This one might be a bit hard to keep on track, but I shall do my best. Where do I stand in the great Subtitles versus Dubbing debate? Irrevocably I am loyal to subtitles. Why? Because I want to experience the movie the way it was intended. The actors were chosen for a reason. When an actor is doing an emotional scene, it shows through regardless of language. Having someone else try to equal the original emotion as well as doing it in a way that will sync up, it just falls flat. I'll get deeper into this point a little later.
"I don't want to read my movie," I here people say. Granted there are times where the writing on the screen goes by too quickly. Granted, although closer to the original context than dubbing, subtitles sometimes just don't translate well. This is usually only in cases of cultural significance or colloquialisms. Unless you have difficulty with reading, in which case your argument is completely valid, the "reading the movie" argument is pretty weak. Sure, it's personal preference, and I have no real right to say that a person's opinions and preferences are wrong. But, personal preferences aside, watch enough subtitled films and shows and it becomes second nature. So, if you'll grant me a brief moment of pomposity, if you use the "reading a movie" argument, just get over it.
"But what about those Spaghetti Westerns and Giallo that you like? They're dubbed, so HA!" No one has actually brought this argument up with me before, but that won't stop me from arguing myself. If any of these movies have the original Italian soundtrack on the DVD I will usually watch that. The thing though, is that this argument is a misguided one. Most Italian films, especially those in the eras I like, did ALL of their dialogue in post production. This was done for various reasons, but one of those is so that the movies could be distributed to other countries easily. So right from the get go the studios are prepared to "dub" these movies. I have therefore found that there is very little difference between the subtitled and "dubbed" versions of these films. I'm using the quotes around dubbed because technically it is not a dub.You still need to find these films in their unedited versions regardless of your choice of English or Italian dialogue. Also sometimes you have to be careful because edited versions of particularly the horror films are distributed under weird new titles.
"Ok, it's one thing to be pro-subtitles, but you seem pretty adamantly anti-dub." Again, this is not an argument that has been brought up to me, but if I'm going to be honest with myself, it easily could be brought up. I can answer this very simply. I am anti-dub because the majority of dubbing is absolutely horrid. I once saw Ichi the Killer dubbed. They were dubbed with British accents. Japanese Yakuza speaking in British accents. This is just wrong on so so many levels. I might be able to barely convince myself that it would be ok if it had been a Hong Kong movie, given Hong Kong's history. But, no, it was Japanese, and this was not acceptable. Well, at least it wasn't to me. It's bad enough watching a subpar actors, but to hear subpar actors trying to convey emotion purely through their voices is irritating to say the least.
This debate mainly appears and applies among anime watchers. Here is were the bad is horrid and the good is fair. There are a few series that have a pretty good dub. Cowboy Bebop would be one of them. Studio Ghibli, I will tip my hat to. Disney is collaborating with them to distribute their films. Disney decided to do this the right way. They get famous Hollywood actors to do the roles. This is nice because it brings attention that these movies otherwise would never have gotten here in the U.S. It goes beyond that, not only are they using famous actors, they have at least two translators on hand to help when they need to alter the wording of dialogue. I still watch these films in their original language, but I am ok with the dubs.
However, far too many studios don't care. There are many great voice actors out there, and in most cases of bad dubbing, they are just doing as they are told. Voice actors have admitted to the fact that they were told to not watch the anime that they were going to be working on. This...I just don't even....WTF!!! Who thinks this is actually a good idea? Add to this the fact the many of the bean counters and directors seem to think that cartoons are for children. These same people are probably the type that think they understand children despite having limited association with them. Voice actors have admitted that they disagreed with kiddying up their characters, but they had to do what the director said. Why add catch phrases and obnoxiousness where it is not needed? Also, I will grant you that people don't always sound the way you would think they would sound. Tay Zonday is a prime example of this. If, however, you are given a finished product where actors were specifically chosen for the roles, why would you not bother to at the very least find a voice actor that sounds similar? I am left to listen to voices that not only sound different from the ones I'm used to, but also voices that generally don't fit the characters.
Please don't get me wrong, I appreciate voice actors and am glad they have work. I know they do their best, or at the very least, do their best to give the directors what they want. So, they following statements don't really apply to the voice actors. If you are going to dub a movie, television show, film, or anime, for the love of everything that is holy, please bother to actually put some effort into producing a product as good as the original. All you have to do is translate and try to sync up the English. So many things went into making these things. Countless hours were spent. Numerous people put their sweat and tears into making them. The vast amounts of work and creativity spent. Is it too much to ask that you respect all of that work, and try to do it justice with good dubbing? I don't think it is too much to ask.
Anyway, there's not much more to say on the matter without leading myself off into tangents. I will, therefore, end this with one more argument for subtitles but from a different perspective. Picture, if you will, one of your favorite bands or one of the classic greats. Can any cover band equal them? Some will do better than others. Some will fall flat or even butcher your favorite songs. Most are just so so. No cover band, however good, will nail it perfectly. You'll always prefer the original sound. When the dubbers that I'll call cover bands reach the passion, skill, and respect to be rightfully called a tribute band, that is when I'll re-evaluate my stance. I'll always prefer the original, but I might be less harsh of my assessments of the dubs.
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