Credit: Getty
4 min read
“Once upon a time, I used to watch TV. Nowadays, it seems I prefer to read it,” says Kayleigh Dray. “Why, though? It’s time to delve into the psychology of subtitles.”
It’s 6pm on a Thursday, and I’m treating myself to an episode of the oh-so-meta Community before I start thinking about what to make for dinner (arguably the worst part of cooking is the brainwork involved, right?).
As ever, the episode’s frenetic energy has been dialed up to 100 – but, for all of the main characters’ acerbic wit, sparkling dialogue, and sharp pop culture references, I laugh the loudest at a throwaway, almost inaudible comment made by a background character. And I would have bloody missed it if I hadn’t had the subtitles on.
Confession time: I have captions on for everything I watch now, which means that I’ve become granted access to an exciting new world of visual media. I know all about the “[eldritch thrumming]” and “[wet squelch]” moments from Stranger Things: Season 4. I never mixed up a single one of the incredibly similar-sounding names in House Of The Dragon. And I’ve not had to Shazam a single song from a TV soundtrack in forever, because the title of every tune flashes across the screen when it starts playing… which, yes, means I’ve been sob-singing along to Linda Ronstadt’s Long Long Time a lot lately. So sue me.
Our ever-growing obsession with subtitles
I’m not alone in my fascination with subtitles: indeed, recent research has shown that four in five viewers in the UK, aged 18–25, typically use subtitles even when a) they’re not hard of hearing and b) what they are watching is in English.
“A cultural shift is taking place where a lot of young people’s worlds are text-based nowadays,” explains Dr Daria J Kuss, author of Internet Addiction and associate professor in psychology at Nottingham Trent University.
“Consider asynchronous communication via smartphones and social media – reading and texting is an activity that often accompanies other activities and has become normalised. Subtitles have become part of this caption trend.”
Why do we really use captions, then?
For some people, using subtitles is all down to genuine practicality – whether that’s because they’re watching in public via a phone/tablet, trying to keep the noise down for roommates or neighbours, stuck watching telly with people who like to talk over the drama, or multitasking (“I quite like to watch TV while I’m drying my hair, and at those times subtitles are a must because I can’t hear over the hairdryer,” admits Stylist’s Ellen Scott).
“Viewing experience may be enhanced via subtitles in such a way that important dialogue is not missed,” adds Dr Kuss, who notes that “content which originally premieres on theatre screens isn’t designed for viewing on small laptop or smartphone screens with limited speakers”.
“It negatively impacts sound quality,” she notes.
Others, meanwhile, use captions to help them learn new languages (“I’m watching all of Superstore in English, but with Spanish subtitles,” one of my friends shares with me), while some literally use captions to keep them focused on the screen (“I can’t concentrate without them,” admits a former colleague).
Credit: Getty
Finally, there’s the fact that captions help some viewers feel as if they’ve been offered the keys to the “hidden” details of a series – or even clued into the secret machinations working behind-the-scenes. “I like seeing how they differ from what characters actually say,” admits Ellen. “Sometimes they’ll change a word or trim down a line to be more concise, and sometimes there will be spelling or grammar errors. I can’t explain why I enjoy spotting these but it’s a true satisfaction.”
But what happens in our brains when we use subtitles?
“Our brains are naturally programmed to read,” explains Dr Kuss. “It is an additional activity that takes place on top of viewing a show, and requires additional cognitive effort.”
And, while she isn’t so sure that subtitles really do boost concentration, she does believe that they “may improve comprehension”.
Personally, I find that having the subtitles prevents me from automatically picking up my phone, a book, or my laptop, which in turn keeps me from switching to autopilot mode rather than intentionally focusing on the content I’m consuming. It keeps my mind from wandering, and my focus firmly on the [“dissonant gibbering”] taking place on the screen in front of me. And, with demand for excellent subtitles ever on the rise, it can only spell good things for accessibility.
Here’s hoping that our fondness for captions will have a wonderful knock-on effect and allow more people (particularly within the Deaf community) to enjoy TV narratives as they’re supposed to be enjoyed, eh? That the hard of hearing will find themselves increasingly able to become fully immersed in a show without having to turn the volume all the way up. And that showrunners will remember to employ those subtitlers that know how to speak to the truth of the moment via one well-written caption.
And on that “[tender emotional]” note, I’m off to read some more TV dialogue.
Adieu!
Images: Getty
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