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By Ananya Gondesi, The Youth Outlook Staff Writer
I grew up watching Hindi and Telugu movies. Bollywood movies were a direct way for me to preserve my culture while I was away from India. It also allowed my mom and dad, who are immigrants, to stay connected to their culture while being in an unfamiliar land. I grew up speaking Telugu since both of my parents spoke that language. Even though I don’t speak Hindi, we still watched Bollywood which are very popular in India, even though most Indians don’t speak just Hindi. Often -- since India is such a diverse place with many languages-- their first language is something different.
The only reason I was able to understand Hindi movies? Subtitles. Beautiful, beautiful subtitles. It’s truly amazing to see how different American cinema is from Bollywood cinema, and I can have two truly spectacular experiences while watching them.
Subtitles are breaking down the walls between movie-goers - here’s why:
In American movies, American culture is very much present. Films set in a different country, or a different language, expose audiences to different cultures. With the ability to turn on the subtitles, people who don’t speak the language of the film can enjoy a different experience in film, maybe even learning a bit more about the country the film came from.
In recent years, movies like Roma (2018) and Parasite (2019) have been received a lot of buzz in awards season. Parasite even won the Academy Award for Best Picture earlier this year. When it comes to movies, it doesn’t matter what language it’s in, how loud it is or isn’t, what matter is the story that the filmmaker tries to bring to life. That’s the true beauty of cinema.
With subtitles, we can experience this in different forms and truly enjoy a different style that we may not be used to. It’s even more helpful for the deaf or hard of hearing, who can enjoy more movies while not being able to hear, but still being able to follow along with the story. It’s not just movies that are doing this-it’s also TV shows. Shows like Money Heist, Elite, and so many more in Netflix originals allow people to watch and enjoy the story. As the director of Parasite, Bong Joon Ho said, “Once you overcome the 1-inch-barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films...I think we use only just one language-the cinema.
