Fans Are Talking About Why They Use Subtitles, And There's An Infuriating Common Theme Here

Several of modern entertainment’s lower-stakes debates revolve around the use of subtitles. In this particular case, we’re not aiming at the “subtitles vs. dubbed dialogue” debate that comes with watching international cinema and anime — we chose subtitles — or whether or not non-English-speaking movie characters need on-screen translations for their dialogue. No, this is more about the arguable necessity of subtitles to combat sound issues that crop up in modern-day TV shows and movies.

For instance, sitting back to watch an action movie at night, but being unable to let go of the remote because the dialogue seems to be at a 4 while car engines and explosions are in the 9-10 range, causing a see-saw yo-yo effect that has seemingly became more of a problematic issue in the streaming era. (Though streaming programming isn’t alone in such culpability.) Movie and TV fans got just as figuratively loud as on-screen explosions when sharing their biggest audio-related gripes within a particularly engaging Reddit thread, and we found ourselves agreeing with the vast majority of complaints.