The way you watch a movie may define you
Every country and even every person takes it in a different way
From the bottom of my heart mind
Fresh stories from a Spanish Copywriter.
In which language do you watch your movies and TV shows?
Easy question. Easy answer. And yet, every country has it own answer… and even within the same country, you’ll find different answers.
Let’s take Spain, the example I know best.
In Valencia, the city I live most of the time, you’ll only find couple of cinemas where you can watch every movie in its original language (with subtitles in Spanish). In other cinemas, they may have 1-2 weekly showings in English for blockbuster movies.
And that’s all.
In bigger cities (Barcelona & Madrid) is easier. In smaller cities it’s harder.
My mum (and her generation) would never, ever watch a movie that is not in Spanish.
“I come to the cinema to watch, not to read”.
Why? Three main reasons:
They grew up this way, with every movie and piece of content from outside Spain being dubbed. For them, the voice of actors like Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, or Tom Cruise is the voice of the Spanish voice actor.
Most of them don’t speak English, as they used to learn French in school. Some have learned it as adults, but in most cases, this didn’t happen.
In Spain, we have a lot of content (movies, series, TV shows, etc.) made in Spain, with a strong local culture.
Even in my case, where I watch most movies and TV shows in their original language… sometimes I don’t.
Take, for example, the iconic movie “Life of Brian” by Monty Python. I watched it sooooooooo many times when I was younger that, for me, the natural thing is to watch it in Spanish. This way, I know all the puns, the jokes (which are different), and everything in between.
This is why, in a lot of projects where other languages decide to keep some copy or voiceover in English, I say “WAIT.” I review it carefully. And if we have the resources (mainly time, then money), I try to dub it.
How do you watch movies? And what impact do you think this has on communication? Comment and let me know!
Outside the desk
Where the magic really happens.
🏝️ Next destination booked! I’ll spend October & November on the Canary island (first in a coliving in Gran Canaria, then an apartment in Lanzarote).
🎞️ Speaking of movies, I watched yesterday “Hot Shots”. These are the movies I used to watch with my dad years ago and that’s why I always watch them in Spanish.
📖 And in a really chill weekend, I finished two novels: “La Rebelión de los Buenos” (about a trial on the pharmaceutical industry) and “El Descontento”, a short and sweet book about the current state of work for millennials.
Make it global, baby
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All the best for the rest of your week,
💙 Ricky from Textonality.com 💙