Closed Captioning

[TootTaLu]

i purchased a bunch of dvd's in beijing.

the CC is hilarious.

 

you can be watching seinfeld and it says something completely different that has nothing to do with anything, then it jumps back on to what they are saying.

 

 

My fiance quite enjoys the DVDs of "Ally McBeal" I bought in China.

 

The "jokes" must be simplified though.

 

On the show,one lady was being a bit of a B-otch to everybody.

So the joke went:

 

English subtitle:

"Whats wrong with her?"

"Oh,I think her gynecologist pulled the wrong tooth".

 

Chinese subtitle:

"Whats wrong with her?"

"Oh,I think her dentist pulled the wrong tooth".

 

Ok,so there was still a laugh for everybody.

I dont think its censorship.

It just keeps the punch line simple.

 

On the other hand,in American movie DVDs bought in China,I have seen Chinese language subtitle "commentary" that says stuff like "America often engages in this such and such blah blah blah...",right in the middle of a movie.

Now thats just wrong.

When your watching these DVDs with your fiance/wife,you never really know what the Chinese subtitles are saying,and just because the English and other languages are accurate,you never know what the Chinese subtitles are saying.

 

"Lord Of War" is a movie about a Russian/American gunrunner,selling illegal arms.

At the end of that DVD,BEFORE the credits run,but after all of the spoken parts and subtitles have ended,there is a paragraph

ONLY ON THE CHINESE SUBTITLE TRACK that says something like:

"America,France,England always sell illegal firearms to small developing countries..."

This is clearly something extra that is added to an otherwise accurate translation of an English language movie.

In the movie "War Of The Worlds" the actor is having an argument with his ex-wife about their child,and ONLY the Chinese subtitle butts in "Americans always fight in front of their children..."

 

You just never know about Chinese subtitles.