A debate popped up in the Local 4 newsroom: Do you watch TV with subtitles? Some people don’t like them, but a new poll sheds light on who uses subtitles and why — and the results vary by age.
One generation might watch classic shows like “The Golden Girls,” while another opts for newer series like “The Summer I Turned Pretty.”
Your age may also determine how you watch your favorite TV shows and movies.
A recent poll finds that 40% of adults ages 18 to 44 use subtitles “always” or “often.” That number drops to 28% for those 45 and older, according to AP/NORC.
Those stats came to life in a TikTok video featuring 57-year-old Kelly Gibson watching a movie with her daughters, including 30-year-old Halli.
Halli said, “And it’s at the point, I would say, where it’s jarring if the subtitles aren’t on.”
Kelly added, “I was fascinated and loved the idea that younger generations saw this as something that was for everybody.”
Not everyone agrees, though.
In a clip from the show “Nothing Major,” viewers debated subtitles: “When you guys watch movies in English, tell me you have the subtitles on at all times?” “No, never, absolutely not.” “Why do you use those subtitles? You speak English!” “Sometimes, you know, you make sure you catch everything.”
Catching every word is a main reason viewers turn on subtitles.
For example, in the show “Succession,” Logan Roy says, “I love you, but you are not serious people,” — a line easier to catch with subtitles.
Subtitles are also used for foreign films and shows, like “Squid Game,” or to understand accents, as in “Game of Thrones.”
One TikTok user said, “The closed captions are on — all the time — Game of Thrones started it because I watched it the first time without — then I watched it with. Game changer.”
The poll revealed that younger viewers may have additional reasons for using captions, including watching in noisy environments or multitasking across multiple screens.
Halli explained, “You can read the subtitles faster than they’re usually delivered by the actors, and so that usually means that you can pick up what’s needed and then hear it as you’re continuing on your work.”
Subtitles aren’t new. They date back to the early 1900s as “intertitles” — title cards between scenes in silent movies.
With the advent of sound in movies, subtitles evolved and grew more complex over the decades.
Today, captions are common in social media videos, which may explain why younger generations are comfortable reading what they watch.
Halli said, “I just find it so much more helpful for me to be able to fully understand everything that’s going on, whatever the dialogue is, whatever is being said...”
We asked viewers to share their thoughts — and here are the results.