VivirLatino

Read My Lips: Subtitles Distract Me

16:00 H | Topics: Bilingualism - Marketing - Movies - TV

I understand and accept the use of Spanish subtitles in English language movies. It lets Hollywood attract the dollars, I mean, attention, of non-English dominant Latinos who would stay away otherwise. According to a recent report subtitled movies can bring in up to 40% of theatre revenue and comprise nearly the same percentage of movies rented. I'm almost ashamed to admit that I agree with an anonymous gringa who reported being annoyed with subtitles in a Chicago area theatre.

English language movies subtitled in Spanish are easy to find where I live in Queens, NYC but I'd much rather watch a movie dubbed. My first experience with a subtitled film happened when I was a small child visiting my Abuela in Puerto Rico. She took my sister and I to see Batteries Not Included and to this day I can't remember a damn detail from the movie except the bright yellow subtitles. I mean they were great for my Abuelita who didn't (and still doesn't) speak or read English fluently but subtitles distracted me then and distract me now. I was much happier staying in the house in Puerto Rico watching dubbed versions of my favorite cartoons, never mind that the dubbed voices always seemed to be about three pitches higher than the English original.

I don't know what the preference is among Spanish dominant peeps between dubbed movies and subtitled movies, and my best, not based on anything guess, would be that it probably costs more to dub a movie than to subtitle it. But if you're bilingual like me, haven't you ever noticed that even when you know the language being spoken in the film you end up reading the subtitles anyway? Then when you read the subtitles the translation never really jives with what's really being said? My current favorite Spanish language show, HBO's Epitafios, is in Spanish, sans subtitles when it first runs on Monday nights. But if I miss a show and have to catch a rerun I'm usually annoyed because let's be real, son of a bitch is just not the same as hijo de puta. Just like when I used to catch Six Feet Under in Spanish I was perplexed to see that a Neti Pot was translated as a "saca mocos".

The novela that I am currently watching , Señora del Destino, is from Brazil and is dubbed in Spanish. While the lip movements and voices may not match the words I hear, I focus on what is happening on the screen, not on reading words running along the bottom of the screen. I understand the importance of cross-cultural marketing and exposing people to media from all over the world in a variety of formats, I just wonder what way is best, if there even is a best. Maybe it's just an issue of personal preference.

Via / The Courier News

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