Dubbing vs. Subtitles

Richard Natale wrote that “distribution struggles continue” for foreign films in his very interesting article (“Subtitled Films Gaining in Fight for Share of Big-Screen Spotlight,” Jan. 8).

It is a shame that the American public gets such little chance for viewing interesting, culturally and qualitatively important films because most “people don’t want to read their movies.” When I lived in Germany, at least 95% of foreign movies were dubbed into the German language. Why can that not be done here?

Most of my friends won’t see a subtitled film but would definitely make an effort to view a dubbed one.

ANNELIESE OHLER, North Hollywood

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There is an element Natale’s article overlooked: the accessibility and enjoyment of these films for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Deaf people have to wait months for a newly released film to go on tape and include captions. Open-captioned American films in theaters are very few and far between. We can now enjoy more films, and better films, and talk about them, just like moviegoers have been doing all their lives.

Let’s keep the subtitles going.

MARGE KLUGMAN, Los Angeles