Why do people dislike reading subtitles?

[Midnight Crossroads]

Humor, mostly. But also idioms and anything else more subtle than what can be translated in impact font.

It doesn't translate well.

Most of the subtly in human conversation is lost through subtitles. Have you ever read the script of a comedy? None of it is funny until you actually start reading lines with another person, and that's after you obtain a good understanding of the script.

I hate when subtitles have to explain the joke or idiom so that the last sentence makes any damn sense.

 

[TheIronRuler]

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?

English isn't my native language, so every hollywoodian movie I used to watch I watched with subtitles. Lo and behold, I now have full control of the language. But the habit remains, therefore I'm just fine with reading subtitles.
About Americanized films, it's fine with me, Jeniffer Carptner did a good job in the remake of the Spanish horror movie its title I forgot. I do suggest seeing the original first so that you could draw comparisons and reach a conclusion, whether the movie was worth it or not.

 

[demoman_chaos]

Depends on the movie. I like Godzilla movies, which have TERRIBLE dubs majority of the time. For that, subtitles are the way forward.

 

[Heaven's Guardian]

I would say it's the visual aspects. While I have no problems reading subtitles, it's difficult to pick up facial expressions and background scenery while focusing on them. If the dub isn't terrible, I'll usually prefer that. Even if the VAs aren't always as good as the originals (and I think that some people here are giving them too little credit), the non-vocal aspects of the character that get lost are often just as important as the vocal subtleties. Of course, watching House of Flying Daggers a few years ago made it very clear that dubbing can be absolutely atrocious, and I turned subs on less than two minutes into the movie.

 

[idodo35]

אני ממש שונא תרגומים ועוד יותר שונא עיבודים ו"התאמות" (למרות שבישראל אין כל כך כאלה לעברי&#1514
i realy hate duubed movies and i hate "americanized versions" (or any alterations cause we dont have those in israel) more...

 

[Scarynerd]

Cuz I no turn on TV to read book, reading is for dummies!

No but seriously, the problem is when you are a slow reader most of your time will be spent concentrating on the text rather then the visual feast that you came to see.
And the best way to learn quick reading is via subtitles, so there is this initial hump you haveto overcome by spending alot of movie/show time just looking at text.

Oh and when you do learn quick reading it creates a rather funny counter issue where you can't help yourself if there are subtitles of the same language, MUST... NOT... LOOK... *take a glance*... damn it now I know how this conversation ends.

^ This.

Seriously, you read my mind.

 

[spartxn]

I don't like Subtitles cause they get in the way of the Boobies! What?

Seriously though, most people r lazy, and just want to sit back and relax when watching a movie. Not to mention that those with mild ADD don't have the Attention spans capable of paying attention to a movie while having to read that it is subtitled.

As for ur friend, maybe hes racist?

 

[Kukakkau]

I freaking love subtitles - first thing I do when starting a new game I've just got it turn them on, why? In the heat of several moments you can miss the dialogue due to explosions, not being near characters or just plain mishearing. Subs make sure you don't miss these things which could potentially be important or interesting.

As for sub/dub, well since dub usually involves the same voice actors failing to convey the emotion in scenes properly *cough* Johnny Yong Bosch *cough* it just destroys the value of it for me. That and a lot of things don't translate well to be spoken in scenes which are not edited to accomodate the new way of speaking.

Also subs have brought me such gems as this:

EDIT: Also to all the people saying you miss whats going on in the scene while reading subs - ever heard of just going back a few seconds?

 

[TheLoneBeet]

I don't mind subtitles. I actually enjoy them because most of the time there's somebody in the room who won't STFU so I turn them on so I can just pay attention to the movie.

There are some movies I enjoy better subbed than dubbed. The spanish version of "Quarentine" (called REC) was way better despite it being subtitled. Pan's Labyrinth is also a good subtitled movie that I think would have been much worse if it were dubbed into english.

 

[remnant_phoenix]

I love subtitles, even when I'm watching/playing stuff in English. If someone starts talking or making noise, I don't miss out on what was said.

Any time I'm watching/playing anything that I am deeply invested in not missing out on anything important story-wise, I use subtitles, even when the spoken langue is English.

As an extension of this, I have become extremely accustomed to subtitles and have no reservations about watching a film in its native language and using the subtitles, rather than a dub. If the dub is well-done, I like to go through the dubbed version and then the native language version and see how the experience is different.

 

[Yopaz]

I'm Swedish. Subtitles are AWESOME =D

We subtitle everything here unless it's geared toward kids under 8. Of course I now have the opposite problem of almost NEEDING subtitles or I don't hear what they say. So if the choice is there I will put subtitles on even if the film/show in question is in English or Swedish.

But I suppose I understand why people might not like them.

Norwegian here and I find myself with the same problem. Though I usually have less difficulties with hearing the English words. Norwegian movies without subtitles are horrible and I always miss a lot of what they say for some reason.

 

[Yeager942]

If its subtitles for foreign movies, I heartily agree. Dubbing totally kills it. I saw El Mariachi (Robert Radriguez) and Oldboy dubbed and I couldn't stand it.

 

[Zorzogoth]

I find it very annoying if there aren't any subtitles. I find it very weird that people in other countries ( I'm from the Dutch speaking part of Belgium) watch dubbed movies. It just doesn't sound right, when you see a movie character that speaks with a different voice. And if there is some noise in the background you can't hear what they say anyway, with subtitles there is no such problem. If you grow up with subtitled television and movies you don't even notice you are reading them. It happens without thinking about it.

Also I don't mind if the subtitles are not in Dutch, I have no problem when they are in English.
The only problem I have with subtitles is that they are hard to read during 3D movies. It's one of the main reasons I dislike going to see 3D movies.

 

[lord.jeff]

I'll watch subs if I have to but I prefer dubs, it's less distracting and more immersive. For people saying it's ruining the original vision of the creator, in most cases movies are meant to be delivered in the native language of the watcher, having to read everything and being distracted from the visuals of the movie takes you further from what the director wanted.

 

[Eternal_Lament]

In movies I don't mind subtitles, mostly because the movies I do watch that have them are more dialogue heavy rather than film heavy (as in there usually isn't a whole lot in the background that needs my attention). In terms of Anime however I usually do prefer dubbed versions rather than subbed, for the reason that I really like looking at the art style and some of the touches they put into it, and I'd rather be able to sit and enjoy all that stuff without having to focus my attention on some subtitles as well.

 

[newwiseman]

Subtitles are only good when they are done right. Translation is important but the font, size, and how long it's on screen are all important, especially for scenes where many people are talking.

I've certainly seen more bad subs in movies than good, fansub groups seem to be the leaders in the field.

 

[DaJoW]

Subs, it's what I'm used to and dubbing completely breaks my immersion. I don't really need subs for English shows and movies, but I very much prefer it it to dubbing at least.

Only thing I prefer dubbed is anime (what little I've watched) as I cannot stand the stadard female voices. They usually give me a headache.

 

[Risingblade]

I can't multitask while reading subtitles, I always end up missing half the plot if I do so