Why do people dislike reading subtitles?

[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.

 

[Charli]

I'll tell you my reason and it's purely my own, when I 'watch' alot of things I tend to draw alot and my attention is not really on the screen, I prefer having something to listen to that isn't music so english dubbing is really my acquired taste.

If my focus is 100% on what the film/cartoon/series is then I absolutely do not mind subtitles.

But there are some skilled dubbing out there as well and I see alot more hatred for that rather than subtitles frankly.

Anyone bashing subtitles is likely to be flamed out of a forum pretty quick.

 

[Rblade]

I usually don't like dubbed versions. I raged when I found out that I had to play InFamous with the Dutch dub (thankfully they patched that)..

... Don't even remind me, that was so awful...

OT: Nope, don't even bother me with subtitles or dubs. Just take the original foreign or not.

lol us dutchies are completely used because everything on tv is subtitled. Almost all other countries do not do that. So we are prettymuch used to it, but if your not I can imagine it being distracting. For me dubs always sound slightly off from the image making it terrible to watch, not to mention that for smaller countries every character in every movie or game has the same small set of voices making voice actors in your languages seem like body snatchers

 

[JasonKaotic]

I always have subtitles on with games (voice actors aren't always perfect), but concerning foreign things, I prefer them dubbed. I prefer to concentrate on the actual thing instead of keeping my eyes at the bottom of the screen and missing everything happening above.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

I'll take subtitles over dubbing, but the movie/tv show has to be good. The problem with subtitles is I catch myself reading the words on the screen more than actually watching it. When it comes down to that I might as well read the book.

 

[Merkavar]

i prefer dubbing cause then im actually watching the show/movie instead of reading a script on my tv.

but i dont hate subtitles that much that i wont watch the show.

when i say dub i mean a good dub with voice actors and not just some dude with a monotone voice.

like say there is alot of action on screen i prefer not to have to concentrate on the bottom 1/5th of my screen

 

[Jake the Snake]

I hate dubbed movies. Honestly, it kills it for me. Leave the film as artist intended to have it: With the actor's actual voices.

 

[Jimmybobjr]

I dont dislike reading subtitles?

How am i meant to respond to this question, then?

 

[Pinkamena]

I absolutely hate it when foreign movies get dubbed. I just can't take it seriously.

 

[Rule Britannia]

Subtitles in general make it easier for me, so long as it doesn't disrupt the actual picture but instead is in the black bar at the bottom I love subtitles.
Subtitles mean I can have the volume low and still catch every word that was said. I guess I link the sound and what I read together.