Comment on Subtitles

cattywampas@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

• arctanthrope@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I’ve definitely seen movies where common Spanish words or phrases that an anglophone audience would be expected to understand are transcribed as simply “[speaking Spanish]”

  e.g. “that hombre is loco” becomes “that [speaking Spanish] is [speaking Spanish]”

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  • gray@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Second this! I very often encounter phrases in foreign languages I understand when I turn up the volume, but the subtitles person has been too lazy to write out or translate.

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  • FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I noticed this in Meet The Robinson’s. A guy says “Madames and monsuiers” and the subtitle says “speaking french” as if the average English speaker doesn’t know what those words mean

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• _stranger_@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I really wish the subtitles said [ intentionally not translated]. I never know if the subtitles are just broken, if I’m actually using half-assed closed captioning, or if it’s the director’s intent.

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• marcos@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  The audience better not speak Japanese.

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• bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Then it shouldn’t be said.

  Least they could do is to add the Japanese words to the subtitles for those who can understand Japanese but are hard of hearing.

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  • ohulancutash@feddit.uk ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    They do. That’s another type of subtitle track.

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    • arctanthrope@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I don’t see how representing foreign dialogue with foreign text subverts the author’s intent. sure, they may not intend for their general audience to understand, but they still won’t. and they must have known, and maybe even intended, that a certain part of the audience would understand, and if the foreign text were shown, they could

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    • jj4211@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      It’s not the creators intent, is the closed captioner. The director does not play a role in what guess into the closed captions generally.

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      • ohulancutash@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        They can refer to the continuity script, which will make this clear.

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• Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  The audience is not supposed to know what’s being said.

  Well, translating from languages that are more relaxed regarding swear words might have an impact on the PG rating in the US, so you might be right, but for the wrong reasons :-)

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• FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  This is unfair to bilingual deaf people.

  For example, there’s an episode of Bluey with a lot of French. I’m really bad at French but I do know a little of it. I am able to understand some of the dialogue.

  Why should a deaf person not have the same right as me to interpret dialogue in a language they happen to understand or understand bits of?

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  • cattywampas@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    It’s the director’s intention that the audience not understand what is being said, probably to align with the main character in the situation. It’s no less fair to bilingual deaf people than it is to anyone else who can’t understand whatever language is being spoken.

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    • FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Like I said, people who happen to know the language can understand it and so should have the same chance to understand with subtitles. If the director’s intention was nobody understand it, they shouldn’t have them speak in a language people may be able to understand

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      • cattywampas@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        How is it unfair to them if it’s not putting them at a disadvantage compared to the average person?

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