (yes even the 4kids animie ones).
you see, with subtitles. I spend most of the time reading instead of, y'know WATCHING THE MOVIE/GAME!
for me its like reading a book with a movie playing in the background. wich for me, is extremely bloody annoying.

EDIT: crap. i just remembered my sole exception to this.
...
bible black.
it may have something to do with the fact that its a hentia but the voice acting is so bad its hilarious.

 

[agent_orange420]

first saw akira which had some bbc subtitles, thought it was ace. when i watched the orginal subs i was blown away by how much of the stories had been simplified for the western audience. then i watched the dubbed version *shudder*. dubbed versions always end up throwing in an aditional editor, who seems to think that the story must be simplified for the thicko western audiences.

remember watching little nezha fights great dragon kings when i was really little, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iZ-fz8XkPg

then redescovering it 20 odd years later. the beeb edit has 80's synth music in place of the original chinese traditonal music, and the dubbing completely changed the message, from quite traumatic to light hearted japery. very strange indeed.....

 

[Dethenger]

I loathe dubs. It's not even just about it being oversimplified or having poor lip-synching. The voice actors are almost always terrible. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part, subs are better.

 

[Squilookle]

The only excuse I can think of, and it's a poor one... is that they suck at reading.

Seriously if it isn't that then I have no idea what people's beef is with them.

 

[Ferrious]

The thing for me is that I use visual media as a side activity. Usually I'm actually doing something else (usually related to toy soldiers) and just want something I can listen to / look up at occasionally to provide a background. If I turn away for a moment and miss a special effects shot, big deal. If I turn away and miss critical dialogue, that's a problem.

I still have plenty of subbed stuff, but usually they're reserved for when I'm ONLY watching the movie and that's rare in my hectic life.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I'm fine with both subs and dub until the dub is bad.
I asked my roommate about this when I told him I watch anime. To him he find that it's annoying that you're paid attention to the subtitle more than the actual scene which he is half right (if the scene is fast pace and they were talking fast).

 

[Mestraal]

I'll usually go for subs just because. Sometimes even on english films if I'm forced to have the volume down low.
There is on exception to this rule, though. The Black Butler anime dub. It's just MEANT to be in English, I swear.

 

[iseeyouthere]

I like subtitles. Sometimes, I might not hear what the actor is saying or mis-hear something. The subtitles help me keep on track with what they are saying sometimes.

 

[Puddleknock]

If I have the choice between the two I would normally choose sub, especially for live action films. I find the lack of synch between the actors' mouths and the audio speech to be far more annoying then subtitles.

I was exposed to terrible dubs quite young though early Jet Li films and they made every film a comedy just by the terrible voice overs. They have made me wary of dubbed films ever since.

 

[Squilookle]

It's that reading subtitles will only get you a fraction of the experience of actually understanding the dialogue.

Whoa nellie! Now that's a new one!

Doesn't change my opinion, by the way. Pretty sure the OP is referring more to what you choose when you decide to watch something new- of course you'll prefer whatever version of something you grew up with. That's an almost certainty.

And who said anything about Anime? I sure as hell didn't.

 

[Kargathia]

That being said, I don't mind watching movies with subtitles, and sometimes prefer it. But I do recognize the fact that I'm not getting the best experience.

On the contrary. Around 90% of our communication is not the words we speak, but how we speak them. Admittedly, the lion's share is taken up by body language, but even then; the way our words are spoken is a lot more important than what is actually being said.

Also, when watching a dub, the body language will never fully match up with the words - even when looking at cases like Inglourious Basterds, where the actor playing Hans Landa did his own dub to German, French, Italian, and Spanish. The syntax, emphasis, and even preferred body language differs between languages.

Of course, these arguments are void when it's a Michael Bay movie. Explosions are universal, and for one to lose nuance, it need first be present.

 

[Treefingers]

I wish I could speak their language. Unfortunately I can't, so subtitles are the next best thing. Dubbing sucks.

 

[Craorach]

I do not watch a Movie to read, it is as simple as that.

More importantly, subtitles are only acceptable if a product is not properly released in a region or nation.

If a company wishes to officially release any product in any region it should do so with 100% support and quality voice acting/dubbing/whatever to exactly the same standard that the original was, in the predominant language of the region it is released in.

 

[qeinar]

I like subs. watching with subs don't really strain my eyes, i mean i've watched anime series in one sitting without hurting them in any way. Dubbing of live movies is baaaad. Don't watch english or norwegian movies with subs tho, since that would be pretty redundant. I can understand the multitask thing, i watch tons of movies while doing other stuff, but never at the cost of watching a dub version of it. There's tons of stuff to watch, i'd rather save the foreign movies i want to see for when i have time to pay attention.

 

[Bacaruda]

Anyone who visits Sweden would be glad to hear that almost everything here is subbed. Everything on tv is subbed except for a few kiddy cartoons. And the cinema is also subbed.

The only thing I've been able to accept dubbed are those sleazy Italian exploitation films from the 80s. They usually have interesting visuals and I don't want to miss any of that. Besides the dubs I have on those are great. It's almost as if they spoke English originally.

 

[Llil]

If you live in a country where everything is either originally in your native language, or dubbed, you don't get as used to reading subtitles. I've watched tv-shows and movies subbed for almost my entire life, so reading the subtitles is pretty much automatic for me, and it doesn't distract me from the visuals at all. It's just like everything else; you'll get better at it with experience.

I understand it can be a bit distracting at first if you're not used to it. (However, I don't understand why the dubs generally have to be so horrible.)

 

[NotSoLoneWanderer]

No problem at all with subtitles. Sometimes I prefer it to dubbing.