Subs vs. Dubs (is a matter of personal opinion)

Subs (short for subtitles) and dubs are two of the main ways that foreign media are produced for different markets. Foreign dubbing is when a company will get voice actors to rerecord lines in a different language. Subs generally keep the original dialogue and place titles under the screen. One industry where this particularly comes to the forefront is anime, that is, animated films and TV shows from Japan.

People often tend to have very strong feelings on which ones they prefer, to the point of insulting people who prefer the other method. I feel that this is not only counterproductive, but can have some ableist undertones.

Personally, I prefer TV shows and movies which are dubbed into English. The reason for this is because I find it hard to concentrate on one thing at a time. On my laptop, I can often be looking at a different tab while listening to Netflix. Sometimes in my living room, I'll wander into the kitchen and start looking for food. I normally like to keep the show running while I do this, so I am often still listening to it if I'm not exactly watching. Even sitting still, if I'm particularly tired, I may close my eyes and just listen to the dialogue, something which is obviously harder without an English dub. I have also heard from someone with dyslexia, who couldn't always read subtitles as quickly as they were placed on screen.

However, subtitles are the only way for some people to pick up the dialogue, for example, those who are deaf or hard of hearing. In this day and age, there should be no reason for a sub option not to be included in recorded media. There is also an argument for those learning a new language, who may appreciate having their first language there to guide them.

There are, of course, exceptions. I have watched and enjoyed films with subtitles. I have secondary school level German knowledge, and watched Goodbye, Lenin with subtitles. However, they are the exceptions that prove the rule, as it is normally during them that I realised my mind tended to wander easily while watching films.

All this said, at the end of the day, it is all a matter of personal opinion. A perfect world would have all media available with subs and dubs in all languages, so that people can choose, but sometimes that's not feasible with media storage space and fiscal cost. My conclusion, however, is that we should stop lauding one method over the other and slating people who prefer a different approach.