# Things That Don't Translate Between Cultures: the Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 17, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636 "2014-05-17T15:43:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/61 "2014-05-19T14:38:55Z")
> [@Vicullum](#): > > Speaking of wacky titles, when The Crying Game was released in Hong Kong they chose something much more literal: ["‘Oh No! My Girlfriend Has a Penis!’’](http://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/15/weekinreview/november-8-14-lost-and-gained-in-the-translation.html) Talk about spoilers! > [@JustinC](#): > > Hey, shouldn’t you post a **Spoiler Alert** or something? Sheesh. Didn’t they also retitle Empire Strikes Back to “Oh No! Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s Father!”? ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/62 "2014-05-19T14:40:08Z")
I’m consistently puzzled by the Japanese rape-porn obsession. I was also puzzled by the observation that other countries did not understand our preoccupation with Westerns, if only because Europe produced so many of them. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/63 "2014-05-19T15:13:37Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > What!? > > They actually called it Übermensch! > > I asked because I thought they’d change it due to the Nazi use of the term “Superman”. The german language superman movie posters I’ve been able to find all say, literally “Superman”. As in, that exact string of characters, not the german word which means superman. [http://www.filmposter.net/uploads/tx\_dam/posters/large/7608.jpg](http://www.filmposter.net/uploads/tx_dam/posters/large/7608.jpg) [![](http://www.sci-fimovieposters.co.uk/images/posters-s/S-0007_Superman_II_german_movie_poster_l.jpg) ](http://www.sci-fimovieposters.co.uk/images/posters-s/S-0007_Superman_II_german_movie_poster_l.jpg) [http://www.filmposter.net/uploads/tx\_dam/posters/large/7014.jpg](http://www.filmposter.net/uploads/tx_dam/posters/large/7014.jpg) [http://www.filmposter.net/uploads/tx\_dam/posters/large/9031.jpg](http://www.filmposter.net/uploads/tx_dam/posters/large/9031.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/64 "2014-05-19T15:43:27Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > bolding mind > > :dubious: For the record, she did not smoke cigarettes DURING the lesbian sex scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/65 "2014-05-19T15:46:03Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > I don’t think smoking has a correlation with intelligence. Actually, I’m sure it doesn’t. > > Smoking cigarettes is something that many western countries have decided not to approve of anymore (weed is still cool though). > > Smoking might currently have a correlation with lower socio-economic conditions. It certainly has a correlation with countries in terms of how it is viewed differently. > > How do you think it’s correlated to stupidity, exactly? I’m not saying that it has any real correlation to stupidity, I’m saying people see it as a stupid thing to do. Smoking greatly elevates your chances of getting lung cancer, see … My point was, the character is not otherwise portrayed as being stupid, or doing stupid things. So clearly, the French see smoking differently than we do. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/66 "2014-05-19T16:12:12Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > For the record, she did not smoke cigarettes DURING the lesbian sex scenes. Just as well, a negligently placed cigarette can set the carpet on fire… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/67 "2014-05-19T16:18:58Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > He probably didn’t mention it because it was written 10 posts earlier, in post 28 (though I personally think it’s helpful to quote a small segment or include the posters name in bold if I know there are posts between the one I’m referring to and my own). Thanks - I missed that post somehow. And it turns out I do agree about the translated title being a good one ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/68 "2014-05-19T16:34:08Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > I’m not saying that it has any real correlation to stupidity, I’m saying people see it as a stupid thing to do. Smoking greatly elevates your chances of getting lung cancer, see … My point was, the character is not otherwise portrayed as being stupid, or doing stupid things. So clearly, the French see smoking differently than we do. You’ve got to realize, in the United States smoking is heavily stigmatized. An increasing number of states & localities have passed laws banning all smoking in or around public buildings. The average American thinks of smokers as losers who don’t care that they’re screwing up their lungs. The age when smoking was considered “cool,” “glamourous,” or even “kinda normal” died and was buried many years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/69 "2014-05-19T16:42:39Z")
I think that’s overstating things more than a little bit. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/70 "2014-05-19T17:32:34Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I think that’s overstating things more than a little bit. Not really. Smokers are treated like lepors in 21st Century America, and the attitude is increasing, not decreasing. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/71 "2014-05-19T17:36:56Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > You’ve got to realize, in the United States smoking is heavily stigmatized. An increasing number of states & localities have passed laws banning all smoking in or around public buildings. The average American thinks of smokers as losers who don’t care that they’re screwing up their lungs. The age when smoking was considered “cool,” “glamourous,” or even “kinda normal” died and was buried many years ago. Of course he realizes it. Here in America smoking has been relentlessly stigmatized over the past 4 decades, the days when smoking was cool are long over. And that’s why this French film where a character smokes and the smoking is presented as cool was a cultural disconnect for him. 40 years ago a cool lesbian who smokes would have fit in just fine here in America. In 2014 we don’t see it the same way. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/72 "2014-05-19T19:51:25Z")
I thought smoking was usually used in US cinema as shorthand for the villain or at least someone a bit sketchy. I didn’t know it had connotations of stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/73 "2014-05-19T19:51:51Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Of course he realizes it. Here in America smoking has been relentlessly stigmatized over the past 4 decades, the days when smoking was cool are long over. And that’s why this French film where a character smokes and the smoking is presented as cool was a cultural disconnect for him. 40 years ago a cool lesbian who smokes would have fit in just fine here in America. In 2014 we don’t see it the same way. When my wife and I volunteered at the Chicago International Film Festival a few years back, the office - which was normally non-smoking, like any other office in Chicago - became a de facto _smoking_ office. It’s pretty much impossible to stop Europeans from smoking, so they just gave up while all these people were there during the Festival. My father died of lung cancer, and I can’t wait for the day when smoking is about as socially acceptably as coprophilia. Mandy Patinkin’s father also died of cancer, and he reportedly drew upon that playing Inigo Montoya, addressing Christopher Guest’s Count Rugen as if he were his father’s cancer: \*\*Inigo Montoya: \*\*Offer me money. \*\*Count Rugen: \*\*Yes! \*\* Inigo Montoya: \*\*Power, too, promise me that. \*\*Count Rugen: \*\*All that I have and more. Please… \*\*Inigo Montoya: \*\*Offer me anything I ask for. \*\*Count Rugen: \*\*Anything you want… \*\*Inigo Montoya: \*\*I want my father back, you son of a bitch! ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/74 "2014-05-19T20:14:10Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > I thought smoking was usually used in US cinema as shorthand for the villain or at least someone a bit sketchy. I didn’t know it had connotations of stupidity. It doesn’t. While smoking is much less popular than it uses to be and people are less tolerant of smoking going on around them, there is no widespread connection between a depiction of someone smoking in a fictional work and stupidity. Indeed, regardless of the decline of its allure in real life and objections to positive portrayals of smoking, it still can carry an aura of sophistication, such as in “Mad Men.” And make no mistake, old movies, like Bogart films, still have their effect. The popularity and allure of smoking also has continuing cyclical influence on alternating cohorts of youth and of specific subcultures. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/75 "2014-05-19T20:37:43Z")
Growing up watching American movies, one thing I never fully understood until I had visited the US a couple of times, is the primacy of the car to how many (most?) Americans live. Here, out of a high school class of 100 people I graduated with in 1999, precisely one owned a car before graduating so seeing a teen movie where everyone seemed to have a car was very strange. It was slightly incomprehensible that even characters depicted as poor in these movies often had a car or access to one. I live in a compact enough suburban town close to Dublin City and otherwise have lived in the city so I know the car culture differs in other parts of the country but that is one thing that really stuck out for me. Even now I know plenty of people in their 30s and 40s who either can’t drive or don’t own a car. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/76 "2014-05-19T21:00:29Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It doesn’t. While smoking is much less popular than it uses to be and people are less tolerant of smoking going on around them, there is no widespread connection between a depiction of someone smoking in a fictional work and stupidity. I would say that a large percentage of American filmgoers would perceive a smoker as stupid. And of course, the cigarette was not all of it … also contributing was her naturally sleepy-eyed expression and puffy lips, which are also associated with stupidity. (For the record, I am not saying that sleepy-eyed people who have puffy lips are stupid … just, that’s the way the stereotype works.) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/77 "2014-05-19T21:06:27Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Growing up watching American movies, one thing I never fully understood until I had visited the US a couple of times, is the primacy of the car to how many (most?) Americans live. Yeah, until very recently, unless you lived in New York, you couldn’t really have a life without a car. Now there seems to be a trend of young people deferring driving. I’m sure that it has something to do with more cities subsidizing better public transportation and infrastructure for bikes. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/78 "2014-05-19T23:56:58Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > For the record, she did not smoke cigarettes DURING the lesbian sex scenes. Thanks for clearing that up, though my askance looking smiley was a response to what struck me as a rather prurient comment regarding the “excellent lesbian sex scenes” followed by an observation how stupid the main character appeared because she smoked. The irony; oh how it burned. It was totally meant in a light hearted way and I wish I’d included an actually smiling smiley. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/79 "2014-05-20T01:12:49Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Yeah, until very recently, unless you lived in New York, you couldn’t really have a life without a car. Now there seems to be a trend of young people deferring driving. I’m sure that it has something to do with more cities subsidizing better public transportation and infrastructure for bikes. Other factors (at least for teens) included that advent of graduated driver’s licencing, higher insurance premiums, and the poor economy (adults are taking the part-time jobs teens used to take, & parents are less likely to afford those higher insurance rates). ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636/80 "2014-05-20T01:27:25Z")
Vicullum writes: \> Speaking of wacky titles, when The Crying Game was released in Hong Kong they \> chose something much more literal: "‘Oh No! My Girlfriend Has a Penis!’’ Talk \> about spoilers! I believe that the article linked to is either wildly mistaken or was never intended as anything but a joke: > **[November 8-14; Lost, and Gained, in the Translation (Published 1998)](https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/15/weekinreview/november-8-14-lost-and-gained-in-the-translation.html)** Here’s the actual Hong Kong Blu-Ray version of _There’s Something about Mary_: > **[YESASIA: There's Something About Mary (1998) (Blu-ray) (Hong Kong Version)...](https://www.yesasia.com/us/theres-something-about-mary-blu-ray-hong-kong-version/1019744306-0-0-0-en/info.html)** > > Buy "There's Something About Mary (1998) (Blu-ray) (Hong Kong Version)" at YesAsia.com with Free International Shipping! Here you can find products of Matt Dillon, Cameron Diaz,, Deltamac (HK) & popular Western / World Movies & Videos. - North... Can anyone verify any of the ridiculous Asian titles given in that article? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-dont-translate-between-cultures-the-movies/688636.md?page=5)