Closeout and Wrongful Death - And 3 Reasons Why Subtitled Movies Are Tenfold Preferable Over Dubbed

Some people might think that it is so much better notexamples:
to have to read subtitles of foreign films, when dubbedCloseout
versions are readily available, but I definitely am not in"The Mentalist" is, as you probably know, a successful
their number. If a movie is announced as dubbed, I startprocedural crime TV series airing this year in the U.S.
running the other way; to me, a subtitled product isat CBS for the second season, with Simon Baker cast
preferable to a dubbed one, ten times over. Let mein the role of mentalist Patrick Jane. In one of the first
take you through my reasoning and then you may tellseason episodes, a young woman says, when
me if I am too off the mark on this.questioned in the course of an investigation, that "when
Dubbing vs. subtitling in Europe and Latin America - Amy husband came back [from the war] he closed me
short rundownout". The subtitle read: "cuando mi esposo
In the film making industry, dubbing mostly refers tovolvió [de la guerra] me liquidó". A
recorded voices that replace the voices of originalcloseout is indeed a "liquidación", or, as any
actors and speak the local language of the targetpassably good dictionary will tell you, "the selling of all
market, with the purpose of making them more widelythe merchandise in a store (generally because a store
accessible to the general public. However, geographicalis closing)". Therefore, it can also be translated as
preferences on dubbing vs. subtitling differ greatly,"cierre", to signify that a business or firm is closing
while not appearing to have any discernible cause. Justdown, or going out of business. This was, as you will
so that you have a rough idea, in Russia, France,certainly have deduced by now, not the type of
Germany, Spain and Italy, the general practice iscloseout referred to by the young woman, who had
dubbing, with virtually no chance to watch movies inbeen shut out, ignored, or excluded by her
their original versions. Before the advent of digitalhomecoming spouse. The correct translation should
pay-TV and multi-language audio track DVDs, subtitledhave been, instead, "me excluyó", or "se
versions were considered in these countries almost analejó de mí", or "dejó de
exclusive elite product for the artsy-intellectual circles. Inhablarme". To further complicate the issue, "liquidar" in
Latin America on the other hand, (excepting Brazil)Spanish has another connotation; in criminal contexts it
mostly all foreign-language programs, films, cartoonscan be construed as to kill, wipe out, terminate...you get
and documentaries shown in free-aired TV channelsthe general drift. Hence, this was not only a
are dubbed into Neutral Spanish, whereas cable andmistranslation, untrue to the intended meaning of the
satellite TV films may be either dubbed or subtitled, ororiginal version, but one that could completely mislead
both.the viewer.
In my home country, Uruguay, luckily the majority ofWrongful death
cable TV shows, films and series are subtitled, as are"Reservation Road". This Focus Features and
all foreign motion pictures shown in theaters - maybeRandom House Films motion picture, starring Marc
with the exception of children's movies and cartoons.Ruffalo and Joaquin Phoenix, is a moving drama
As of late, you can also get to see on cable TV thetouching on revenge and redemption. In one of its
same shows either dubbed or subtitled, depending onscenes, a reference is made to "wrongful death". This
the airing time. Whenever my zapping finger hits awas translated in the subtitle, no less, as "muerte
dubbed series or movie, I move on, and this is why.equivocada" (which in backtranslation would amount to
First, it is quite irritating having to listen to actors and"mistaken (or erroneous) death". My legal background
actresses who you know how their own true voicesmade me laugh out loud. A "wrongful death [action]", as
sound like - speak with other voices, in Colombian,any good legal dictionary will tell you, is "a lawsuit
Mexican or Neutral Spanish accents. It has quite abrought on behalf of a decedent's survivors for their
dissociative effect.damages resulting from a tortious injury that caused
Second, and maybe this is just a professional quirk ofthe decedent's death". [Black's Law Dictionary, 3rd.
mine - being as I am a translator of English andPocket Ed., 2006, p. 788]. Exactly the situation depicted
Spanish - I love to listen to and identify the differentin the movie. And in legal Spanish criminal law
accents, whether a singsong Irish brogue, a rollingterminology, there is a very precise equivalent for
Glasgow burr, a slow Southern drawl or the particular"wrongful death": "muerte causada por homicidio
accents of the different American minority groups.culposo". Nothing whatever even closely related to a
When dubbed, these differences disappear, are diluted,"mistaken death"......
or when attempted on the soundtrack, sound like badlySo, my dear and patient reader, you will understand
spoken Spanish, detracting as a result from thewhy I would rather continue watching subtitled movies
general value of the film.(when the plain original version in English is not
Third, and here we come to the crux of the matter:available) instead of dubbed ones, and go to the
how can I be sure that the dubbed version is correct,trouble of listening AND reading at the same
after witnessing, day in, day out, gross translationtime...which has come to be second nature with me.
"horrors" in subtitles? Let me give you just a couple ofHow about you?