People swear everywhere. No matter if it’s a strict society or not (probably it’s even worse there), people will swear when the situation calls it. We all try to be civilized in our everyday conversations, but life is not concerned about manners. There’s NO WAY a police officer will punch a murder suspect unconscious and follow the punches by calling him “brat”, or a woman attacking her husband’s lover to the point she draws blood and she’ll just call her “misbehaving young girl”. It’s just not realistic.
That’s where the translation ends and your reading of facial expressions starts. How can the shame and the stomping of your personhood be translated properly??? It’s the condescending words that delivery the punch not the actual meaning.
I disagree. Since the characters in the above situations used heavy swearing (because the writer wanted it that way), it’s not up to the subber/ translator to use milder words just because they feel like it; that’s my whole point here.
But that’s what they’re actually saying.
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No, in my example that’s not what they said, that’s what the subber wrote, because they didn’t want to write the curses. Maybe I wasn’t clear enough.
I really like weasle-like dude. It is picturesque and conjures up a type of put-down with its own flavor, not conveyed by sleaze-ball.
I am not aware that Viki issues show-specific directives. The rating system used for movies in many countries circumvents the raw language/graphic content issue. Shows made for non-cable TV have tighter standards due to the lack of control over the age of the viewing audience.
However you want to tackle this or any issue as a Subtitler or Editor, there will always be complaints from viewers. Exercise reasonable restraint where it seems appropriate. Discuss it with your team if you need to.
Having said that, I agree with the comment above…if a viewer finds language, graphics, or subject matter personally offensive, watch something else that is in your comfort zone. The visual arts is not one size fits all, nor should it be.
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