Why Americans Can’t Watch Dubbed Movies And TV Shows
I’m currently in Switzerland, traveling around on a bicycle in the snow and cold. But in between all the riding, I’m inside, in an apartment with a TV. But because I’m in a country that speaks four or five different languages, TV is a mix of German, French, Italian, and English programming.
While most of these shows are shot in their native languages, much of the programming comes from America and the English actors have been dubbed over with French, German, or Italian voices.
And this, of course, got me thinking.
Why is it that I never watch German TV shows dubbed over in English? Why don’t my friends watch Spanish sitcoms with English actors filling in the voices of the Spanish actors? Why have I never watched a French film with English over-scoring the original dialogue?
Why is it that Americans don’t watch movies or TV shows which have been dubbed over from another language? And why does the rest of the world not only do this on a regular basis, but seem to have no problem watching an English program which has been dubbed over in their native tongue?
Here is my theory:
1) First of all, I think Americans view dubbing to be slightly humorous. When the lips don’t exactly match up with the words, we laugh, giggle, and prod. In short, we don’t take the program seriously, because we can’t get over the fact that the sound is all wrong.
2) Or maybe Americans don’t like dubbed films because it isn’t sophisticated enough. After all, we seem to have little problem watching a film that was shot in French but now has English subtitles. The subtitles seem classy and sophisticated, but the dubbing makes us feel cheap.
3) Or maybe it’s none of this? Maybe we are just spoiled? Maybe because we live so close to Hollywood and because we seem so separated from the rest of the world, we’ve simply gotten used to having things our way and don’t want to conform to having outside ways pushed upon us?
To be honest, I don’t know what the answer is. But I’m sure there is a reason!
What do you think? Why don’t Americans watch films and TV shows that have dubbed over from other languages when the rest of the world seems to do it so regularly?
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Comments
I think it’s because most Americans are already surrounded by so many English-language film and tv programs that they hardly bother to check what’s out in other languages. And maybe for the same reason, American companies see no motive to dub foreign-language film and tv programs. It’s always economics.
Hi, I found this quite interesting as I have also moved to europe and I find the dubbing of movies quite annoying. However isn’t there a legislation of some sort in the American film industry that prevents the dubbing of foreign films?