Why do people dislike reading subtitles?

[willsham45]

I do not mind subtitles although I usually have to feel up to it, it i am too tired or my brain is not working properly.
I prefer subsitles in the cinema as they are generally easyier to read.
And the movie has to be engaging with some more action or something interesting happening so even if I do not catch everything I know what is happening if you get me.

I enjoyed girl with the dragon tatoo and troll hunter and I feel they would not be any better or worce if they were in english.

 

[Something Amyss]

I'm dyslexic and it means I'm watching the bottom of the screen instead of the actors and events.

 

[automatron]

I dont mind subtitles for foreign films, infact they barely bother me.
What I hate, however, is subtitles on a film I can understand
I can't help but read what's on the screen, and then I get distracted comparing the audio/subtitles to see the differences, and then I miss half of what was said

 

[flamingjimmy]

If a film is in a language that I don't understand (which unfortunately, is every language other than english) then I cannot possibly appreciate much of the acting on anywhere near the level of someone who does speak the language. The different word orders within sentences make the dramatic peaks of the lines come at different points, and I can have very little impression of wordplay.

Also, I cannot differentiate between different accents at all in other languages so the whole tapestry of fun you can have with that is gone. Imagine trying to appreciate Jonny Depp's performance in Pirates of the Carribean if you couldn't hear his awesome Keith Richards impression, and it just sounded like every other english guy to you.

Finally, if its a film where the dialogue is well written then much of what makes it good is going to be lost in translation. I do watch things in subtitles, but I know that I'm missing out.

For these reasons I think North American and British remakes of acclaimed foreign films are a good thing, long may the trend continue as far as I'm concerned.

Having said all this I do still watch films with subtitles, mostly kung fu films, because who gives a crap about the dramatic acting and dialogue in them, right?

 

[mexicola]

Since I live in a non-English speaking country subing is pretty much the only way to go, except for kiddie movies. So I was able to follow subtitles since I was 8 or something like that and it comes naturally now. Nowadays dubing just breaks the immersion for me.

 

[Titan Buttons]

If a movie or show is dubed well, such as Black Lagoon, I'll watch it in english, but the majority of dubbed shows are just done so terrible I choose subbed most of the time

 

[Atmos Duality]

I have partial hearing damage, so subtitles are a boon for me.
But my friends find them distracting, so I'm often left missing out on punchlines or critical information in some movies/shows.

 

[Snoozer]

I pretty much always prefer the original language. In english I don't need subs, they work for me in japanese, because they have great voice acting.
If I watch movies with friends I usually choose the German dubs - the quality is solid and some have their isses with english (the tonequality usually isn't that good) also do they all complain about subs ...
Series translation is just horrible so they stay in the original language no matter what.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

I don't mind subtitles... what I DO mind is having to keep looking at the screen, otherwise I'll miss something.

 

[RastaBadger]

People don't like subtitles because they're their to watch a film not read a book. Also they draw your attention to the bottom 1/3 of the screen and you can sometimes miss the finer details of the pictures.
That said however I prefer subtitles over dubs.

 

[Belaam]

I prefer to watch subs, but I tend to watch a lot of stuff as background noise while I am cleaning the house, grading papers (I am an English teacher), or other things.

In those cases, I have to watch remakes and dubs because I can't grade while reading the subs.

 

[The Dutchess]

I like subtitles, especially for things like Chinese Martial Arts epics where dubbing would definately distract from the tone of the movie far more than subtitles. For european movies I don't generally mind either way as long as the dubbing is quite good.
For example - I think District 13 was quite well dubbed (even though they speak french at an insane speed) but District 13: Ultimatum changed the main character's dubbed voice from an irish accent to an odd cockney english one and it made the character appear very different so I watch the second in french with subtitles instead.

 

[HardkorSB]

I hate dubbed movies and Americanized versions of great foreign movies. What's wrong with the original version? My friend told me that it's dumb it wasn't in English in the first place...I was dumbstruck.

Soooo what's your guys's opinions on subbed/dubbed/Americanized versions of films?

When it comes to anime, I think that it only works when the dialogue is in Japanese. That's the part of the experience (plus the voice actors are way better than the English speaking ones).
Other types of animation? I don't really care although I've noticed that US animation (Pixar, Disney, Dreamworks etc.) often has crappy voice acting when compared to the localized versions of the same movies (not that it's bad but the localized versions are better, they've gotten better recently though).

Why do people hate reading subtitles? Because you have to read instead of watching the movie. You can say that it's not that bad but you can't deny that it's a distraction. I sometimes have to rewind the movie because something brief happened on screen when I was reading the subtitles.

 

[XDravond]

When you read subs for better part of your life you get used to them but I like to be able to choose subs/no subs.
But dubbing no thank you anything for people over 8 (or so) theres a big no no, because it is annoying and word jokes gets lost and awkward, and it looks so wrong. There is a exception though where I accept dubbing, narration voices in documentaries are ok to dub.

So as a non English with a decent understanding of the language, I don't always read the subs but they don't bother me that much. And it does not even bother me that much if it happens to be english subs...

And when it comes to non english (ie languages I don't know a word of like Japanese...) I don't really like it but I'm ok with english dubbing (because I've gotten used to most of it) but no other language thank you...

 

[v3n0mat3]

Original language and subtitles or go home. I don't care what language it is, its original, intended language is the only version I will choose. Unless you're referring to movies like Cronos, where the dialogue is spoken in both English and Spanish.

I'm neither lazy nor am I an idiot, and I can read perfectly well. Additionally, the lips not synching up to the dialogue gets incredibly annoying to me. Like in those old Kung Fu movies. I love 'em, but that's the one thing that I cannot stand.

 

[DanielDeFig]

My rule for any entertainment media is:
The closer you can get to the original material, the better. Too much is lost in translation. If you aren't fluent in the original language, subtitles are the best why to hear the original voices (that bring the directors original approval of the voice actors performance), and the translations are usually more accurate than when dubbed.

I watched Trolljegeren in the original Norwegian, with Swedish subtitles. The Translation was probably a lot more accurate than if it had been English, and I could even follow some of the spoken Norwegian, since the languages are similar enough.

 

[Michael Hirst]

I've never seena well dubbed live action film in my life, the English voiceovers have always been god awful and had no expression in them at all.

I think films like The Seven Samurai have to watched as they are in Japanese, I have no problem reading and watching at the same time.

Anime is a grey area because some have great dubs and others have dubs so lousy I have to watch them in Japanese (Naruto is an example of god awful English dubs)