Embracing Subtitles

By Tanya Silerio

This year, the Oscars shocked everyone by giving their biggest award of the night, Best Picture, to the movie “Parasite.” The film is described as a comedic thriller that deals with topics on class discrimination and greed. It had amazing reviews, won other major film awards like the Critics Choice Award, and made over $200 million in the box office. It has everything an Oscar-worthy film would need: controversial topics, an amazing cast, and an unforgettable plot twist. Yet despite that, no one thought it would win. In fact, many were sure it would be snubbed and not be nominated at all. But, in the end, it was nominated in six different categories and won all of them. The reason people were so skeptical over it doing so well is simple, it isn’t in English and, if you want to watch it, you will need to read subtitles as the movie is in Korean. In America, it’s hard to imagine a film with little to no English doing so well. It’s happened before with films like “Amélie,” “Life is Beautiful,” and “Roma.” But, it’s rare and doesn’t happen as much. It’s so rare that Americans are stereotyped as a nation that refuses to read the dialogue. This causes distributors to reconsider bringing foreign-language films and leaves us with a limited list of movies to watch. If these foreign language films are shown, they are usually shown only in states like California or New York. It’s hard to imagine why a country with over 400 languages spoken has a hard time dealing with subtitles. It should be easy since other countries do it all the time, especially with how big the American film industry is. The rest of the world tends to watch the same films that we do that are in English only and are ok with it. With recent movies like “Roma” and “Parasite” becoming hits, it seems like people are now more open to the idea of watching films in another language. And with streaming services like Netflix providing many TV shows and films from all over the world, more people are watching things they would have never imagined due to language barriers. In fact, Netflix had a hard time with the hit series “Narcos.” In order to ease the audience into using subtitles for a whole episode, the show would switch from English to Spanish. Netflix didn’t want the show to be strictly English because they thought it would be silly to have these characters from Mexico speak only English. This tactic seemed to work as it is now

This year, the Oscars shocked everyone by giving their biggest award of the night, Best Picture, to the movie “Parasite.” The film is described as a comedic thriller that deals with topics on class discrimination and greed. It had amazing reviews, won other major film awards like the Critics Choice Award, and made over $200 million in the box office. It has everything an Oscar-worthy film would need: controversial topics, an amazing cast, and an unforgettable plot twist. Yet despite that, no one thought it would win. In fact, many were sure it would be snubbed and not be nominated at all. But, in the end, it was nominated in six different categories and won all of them. The reason people were so skeptical over it doing so well is simple, it isn’t in English and, if you want to watch it, you will need to read subtitles as the movie is in Korean. In America, it’s hard to imagine a film with little to no English doing so well. It’s happened before with films like “Amélie,” “Life is Beautiful,” and “Roma.” But, it’s rare and doesn’t happen as much. It’s so rare that Americans are stereotyped as a nation that refuses to read the dialogue. This causes distributors to reconsider bringing foreign-language films and leaves us with a limited list of movies to watch. If these foreign language films are shown, they are usually shown only in states like California or New York. It’s hard to imagine why a country with over 400 languages spoken has a hard time dealing with subtitles. It should be easy since other countries do it all the time, especially with how big the American film industry is. The rest of the world tends to watch the same films that we do that are in English only and are ok with it. With recent movies like “Roma” and “Parasite” becoming hits, it seems like people are now more open to the idea of watching films in another language. And with streaming services like Netflix providing many TV shows and films from all over the world, more people are watching things they would have never imagined due to language barriers. In fact, Netflix had a hard time with the hit series “Narcos.” In order to ease the audience into using subtitles for a whole episode, the show would switch from English to Spanish. Netflix didn’t want the show to be strictly English because they thought

it would be silly to have these characters from Mexico speak only English. This tactic seemed to work as it is now in its second season. Its success will hopefully lead to entertainment companies accepting more non-English entertainment for a country that speaks mostly English. It’s not hard for everyone to accept it. Those that grew up in bilingual households are used to it. Many families across the country grow up watching television in both Spanish and English. Cindy Lozano, a film student at UC Berkeley, had such an upbringing. As a result, her goals include winning an Oscar, working with director Martin Scorcese, and introducing foreign films to those that are indifferent to them. Lozano’s love for movies started when she was young. She uses to constantly replay films like “Pretty in Pink,” “The Shining,” and “Friday the 13th.” Her favorite genres are still horror and coming of age stories. “It’s a weird combination, I agree,” Lozano, the 22-year-old film major said. “But my parents love horror so it’s normal for me to have a horror film playing in the background as I study, people get freaked out but I love it. As for teen movies I don’t know, I feel like the 80s got it right. I’ve seen all of them too many times.” She talks about spending hours online watching the behind the scenes process of these films and how that sparked an interest in filmmaking. “The process is fascinating to me,” Lozano said, “and to be making it is even more fascinating, it’s a mixture of everything honestly.” Throughout the years, she has kept track of all her favorite films and while that list continues to grow she has noticed that she has a deep love and appreciation for foreign films. She recalls her first exposure to TV or any other form of entertainment was in Spanish. “My parents didn’t speak English well so I obviously grew up in a Spanish-only environment until I started going to school,” Lozano said.

For her, it’s only right to favor foreign-language films. “ I have a soft spot for them, many of my happiest memories involve those films,” Lozano said. “I never thought much of it if anything I thought it was normal and that everyone else was living and watching just like me but, I found out I was wrong.” Her love for Spanish films led to her love for French cinema with the film “Amélie.” It’s a French rom-com film that was released in 2001 and became one of the highest-grossing French films at the time. “It blew my mind,” Lozano said. “Sure it was a rom-com but it was in French and it taught me a few things about French culture.” The older Cindy got the more films she discovered in both her native and non-native language. She didn’t care what language it was in as long as the story was good, as long as she felt some sort of emotion, she enjoyed it. Whenever people would ask for recommendations, she would give them two options, one in English the other in another language. “People would often give me a look after,” explained Lozano. “I guess they thought I was joking and were waiting for me to say ‘just kidding,’ but I was serious.” She says she’s baffled by people’s hatred for subtitled films. “They would mostly always respond with ‘I don’t want to read’ or ‘I feel weird watching it.’” All she could do was respond with light laughter. “It’s really interesting to hear people complain about reading,” Lozano said. She explains that maybe it’s because she’s used to it, but she does not find the process of reading subtitles difficult but gets why it might be for some. “Subtitles aren’t always reliable,” Lozano explains. “It depends on who translates it and sometimes they can be a bit off. You have to pay attention, you have to learn to how to focus on the visual language, body language of the characters, scenery, and other things that help [us] understand a movie better.” She thinks maybe this is what scares many Americans into avoiding these films. “It can be overwhelming,” Lozano said, “I enjoy observing those things but the average movie goer might not, and I get it.” Despite some of the struggles that come with it, Cindy still tries her best to persuade people about the beauty of foreign films. “I think the best way to watch them is on the big screen,” Lozano said, “It’s important to pay attention to the background, scenery, details, facial

Photo Credit: flickr / CC0

Photo Credit: Pinterest

expressions, basically everything in order to really take it all in.” She laughs a little as she realizes how descriptive she gets when talking about these details. “As a film major, I pay attention to these things but if you don’t it doesn’t matter,” Lozano said. “Really it doesn’t matter how you enjoy a film as long as you really do end up enjoying it.” Her big selling point is the chance to experience new cultures through the comfort of your own home or movie theater “At the moment, I don’t have enough money to take a trip out of the country, so, the next best thing is to visit them via film,” she said. While of course a film’s main purpose is to entertain and make audiences forget about their worries for an hour or more but, according to Lozano, it’s different when it has a cast, background, location, and storyline from a place you have only seen in pictures or video. “Honestly it just feels different in many ways,” Lozano concludes. “These foreign films get their point across much better than a film shot in America. It’s important to step out of your comfort zone and expand your mind and this, to me, is a great way to start.”

WOMEN FILL JOURNALISM CLASSROOMS... YET NEWSROOMS ARE MOSTLY STILL MEN

By Melanie Gerner

Alyssa Vega was inspired by the investigative journalism of New York Times reporters Meghan Twohey and Jodi Kantor. Today, Vega is a journalism student at Boston University and a lifestyle, arts and entertainment beat reporter for The Belmont Citizen Herald. At BU, Vega has both male and female professors currently working in media, notably The Boston Globe, MSNBC and NPR, but class composition stands in stark contrast. In a journalism ethics course last semester, Vega shared the classroom with only two male students out of 30. That trend continued into the following semester when an in-depth reporting course was principally women and hosted only one male student.

Journalism classrooms are consistently dominated by female students, yet in 2018, the percentage of male workers in newsrooms was higher than that of the overall U.S. workforce. About six-in-ten newsroom employees (61%) are men, compared with 53% of all workers. Interestingly, the ratio of younger newsroom employees was about fifty-fifty. This may be because journalism classes at universities are more and more filled with women, or it could be these young women have not decided to have a family yet.

Dr. Ana de la Serna, communications professor at California State University Dominguez Hills, knows firsthand about the limitations a family can have on an international career in photojournalism. After working with the president of Mexico and traveling for extended periods, she was forced to choose between her photojournalism career and her family.

“There aren’t a lot of men who are willing to stay home and watch their children or do that part, so it is assumed as a woman, that is your responsibility. I am not trying to reinforce stereotypes, but it is just what I see” de la Serna said. “I think that’s why there are not that many women in the newsroom. It becomes incompatible to have a family and have this job that is so demanding.”

Women shouldering the labor of caretaking is common around the world, and in America. Acccording to Author Jessica Neuwirth, in her essay entitled “Unequal: A Global Perspective on Women Under the Law,” as recently as 2001 the United States Supreme Court upheld a ruling where children of mothers with U.S. citizenship were granted a lifetime right to U.S. citizenship, and children of fathers with U.S. citizenship (including GIs stationed overseas) must take legal steps, before turning 18, to claim legal citizenship.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor noted in her dissenting opinion on the ruling, “[T]he majority’s discussion may itself simply reflect the stereotype of male irresponsibility that is no more a basis for the validity of classification than are the stereotypes about ‘traditional’ behavior patterns of women.”

Vega is personally acquainted with the “traditional” behavior patterns expected of women. One of her proudest accomplishments is the graphic she created for an essay entitled “Rejecting My Family’s Mexican-American Traditions Pushed Me Toward a Higher Education.” Vega’s educational and professional pursuits challenge the traditional gender roles expected of her in her parents’ home.

Women in America began to formally push back on “traditional” behavior patterns decades ago. More than one hundred years ago women began taking steps to have their voices heard in the theater of American government by changing policy for voting rights and property ownership. Women’s suffrage challenged the legacy of coverture law that was imported from England during the founding of America. Nonetheless, its legacy continues to linger among many professions, including American news production.

Darlena Cunha is a professor of journalism at the University of Florida and is a freelance journalist for the New York Times, Washington Post and others. Cunha was hitting her stride in a career in television news production when she learned she was pregnant in 2008. Instead of dedicating all her time and energy to television news production, she gave some of herself to her family, as a wife and mother.

“My life would have been completely different if I had gotten pregnant at a different time,” Cunha said. “Journalism hours aren’t necessarily kind

to family life if you are working outside the home. Either you are missing dinner or you are missing breakfast. You are just not there.”

After becoming a mother, Cunha stopped producing television news and began blogging for free. Her family saw struggle, but she found a way to earn her master’s degree and later become an adjunct professor at the University of Florida. In 2014, she started her freelance journalism career with a breakout essay about her financial struggles during the economic downturn of 2009. Today, as a parent of 11-year-old twin girls, she works from home as a professor, writer, editor, ghost writer and news producer. “It took me a long time to pivot and create this new ladder for myself,” Cunha said. “I work 70 hours a week, but if anyone needs me, I’m on duty again [as a mother].”

Journalism is a poorly paid profession unless you are in a top tier position, which many women do not reach. There is a glass ceiling for women when it comes to promotions and pay raises. Women drop out of newsrooms to take care of their families or switch to more profitable careers. Women are going through college as journalism majors, but they are still not represented in higher-level news management positions.

Photojournalism is particularly competitive, and it is difficult to reach a level of notoriety that is highly profitable. This is especially true for women. Dr. de la Serna recalled the gender pay gap from her own experience as a photojournalist.

“There were four of us, the two males were getting paid a lot more than my coworker and I who were women,” Dr. de la Serna said. “We were all doing the same amount of work.”

Dr. de la Serna realized her career had plateaued when she decided to return to school for an advanced degree. She thought as a photojournalist she would only ever be paid as a technician rather than as a professional.

“I think that is why so many journalism majors go into public relations and doing other things. It is more stable, so it allows the opportunity to balance life and work,” Dr. de la Serna said.

For many women it may not be worth it to sacrifice time with their families to work in a low-paying field.

Still, young women are filling seats in journalism classes all over the country, despite the historically low rates of success for females in news production. Perhaps the recent report of equal numbers of male and female newsroom employees aged 18-29 is a forecast of newsrooms in the future.

Vega and students like her are the future of journalism. To her, storytelling is a big part of her life and she is excited to make it her work. She has always been curious about people, what they do and why they do it. She is proud to be a journalist and considers it a privilege to tell the untold stories of the world. With more women like her in today’s journalism classrooms, maybe their voices will start to reflect broader conversations, shatter more glass ceilings and present a more inclusive future for the industry as well.