do you use English subtitles

[Holdfast]

I don't use subtitles because I find that when there are subtitles I tend to stare at them and read them instead of paying attention to what's happening in the movie.

Of course, sometimes this is an advantage, viz...

I accidentally went to a subtitled showing of the Jason Statham Deathrace film a few years back, it was annoying initially but in the end mad the film more enjoyable than it likely would have been otherwise.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Your 'natural' accent is the one you revert to without thinking about it. If Mel Gibson lapses into Aussie when he's himself then that's his natural accent.

But he doesn't.

 

[Starkers]

I don't use subtitles because I find that when there are subtitles I tend to stare at them and read them instead of paying attention to what's happening in the movie.

Of course, sometimes this is an advantage, viz...

I accidentally went to a subtitled showing of the Jason Statham Deathrace film a few years back, it was annoying initially but in the end mad the film more enjoyable than it likely would have been otherwise.

Touche!

Actually Gul Re'jal's point was what made it annoying, hard to be surpriosed when you read dialogue before it was spoken--reading the lyrics to a rap song on the soundtrack was funny as I recall!

 

[Deckerd]

Your 'natural' accent is the one you revert to without thinking about it. If Mel Gibson lapses into Aussie when he's himself then that's his natural accent.

But he doesn't.

How do you know?

 

[thestrangequark]

No. Though I do occasionally flip on youtube's closed-captioning, as hilarity inevitably ensues.

When I went to see 2046 (a movie in Mandarin and Japanese, which played in snooty little art house cinemas and which kinda sucked -- seriously, how many times do I have to watch a heart get broken?) there was a dude in white suit sitting next to me who, after each and every subtitle appeared on the screen, and after the time it would take for a slow reader to read said subtitle, would utter a loud, comprehending grunt, as if there was some depth to the words being spoken that only he could understand.

 

[GemHaters]

Yup, I sure do use subtitles. I didn't used to until somehow suggested it, and now I can't watch anything without them. You'd be surprised how much you miss when you don't have them on. I know a lot of people don't like to "read" their movies or tv shows, but I don't find it to be an issue at all. That's why I have no problem with foreign films.

 

[Gul Re'jal]

About ten years ago I had a few DS9 episodes with Dutch subs. I don't speak Dutch, but I still read every single wordon screen! That's how I learnt I just can't stop reading subs, even if I don't have to or don't understand them

 

[Roger Wilco]

Rarely because I'm too lazy to look for them and usually do other things while watching tv/movies anyway (internet, games, etc.).

 

[ManOnTheWave]

I seem to recall a movie or two from Wales where subtitles were absolutely necessary for me. Otherwise, no. Largely because when I understand the spoken word while reading the same dialogue, I get too annoyed when the transcription is wrong. It takes me out of the movie, and makes me wonder how accurate the translations were of all the foreign films I'd seen.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I use subtitles when I'm watching a movie in Spanish, though I prefer to have Spanish subtitles rather than English ones.

Sometimes if the sound quality is poor on an English movie, or I'm having trouble with the particular dialect of English that's being used, I'll turn on the subtitles there too.

 

[G2309]

I'm learning ~French so subtitles are really useful. English subtitles are good in a noisy place. I'm surprised how many lines are left in films which are difficult to understand.

 

[Holdfast]

After reading this thread, I couldn't resist seeing what YouTube's transcribe audio system makes of this infamous scene...

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7jhb8_UPfw[/yt]

Let's just say that YouTube would have got its brains blasted a whole lot sooner.

 

[1001001]

I do use subtitles when I'm watching Doctor Who.

Between his accent and the speed of his speech, it's the only way I can follow along!

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Only when I can't understand what an actor is saying otherwise I'm reading the words and missing the pictures.

 

[Yoda]

Subtitles have come in handy at times. The Wire especially.

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

I used to be a huge fan of closed captioning when I watched TV and movies. I've found that when closed caption is on, I'm reading the text instead of paying attention to the show, so I find it distracting now.

 

[thestrangequark]

I don't really understand this problem people have with missing the show when reading subtitles...? Don't you look at both at once?

I read an interesting article awhile ago hypothesizing that the film industry would see increasing acceptance of subtitled films in the future thanks to texing; the idea being that a generation is being raised who are more accustomed to getting information from texts, and who will therefor be less intimidated by watching subtitled films. An interesting idea, I think.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Your 'natural' accent is the one you revert to without thinking about it. If Mel Gibson lapses into Aussie when he's himself then that's his natural accent.

But he doesn't.

How do you know?

Have you ever heard Gibson talk normally, as during an interview?

I don't really understand this problem people have with missing the show when reading subtitles...? Don't you look at both at once?

Some people can't do that. They either have bad eyes or they don't read very fast. As a result, subtitles are the worst thing ever to them.

 

[Deckerd]

His accent has always sounded like an Aussie trying to sound like an American and not making a very good job of it.

 

[C.E. Evans]

His accent has always sounded like an Aussie trying to sound like an American and not making a very good job of it.

He was accused of it being the other way around when he was a kid.