U.S. Subtitles

Why do U.S. audiences struggle with subtitles?

Surely that is the only explanation for why the U.S. tend to 'translate' foreign shows by completely re-writing them. When Disney bought Studio Ghibli they gave their films awful dubbing using U.S. actors, while the stellar Danish drama Forbrydelsen was butchered by AMC in their re-make.

I am not suggesting that everyone should learn Japanese or Danish to appreciate these shows. Instead, we should just get used to reading subtitles and leaving the show intact. It is our own intellectual blind-spot when we do not understand these languages and the integrity of the piece should not be threatened to mitigate this.

It is far more rare to translate a film from the U.S. to another culture and that is surely because other cultures understand how embedded these pieces are with their places of origin.

U.S. television executives should just learn to read and stop destroying foreign cultural pieces.

-The English Student

Electrocution

I've had two minor electric shocks in the past week or so.

These were by no means serious but the sensation was quite remarkable. It was not a feeling I would instantly describe as "pain" and so is difficult to articulate. It was more like a sense of physical disorientation.

I am not too interested in the science behind this feeling, although my impression is that this was due to a temporary disruption of my body's own electrical charge. The result of which was that I instantly lost my sense of embodiment for a split second.

Such slight and small physical shifts can have vast effects on the very composition of life. Perhaps this is part of the reason that the recent successes at CERN are so poignant. When we understand the minute forces at the base of existence we can understand how to control them.

I also need to be more careful around exposed wires!

-The English Student

Hobby Cartography

I have started to make some maps.

This new hobby began with a friend who has a similar issue with geography. We really do not have too good a grasp on this planet, it's countries or where exactly we live. I should point out that my geography is particularly poor and I am far more guilty than my friend.

So we began making maps. We made some by memory and my friend thoroughly showed up my ignorance. Embarrassed by my own, I have decided to work on a larger scale map and to use an atlas. This way I can actually learn where things are before having to make wild guesses.

This hobby cartography gives me a grasp on my environment, in the same way that following 'current events' gives me a grasp on what happens in my environment. These may very well be illusions but they are at least comforting illusions.

And they are illusions that allow me to spend time colouring nice pictures.

-The English Student

Commitments

Commitments keep me coming back to this blog, even when an update is due in five minutes time.

Making new commitments is tricky for me and I am pressed towards making another one by difficult circumstances and uncontrollable emotions. When I do make one of these commitments however, I tend to keep it.

This blog has been diligently upheld, despite an absence of readership and an absence of true inspiration for a long time. Is it some kind of zombie commitment when the initial reason for taking it has dissipated?

Perhaps it just shows commitment to that initial beginning. With that in mind, I should allow myself to make commitments a bit more readily: knowing that trust in myself is the most important factor for these decisions.

I will have to see how this plays out practically.

-The English Student

Post Release Preview: In Time

Over the week someone told me about the new Justin Timberlake film In Time.

The premise is fascinating. Instead of currency, individuals are allotted certain amounts of time which they can exchange for goods or transfer to others as payment. To earn more time you work a job or do other tasks. When your time runs out, you die. Effectively, the film directly commodifies time and these must ask interesting questions of capitalist society and the trade-off between time and money.

It seems unlikely, however, that I will actually watch the film. Rotten Tomatoes is panning the film and once again we have an example of a fascinating metaphysical premise destroyed by inept Hollywood production. It is hard to forgive such a ridiculous result when films like Inception set the bar for smart thinking and smart film making.

We do seem to be more forgiving when literature undermines a good plot-line however. Look at the dystopian fiction of Huxley (an arguably similar genre to In Time) or others: poor writing is forgotten while the fear created by the premise remains.

I am at least satisfied that poor film-making is not easily forgiven, I just wish they had spent more time crafting the piece than crafting the idea.

-The English Student

Racking up the Air Miles

In my life I have flown very little.

However, this year I have probably travelled more than at any other point in my life. I take two flights again this week and have begun to realise that my carbon footprint is sneaking up. I enjoy this travelling, even if it means that I spend more time eating airport food and experiencing airport customer service than I would like.

However, I have also begun to wonder if getting used to spending time in transit is a good thing. It is hard, when travelling to escape the expectations upon arriving at a place. Focusing on the actual travel is boring and mundane and when you move around a lot, this looking ahead becomes a normal perspective.

Perhaps that truly is what colours my current existence: a relentless hope for the future and a wilful ignorance of the boring present. The travelling paradigm is a dangerous one when no clear destination is in sight and no clear markers to highlight when one has been reached.

All things to be aware of as I rack up more air miles.

-The English Student

Story Toppers

I am now in regular contact with a bona-fide story topper.

Several people have independently identified this person as a story topper. He is apparently incapable of simply listening to a story or claim without telling one of his own inevitably grander tales. This is especially through if alcohol is involved.

This is annoying. It shows that this person is far more interested in hearing their own voice than what someone else has to say. They clearly believe that their own life is far more exciting and extreme than others and also believe that they need to make this obvious at every possible moment.

I do worry for them. Of course insecurity is at the base of this but how far do they have to take these stories? I mostly assume that they are lying about these stories but if they are true, then they are surely living in such a way as to actually be dangerous. But why lie about living such an awful lifestyle?

Perhaps I best just nod along to the stories and keep a wary eye out.

-The English Student