Subtext
[2009-09-04 17:20]

Recently I've taken to watching DVDs with the English subtitles turned on, even if the movie is in English. I do this because I hate not understanding what the people are saying, even if it turns out to be unimportant. This comes in handy when watching shows where there's a strong accent or unusual dialect or use of slang.

I've discovered that, often, the subtitles don't match the dialog. Sometimes this makes sense, if there is a lot of dialog in a short amount of time. There's usually only two lines of text available for subtitles, and in order to give the viewer time enough to read them, sometimes the dialog has to get shortened in the subtitles. But, sometimes, there doesn't seem to be a reason.

For example, in a scene in the movie Heat, the line spoken was "They don't have anything to say" but the subtitles read "They have nothing to say." In another scene, the line was "Maybe that's the way it will be" while the subtitles read "Maybe that'll happen." In both cases, the line in question was the only dialog and only subtitle being shown so it's not a matter of space.

In these cases, and most others I've seen, the difference between the text and the dialog is minor.

On the other hand, occasionally, I think the subtitles are just wrong. In a scene in The Sopranos, for example, I'm pretty sure that Tony says "I'll assume the guy's debt" but the subtitles read "I'll assume the guy's dead." Because the scene was about Tony trying to collect from someone who owes him money, the word "debt" makes sense, whereas the word "dead" does not.

Things like this make me wonder. How much leeway do the subtitlers have when changing the dialog? Does anyone proofread the subtitles? Wouldn't it help for the subtitlers to have a copy of the script on hand?

Sadly, I suspect that the movie companies cut corners when creating the DVDs, trying to keep costs as low as possible. As a result, accuracy of the subtitles is less important than how quickly and cheaply they can get made.