Awhile back I accidentally turned on the “closed-captioned for the hearing impaired” feature on my TV and couldn’t figure out how to turn it off for a day or so (it turns out that hitting the “mute” button toggles it – go figure).
At first it was an annoyance, but I quickly came to appreciate the feature so much that I routinely turn it on for a number of reasons:
[ul][li]The captions often include background conversations (e.g., in a restaurant scene) that I wouldn’t have even noticed without the captions.[/li]
[li]The captions are apparently sometimes created based on the shooting script and NOT the final product, meaning that you sometimes get to see things the characters don’t actually say. In the case of The Simpsons, for example, I sometimes see jokes that were apparently just a little too tasteless to make into the show.[/li]
[li]The captions sometimes clue me in to words or phrases I’ve been mishearing in the past. For example, I always thought that the tag line for Sara Lee products was “nobody does it like Sara Lee” until I saw the correct version (“Nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee”) in the captions.[/li]
[li]Some sitcoms include extra jokes in the captioning during the end credits.[/ul][/li]
Anybody else routinely turn the closed-captioned feature on even though they don’t need to do so?
When the baby has finally gone to bed I sometimes turn down the volume but turn on the captions so I won’t disturb him.
Also, if the kids are playing in the other room and I’m trying to watch something I might not think is appropriate for them to hear I’ll turn the volume down and use the captions.
It was an accident at first, but as soon as we realized how much dialogue is inaudible because of various conditions (such as those mentioned in the OP) we’ve gotten into the habit of using them whenever possible.
The main drawbacks to CC programs come from the “on the fly” versions that come with “live” programs. In these cases it’s obvious that the Phonics training the captioners use is weak at best, hilarious in many cases.
What I have learned on the DVD’s we’ve watched (many from Netflix and some we bought) is that sometimes the DVD won’t have a menu option for “English for the hearing impaired” so we have to go to the TV’s menu to locate the setting. In some cases, the DVD will be captioned without a menu option available.
This will be obvious when the “Captions By…” legend appears.
I always thought it was nobody does it like Sara Lee, too! They recently began placing their motto at the bottom of the screen and I couldn’t believe I’d been mis-hearing the words all these years.
I’m hearing, but because my parents are deaf I’ve watched TV with closed captioning all my life. And now I watch it with closed captioning all the time even when they’re not around. I guess I’m just used to it. Plus, you do get those little extra bits you might’ve missed without them.
I like watching the news with live closed captioning because there are many, many mistakes (which is understandable with live typing) and occasionally you get hilarious ones. “Prosecutes” can come out as “prostitutes” - things like that.
I’m a definite visual learner - maybe it’s a learning disability or something, but I have always had trouble understanding things by listening as opposed to watching. There’s lots of stuff that happens in movies and tv shows that isn’t accompanied by any sort of visual cues, and those facts are lost on me. Unless, of course, I turn on closed captioning.
The drawback? Nobody will watch movies with me if I turn it on.
It’s getting so I can’t watch TV without the captions. I also noticed jokes in The Simpsons that weren’t said out loud… But the captions annoy my mother…
I turned it on when my son was having lots of trouble reading, and I though that at least with CC on he might get the concept that spoken words can be turned into written words, and I hoped he’d catch one or two once in a while. Then I found it very useful for listening to conversations that I otherwise wouldn’t have understood, either because they were mumbled or I was distracted for a moment.
My wife and I use it for the same reason as Aries28, so we don’t wake the kids up. I do like the various extra bits that you pick up with it though.
As an aside, my TV has a whole bunch of CC settings C1, C2, C3 and I think something like T1, T2… The only one that seems to work is C1. Anyone know what the other settings are for? Do some cable providers or stations send CC on a different frequency or something?
I’m with Francesca; though I’m hearing, my parents are deaf so I grew up watching CC. I don’t turn it on at home that often, but I find it handy when I’m trying to watch the sports channels at the neighborhood bar.
The X-Files used to be full of those. Pretty much, every time you heard a voiceover, the captions were completely different.
Anyway, I have mine on nearly all the time (rare exception is when it’s something I actually want to just see or the captioning is really badly done so it is in the way of everything. But that’s very rare.) Some of the captions are hilariously off, some have descriptions of sounds that I am pretty sure won’t mean anything to Deaf or Hard of Hearing people.
But generally, it helps to have them on. Especially for any show that you care about dialogue. How people watch The West Wing without captioning is beyond me.
For “The Wire” it’s indispensible – that show has people of various races and social classes speaking in heavy dialects and it makes no attempt to coddle the viewer. I watch this (and anything else) with the CC off but when I miss something I hit mute (which turns the CC on) and the “jump back” button on my TiVo which replays about the last seven seconds – now with captions.
I use the captions for exactly the same reasons as the OP. When I try to watch without them, I’m amazed at what I miss.
Also, I love the fact that the captions often identify a song title and performer before showing the lyrics. I would have no idea what the music is otherwise!
Well, since I am hearing impaired, my mom, my dad, and my brother watch TV with captions. It’s never off, except during sports events or newscasts–the captioning is usually just horrible then. My dad hates it, but my mom and my brother are okay with it.
I can’t even imagine watching TV regularly without it anymore.
I know I’m cheating by posting in this thread cos I’m hearing impaired. But still!
I turned them on to watch Chopper because Eric Bana’s Australian accent was incomprehensible. Apparently it was to the captioners too becuase there were a lot of errors.
I used to frequent a bar where the owners would turn on the CC because the noise drowned out the TV. Watching news shows was a hoot, because the ‘on the fly’ CC, as Zeldar and Francesca pointed out, make for some funny mistakes.
