Do you watch english language films (or your native language) with subtitles?

[CitizenM]

Having a discussion with a large group of people yesterday when the topic of watching english language movies with the english subtitles active was discussed. To my surprise, three people in the group (there were 11 of us) admitted they do this regularly at home whether watching digital streaming/downloaded movies or DVDs/Blu-Rays. When questioned, the three said that while they don't need the subtitles all the time, they often find a brief scene or line of dialog can't be understood unless the subtitles are active. They also revealed that they have trouble understanding the speech of certain actors, though strangely they all disagreed about the actors they found difficult to understand.

Now, I fully admit that even as a film fan, I've had trouble with many foreign english language films where the accents cause problems and I need some assistance. Such as British or Australian films, for example. But even then, I find I can get by without and CONTEXT can often communicate meaning. The "language" of film itself - through dramatic editing, music and scene - often communicates far more than the dialog. Listening to North American films, I wouldn't think the frequency of unclear spoken dialog is so great that subtitles are needed for the whole movie. But apparently for some, it is an issue. So I'm curious how prevalent this is.

So I ask you all, do you often need subtitles to understand films spoken in your native language?

 

[Mezahmay]

It really depends on the movie. I usually don't, but on occasion I need them to understand a bit of dialogue if they're too quiet, I can't understand what was said, the background sound is too loud, etc. Otherwise I find them too distracting since I'm now spending more time looking at the text on the screen instead of the actors. When I am at home, my mother has some trouble hearing and has them on all the time. It bugs the living hell out of me.

captcha: carry on. Will do, captcha. Will do.

 

[Little Woodsman]

I'm not sure I would say "often" but I do sometimes have trouble distinguishing what an actor is saying. When that happens I usually rewind & put the subtitles on just for the duration of what I couldn't distinguish. That being said there was a point in time when it was happening so frequently that I just said "heck with it" and was putting the subtitles on for the entirety of every film I watched.
(This was never due to an actors accent, it was always because of background noise--most often the musical score.)
I've gone back to just putting the subtitles on when needed to distinguish a little bit, but I could definitely see myself going back to putting them on all the time if the problem arose again.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Don't mind if I do, I'm used to them by now.

 

[darkcalling]

Depends on the movie or the time of day. If I'm up late and other people are asleep I'll turn them on so I can keep the volume low. Or if people are around and won't shut up.

Otherwise it depends on character accents or if the musical score/sound effects are too loud. Some actors I DO have problems understanding at times. SeanConnery and certain Jet Li roles come to mind for example.

 

[Silver]

I find it less distracting to know what's being said than to try to figure out what someone mumbles in a weird accent while someone else is screaming, shooting and on fire, while someone on the production team decided that extremely loud music would be fitting right now.

 

[Zhukov]

Nah, I find that incredibly distracting.

You can read a subtitle much faster than the actor will deliver the line, so I just end up getting impatient waiting for them to say what I already know they're going to say. It rather ruins a good performance.

Sometimes if I can't hear a particular line clearly I'll rewind and wack the subtitles on for sec, but that's it.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

I used to do that, usually to make sure I don't miss any small detail.

Now I don't really like reading subtitles, unless it's a foreign language film, but even then I hate having to do that as I like to pay attention to and appreciate the picture. It's one of the reasons I enjoy dubs more than subs, but only with anime. Live action not so much.

 

[HardkorSB]

Some Scottish and Irish movies I've seen have actors really thick accents in them.
Unless you talk with these people on a regular basis, it's almost impossible to understand them fully (or at all).
I use English subtitles for those movies.
Other than that, no.
By the way, English isn't my native language but I've been learning it since 1989 so it kind of is at this point.

 

[Fox12]

I do all the time. Nothing is more annoying then a movie that jumps between being really quiet and really loud. The characters are whispering and you can't understand what the fuck they're saying. You can turn the sound way up to try and hear, but then suddenly Mina's Tirith is on fire, and you have to turn it down again. Subtitles fix this. I don't do this with all movies/games, but I do it very, very often.

 

[MysticSlayer]

No, the subtitles are too distracting. Yeah, I'm not going to miss dialogue, but I may miss important visual cues. Certain people in my family can't follow a movie without them, though, and it drives me absolutely insane when I'm trying to watch a movie with them.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

I don't mind them. I often zone out so reading helps me follow it.
I know they annoy some people though so unless I'm watching alone I turn it off.

I don't even notice I'm reading them though normally, so I don't feel like I lose anything by having them on.

 

[TheRiddler]

With comedies, I'll avoid it. I can read faster than the actor/actress can talk, and so the jokes never have the same kind humor in the delivery when I know the punchline already.

With dramas, I'll generally put them on, since often enough, the actors/actresses talk in hushed tones that make it impossible to hear them, and I don't feel that much is ruined by knowing some lines a second or two in advance in a drama.

 

[PainInTheAssInternet]

Sometimes I do. Typically if there are lines that are confusing or are poorly annunciated. Sometimes the sound dubbing is shit. A good example of this is Alien 3, which happens to be a favourite of mine. Many scenes were added back in for the Special Edition but they weren't refined at all. Audio was taken directly from the set and is practically inaudible thanks to constant hissing steam.

 

[Godhead]

It depends on whether or not I can properly hear and understand what the actors are saying.

 

[SexyGarfield]

Depends on the the movie. When the dynamic range is totally borked up or if the music swells to the point where I can chose my keeping my hearing or hearing the dialog I turn on subs.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

I always turn on subs. No matter what the media. I don't really know why, either. I'm not hearing impaired so perhaps I just find it cmforting that 'Yes, I do appear to be reading what I'm hearing from what I'm seeing.'

 

[Sillarra]

If I'm watching anything in a language I don't understand, sure. Subtitles are more or less needed in that situation.

But a language I understand? Not really. It's great if it's there, but not required. My wife needs subtitles when watching movies though. English is not our native language, and although she can understand it quite well, she needs them as she is not able to pick up accents as well as I do.

Currently with a baby in our house it's great when everything has subtitles though (even ones in my native language). It's hard to get him to sleep with TV noises so we turn down the volume low (just enough for us to hear the dialogue/music/effects) and turn on subtitles.

 

[FPLOON]

Nope... Only when I watch TV... because I'm too lazy to turn off the subtitles in the first place...

But seriously, I only do that when I have to have the volume low in the first place, which at that point I just mute everything and just let the subtitles take me away for the duration of the film itself... With that said, the amount of details certain subtitles give out are some that I didn't even know that was actually happening in the scene in question in the first place, which does lead to watching certain movies with subtitles turned on just to see the differences if there are any...

 

[Casual Shinji]

If it's concerning watching something in my nattive tongue (dutch), then no never.

With english I hardly ever need subtitles either, but sometimes it's a bit more comfortable to have them on as a safety net. Like when watching very dialoge heavy stuff, like The Sporanos.