Earlier this month, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences surprised everyone by giving its award for Best Picture to Bong Joon Ho’s film “Parasite.” The surprise lies not in the quality of the movie, but the fact that it’s a foreign language film; in the ninety-two-year history of the Oscars, no subtitled movie has ever won Best Picture.
Subtitles used to be an unpopular choice for most American moviegoers and TV viewers, but a fascinating article explores how that’s started to change.
One of the catalysts is Netflix, whose streaming service allows Americans to watch TV series and films from around the world in their original versions, not to mention use closed captioning on English-language offerings, as well.
Read on to learn how subtitles have gone from an unusual bit of visual clutter, to a part of everyday entertainment for American audiences.
A still from "Parasite" (Image source)
Contact Our Writer – Alysa Salzberg
