Why do people dislike reading subtitles?

[LadyMint]

In my personal opinion, one is not better than the other. I don't mind subtitles but I have heard good dubs, like the films from Studio Ghibli. And I'll be honest--Sometimes the voices for the Japanese actors grate on my nerves, especially when they're playing spritely characters that talk all high-pitched.

Anyway, I like getting an idea of the original vocal characterization, and reading subtitles doesn't bother me in the process. But given the choice, I'll just go with the dub unless it is super horrible.

 

[NLS]

It's great if there's a lot of music or action noise making it hard to actually hear any of the dialogue.

 

[Aprilgold]

I don't mind it... When done well.

When its done Bad - Dead Rising shows this best, I CAN NOT READ THAT SMALL ASS TEXT!
When its done Good - Is big enough to read, but small enough to not obscure the movie.

 

[ProjectTrinity]

The people who hate on recent dubbing in general ruin it for me. Because now I instinctively think: "Well what about these subs and original voice actors make them better? *Compare time*"

And viola, we have my disliking of reading subs. I can read them fast enough just fine. I loved Death Note and saw it subbed first. (Later on, the dub grew on me, Light and L particularly the most) But you know what ruins them by association? The fans that spew their preferences as fact. I mean, you already start losing credibility when you call Baccano!'s or FMA's dub some of the worst you've ever heard. 80s, anyone?

Take out the English-speaking fans, and I don't have a problem. I happen to love them when the dub actually *is* horrible and the split second it takes to read the subs are worth it.

Live, though.....It's rare to find a good dub due to the lip syncing, so~ =p

 

[Phasmal]

I'm hard of hearing and use subtitles with most of the things I watch anyway.
If I am watching with other people I usually dont like to ask for subtitles so I go without, I dont miss much but miss a few lines occasionally.
As for subs v. dubs I always go with subs, partly because thats how it was originally and partly because its easier for me and I dont miss any lines.

 

[Mr Fixit]

I remember watching Pans Labrinth & forgetting it had subs, so i guess i don't mind reading along with the movie, A "good" dub is okay to.

 

[kortin]

I prefer dubs, simply because I like to do other things WHILE I watch the movie/tv show and unfortunately my Japanese (typically watch anime) is at a third grade level, so I cannot understand most of what they are saying. Subs mean I have to pay 100% attention to the tv otherwise I might miss something and that doesn't sit well with me.

Captcha:
Polessa followed;

It seems Polessa agrees with me.

 

[TheDooD]

I'll rather have sub titles yet the dubbing on classic Jackie Chan / John Woo movies are known to be so bad they're good.

 

[antidonkey]

I much prefer dubs as subtitles can be a distraction. Especially if it's during an action scene or something with flat out gorgeous cinematography. However, I have no issues watching a sub'd movie and can enjoy them quite easily. Most recent was 13 Assassins. Some of the titles went by a bit fast but still found the movie entertaining.

 

[JediMB]

I'm Swedish. Subtitles are AWESOME =D

This. / Det här.

Except I prefer to watch English material without any subs, since I'll usually just be annoyed by the poor translation anyway.

Hell, for 3D movies in theaters there should always be a sub-less option, since the subtitles tend to ruin the 3D effect completely.

 

[RicoADF]

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?

I hate subtitles, but I agree they need to do proper conversions of movies to english. When I'm watching a movie I wanna watch the movie with sound etc, not be constantly reading. If I want to read a story, I get a book not watch a movie. Seems silly to me and irritates me to no end, esp as it takes me out of the immersion.

 

[Spitfire]

Well, let's see. Do I prefer to read subtitles, or listen to a half-assed voice dub that completely undermines the actors' performances?
I'll let you guess.

 

[trollnystan]

I'm Swedish. Subtitles are AWESOME =D

This. / Det här.

Except I prefer to watch English material without any subs, since I'll usually just be annoyed by the poor translation anyway.

Hell, for 3D movies in theaters there should always be a sub-less option, since the subtitles tend to ruin the 3D effect completely.

Subtitles in 3D movies hurt my eyes =( Not that I'm all that big on 3D movies in the first place...

Oh, and if I have the choice, I watch English material with English subtitles. That's how weird I am. Anything to avoid the "He's hemorrhaging!" = "Han har hemorrojder!" mistakes of Swedish subtitles. -_-;

 

[Smurf McSmurfington]

I dislike dubbing and... well... I refuse to watch anything dubbed. Unless it's a cartoon(or anime), though even then I prefer the original language with subs.

Thankfully dubbing has never really been a problem, 'cause I don't live in a gigantic country and therefore there's no real market to dubbed versions of foreign films(and almost all the films we get are foreign, not all that many estonian films worth seeing tbh).

 

[Viking Incognito]

To put it simply, it sucks to have to stay focused on the bottom border of the screen while cool stuff is happening.

 

[JediMB]

Subtitles in 3D movies hurt my eyes =( Not that I'm all that big on 3D movies in the first place...

They just completely distract me from the depth I'm supposed to see in the actual movies.

Oh, and if I have the choice, I watch English material with English subtitles. That's how weird I am.

Oh, I do the same thing if I'm watching DVDs with badly mixed audio, where the BGM sometimes drowns out the dialogue. But a lot of the time DVDs only come with English subs for the hearing impaired, which can be really annoying too. "~dramatic music~"

Anything to avoid the "He's hemorrhaging!" = "Han har hemorrojder!" mistakes of Swedish subtitles. -_-;

A recent classic:

"You don't wanna get a tummy ache." -> "Du kan få ont i tummen."
("You can get a thumb ache" for all the English-speakers reading. )

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

I don't have a problem with subtitles. I often times enjoy the original work because, compared to its foreign dubbed edition, the voices are better, more suited to the characters, the plot is better explained in the original context, and a lot of references and jokes make more sense and are quite humorous.

If I have to read a subtitles to enjoy something that I will enjoy watching, then so be it.

 

[Saulkar]

I subtitle everything no matter the language. Ensures that I do not miss anything.

 

[UnknownGunslinger]

Well since I'm from a non-English speaking Country, basically 80% of movies have always been with subtitles for me
Usually only TV shows and kid films get the dubbing treatment.
I'm used to subtitles is what I'm saying and when I watch a movie in a language I don't know, English subtitles is usually the safest bet that the dialogue will be as close to the original in meaning as you can possibly get.
Dubbing on the other hand has to deal with things such as lip syncing, time restrictions, the right voice actors, budget limitations, etc. and while they juggle all that, the end result is often blander than the subtitle version could ever be.
Subtitles is the way to go