This isn’t really a “Hear Me Out” as it is a proclamation. I do not like subtitles, but for some reason, everyone around me has them on EVERYTHING and I hate it. Hear me out…
First, subtitles were made with those that were deaf or hard of hearing in mind so they could enjoy the movie, television show or whatever just like those of us who are blessed to have our hearing. All the people I know who use subtitles just have an attention problem, not a hearing problem.
Speaking of having an attention problem, a lot of y’all who have these damn subtitles on are just in your phone or walking around the house. In this instance, you should be using your listening ears and not your reading eyes (not a thing but roll with me). Now, I hear you yelling to me in the background (it’s my best friend who I’ve had this argument with before), “When they whisper I can’t hear” or “I have noisy kids and I might miss what they say” or “They are speaking another language and I need to know what they’re saying.” Let’s address this last one first. Personally, 85% of the time when a character is speaking in another language, it’s not something that if I don’t pay attention I will lose the plot or something important. Maybe it is just the stuff that I watch, but I always think it will be something I need to pay attention to for later and that is never really the case. However, the movie usually puts these subtitles in for us. Those subtitles don’t bother me. Now, about whispering. How often does someone whisper in a movie? And they always do the loud whisper because…movie. Also, just turn the TV up! Now, the kids. Should be sleep if it’s not a movie for them or you got to tell them they have to be quiet in order to hear. Movie theater etiquette, man!
Is it just me or do you get distracted when the subtitles are on? I love cinematography and the subtitles ruin that for me. I need to see the entire scene with no words appearing and disappearing. You might think this is a minor thing but think of the greatest scene in cinematic history, the battle scene in Endgame (I said what I said). Imagine reading “Avengers Assemble” instead of just hearing him saying it. It doesn’t hit the same and the way subtitles work, it could come up before he even said which would ruin that whole scene.
I just hate subtitles. My eyes are focused at the bottom of the screen the entire movie no matter how hard I try and these friends of mine just won’t turn them off. I hate them, too.
Tell me, why do you like subtitles and why are you wrong? And yes, I enjoy reading–just not a movie that I’m supposed to be watching!
BLACK WATCH 
I never used subtitles until I got married. My wife isn’t technically hard of hearing, but she’s always had difficulties understanding dialogue in movies/tv shows (there’s something about the speech coming from speakers that makes it hard for her to understand). They bothered me at first, but now I just leave them on all the time as well. It took a couple of months, but I got used to them and they don’t really distract me from the visuals on screen (with few exceptions, like sports, where the subtitles can cover up the score).
What surprised me the most about always using subtitles was how it affected our kids. They always leave the subtitles on (because that’s what mom does), and it helped them learn to read. My son wouldn’t let me or my wife read to him. He’d literally throw books across the room if we tried. He liked looking at pictures with us, but if we started reading he’d throw a fit. One day, when he was 4 years old, he started reading street signs and picture books to us. He had taught himself how to read, and our best guess was that he did it using the subtitles on the videos he watched.
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This is the best “I used subtitles because…” post I’ve ever seen. For me, this is the upside of using subtitles. I wonder if he’ll keep the subtitles on as he gets older because he loves to read.
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