Agunslingerborn
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If I’m paying $15 to see a movie, I would like to at least be able to hear what people are saying.
Jul 31, 2025 2:11 AM
Agunslingerborn
27852
744
27
If I’m paying $15 to see a movie, I would like to at least be able to hear what people are saying.
TerribleAwful
it shouldn't be that hard to have invisible subtitles that only certain glasses can see
jefw1f
ADDGirl
They do. AMC has showings with open captions on the big screen.
https://www.amctheatres.com/open-caption?rel=open-caption_opencaption_assistive-moviegoing_promo
ADDGirl
Fantastic 4 had one showing today and there is one on Sunday with big screen captions.
cyclistuk
They do in uk
dashers
Was going to say, I even remember this from a kid, looking at the showtimes in the newspaper and getting annoyed if the time I wanted to go was with subtitles.
khaoselement
...I wish I could pay $25 for a ticket where people get fucking ID'ed and nobody under 25 is allowed in. Fucking moron teens and early teens always talking and on their phones.
Wargamez
The AMC by me, when a new movie comes out they'll have a showing every couple of days with subtitles. I don't have a hearing disability, but I've been playing drums for 25 years so my hearing it shot to hell now.
vintagegal
As a person who has perfect hearing I would love this since I always have subtitles on when watching tv.
JokenPo0079
The big theater in my old place of residence had a monitor in the back that you could get a mirror or something to see that would have the subtitles on it.
SeeJenJen
It’s a pane of special glass like teleprompters use, or like a heads-up display to see captions.
WolvesAreTheBestPeople
Aren’t there earphones for the hearing impaired? I thought I had seen those around.
OGSnow
In England they have subtitled showings for disabilities. Unfortunately they believe if ur hard of hearing you are only awake at like 10pm to 7am and are some kind of nocturnal specimen.
cosonfused
I want showings with reduced volume. Went to watch transformers years and years ago and the explosions were fucking up my tinnitus, had to wear my ear protection.
TheAdrachian
Move to Rochester, NY. We have cinemas that regularly have subtitles and aid for the hearing impaired. Of course, NTID is here.
teacher745
In Utah the Larry Miller Megaplexes d at least one open captioned film at each location a couple of times a month. Not great times, but they’re available. Hopefully you ca find something like that near you!
turkeydonkey
Any theaters that are digital (basically anything that shows newer films) are required to have assistive devices available. If this is a theater showing analog films (older stuff, indie films) then you're SOL though, and afaik those don't have CC to begin with.
JoshAndBurn
I get that, but Christopher Nolan movies exist. I'm not hearing impaired in any way, but it's not worth watching a Christopher Nolan movie without the words on the screen.
I feel bad for requesting an assistive device when someone with an actual hearing impairment might need it. What if there isn't one left for them because of me?
If there had been a showing of Oppenheimer with subtitles I absolutely would have seen it in the theater. As it was, I just waited for it to come on streaming.
SideBoobsWillGetYouBanned
Sol?
elvianempire
shit outta luck
eggmuffin
Any theaters are required to have that? Or is this a thing where you happen to be, and you assume that it must then be the case everywhere else?
(Also, it may shock you to learn that subtitles have existed for longer than digital media has, and is the default option in many places.)
turkeydonkey
The person who posted this said "If I’m paying $15 to see a movie" which means there's a good chance they're from the US. In the US, the ADA requires theaters with digital projection provide a way for people to access CC. Analog projection is excluded, as is retrofitting a theater for CC for the most part because the ADA sucks.
That fact did not shock me, I'm curious what you mean by "default option in many places" though.
eggmuffin
For the majority of the moviegoing public, English is a second, third, or even fourth language. As such, most of them will be quite familiar with reading subtitles in their own language.
Dubs are common in some places, but are quite expensive relative to subtitles.
imredheaded
Major theaters definitely have this
Currahee63
I remember watching Interstellar in the theater, and the spooky organ music was so loud I couldn't hear what the actors were saying. I watched it on Blu-Ray at home with subtitles and it was so much better. If I'd known there was an option for special polarized glasses to see surtitles in the theater, I'd have used it.
GravyEducation
https://imgur.com/BwL1xZd.jpg
FibbyStormsong
Many modern movie theaters now have open captioning movies. here's an example: https://www.amctheatres.com/open-caption My wife and i go to those. (we're deaf too)
kittykat
So good to know!
BlueRonfar
WHAT?!
IfIOnlyHadAName
OPEN CAPTIONING
ATLandNerdy
They have subtitle devices that mount in the cup holder and stuck up into your field of vision
istry555
In NYC it's law that theaters must have open captions for 25% of screenings, with at least half during peak hours.
schmoo38
The AMC near me has showings with open captions pretty often (getting more often).
sirava
I'd go to those.
meowingintensifies
I'm not HoH and advocate for subtitles and accessibility. the curb cut effect benefits everyone and should be standard.
johnblood616
I get the headphones
chrstphrsh
Deaf person here. Most AMC theaters I've been at have CaptiView devices, which are basically little screens that will show captions. Some theaters also have glasses that will show captions as well, although those are more of a pain in the ass because the battery pack makes them heavy and awkward. Ask at the front desk or customer service desk.
OctopusStinkhorn
They do. I saw Thunderbolts with captions.
VinnieJonesDiary
Um... they do though...
BallsLikeWatermelonsPeckerLikeAThimble
https://www.amctheatres.com/assistive-moviegoing
elwhalen
While great, I’ve still have had these die way through a movie way too often.
magellan007
I have never ever heard of this. I'm so going to check my AMC
10Upvotes
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drummergirl16
I was going to say, the movie theater closest to me 100% has “subtitled” showings. They are usually earlier in the day. It’s an AMC theater.
4sheets
Fuck it. All subtitles all the time. I don't give a fuck anymore. Acclimate everyone to it, so its standard practice instead of a weird thing for the disabled.
imgurianitarian
I am not disabled and I have subtitles on everything. For some reason my brain needs to see the words to hear them. Especially when I’m eating.
garbuhj
Your heart is in the right place, but no, definitely no
jimd1954
I hard of hearing and I say hell no.
SuperFerret
Reading isn't hard, bro.
Knovar
The worst straw man fallacy I've seen in a while.
SuperFerret
I've literally never seen an argument against having subtitles on all the time that didn't essentially boil down to not liking reading.
Knovar
I can give you a couple of reasons that have nothing to do with that, if you're genuinely finding it hard to understand.
1. Subtitles can spoil jokes or surprises, sometimes they appear before the moment actually happens, which kills the punchline or ruins the suspense.
2. They can be distracting, pulling your focus away from the visuals and breaking the immersion by making you read instead of fully experiencing the film.
InfocalypseRising
As a person with totally normal hearing who still can't hear shit half the time because sound mixing apparently doesn't exist anymore, agreed
phobosorbust
you'll get your 140 decibel sound effects and like it
you'll also get your 30 decibel dialogue with wind or rain noise, no refunds
oh, and many critical scenes will be things happening in the dark between two or more vague shadows
peterbozeman
Andor season two - all dialog
Me - what?
Jonesso
sound mixing hasn't existed forever. there is in general no real rules for what volume things has to be at and it's a mess! fucking love doing editing but there is only 1 rule, voice has to be -1 db
Copperbrat
This. I'm so fed up with sound engineers saying "It's supposed to be that way" too. Well, if it's really supposed to sound like incoherent mumbling alternating with deafening crashes/explosions (all overdubbed with distorted music), I'll pass. Movies made decades ago sound better than today's films. No, I don't need to have ruptured eardrums to have a realistic cinema experience.
bumpylumps
yep, at this point sound engineers are completely gaslighting us to justify their own existence. "hey, this is a problem, I'm genuinely struggling to watch..." "haha no u are wrong"
SarcasticComment
next you'll tell me a battle in the black dead of night is for realism and not "we can save a lot of money if no one can see what is happening"
michiyl
I'm usually with the (sound) technicians - most of what they have to do is ordered by sales executives and such who don't care about quality, but quantity and that it must be "impressive"
bumpylumps
I got you, everyone's gotta get paid, but there's an alarming number of sound techs on imgur, reddit, youtube etc defending the practice, essentially mansplaining why "it has to be that way" to a bunch of people who A: have seen old movies and know it doesn't, and B: "don't care, fucking hate" it. It just amounts to gaslighting really. (see vox's spineless vid on the subject for a good example)
peterbozeman
I could understand the dialog in "Heat" and there was still tons of explosions and shit.
Hell, I could even understand the dialog during a freaking gun battle.
I should watch Heat again. Sooooo good.
Feralkyn
The equivalent of that pitch-black Game of Thrones episode where "you aren't MEANT to see anything, for ~~ATMOSPHERE~~"
StudioDerpster
Omg! I thought the misty black/grey pixels were my shitty internet/regular 1080 TV. Turns out they were part of the plot I am just too dense to unpack!
Astramancer
Sadly this isn't a new thing. When the Val Kilmer batman movies were coming out my dad jokes that they saved on production costs by not buying any lightbulbs.
instanoodles
I went and saw The Boy and The Heron in theaters and it was amazing! The sound mixing was perfect and for once I could understand the words
uniqueParrot
I recently discovered the "compressor" in the vlc media player and am now able to hear dialogues in videos again.
GravyEducation
I watch everything with subtitles. I mean my hearing isn't the best but it's not like disability bad. I just like subtitles
kirby422
Sucks when my family has the news on, and the disconnect from the closed captions being an entire segment behind, and clearly wrong words
GravyEducation
Also no CC on like YouTube or anything, I don't normally get bothered by stuff but just wrong CC that was probably AI generated is dumb
vincentleeprice
My experience for across the spiderverse was kind of ruined cause the mixing was horrible. Couldn't hear what they were saying. Turns out they had to adjust the settings afterwards.
RxFukitall
The worst is when you miss a word and ask a person next to you what was just said but then something important physically happens so now you don't even know what two important things happened
VikingsAreNinjaPirates
I love the parts of "Sinners" I could hear and understand. The best 40% of a movie I've ever seen.
eppykaze
Many theaters have a polarized filter you can get that shows the subtitles. It's a little stand that you place in front of your seat.
WhatisaYute
Yeah but they can suck and malfunction. One theatre gave us a screen that clipped to the cupholder, but my deaf friend is like 6'3", and the lil screen only extended like a foot. He just held it. OFFER SUBTITLED SCREENINGS.
Even live theatre should have sub or supertitles. Every opera I've ever been to has them, not sure why musicals/movies don't. It's so freakin easy.
somnif
My favorite are the reflector type, just a little pane of plexiglass you position so it reflects subtitles played on the wall behind you.
pushingchildrenintotraffic
that is cool af
youreathing
I feel very strongly about this.
Indeedwearethedead
Problem solved. Everyone pat yourselves on the back
WolvesAreTheBestPeople
No kidding!!! That is awesome.
clankthegray
Our movie theaters do that where I live
ShamshielDF
Also available in synchronized wireless devices with deep set LED text displays (so light doesn't bother neighbors).
magellan007
Where do you live that that's a thing??
imredheaded
I think most major chains have it at least for the wide release movies (Regal and AMC both do for sure). Maybe not for movies that are limited run though.
OneOfTheEnemiesWithin
I live in Virginia and I’ve never been to a theater on the East Coast that doesn’t have them, at least in the last ten years or so. OP said it’s a small town theater so maybe they don’t, but even the small town ones that I’ve been to have had them. I wish they would advertise them more because many people don’t know.
ebonyfaery
I honestly think most if not all places have them but it's a kind of "if you don't ask you don't know" thing.
Perkunas687
Theater by me had glasses with a power pack or something, and the subtitles would be seen while wearing them. My mom got them for a movie a few months ago, thought maybe I'd get them for myself next time.
spellbot5000
You can often see them at the back of the theatre. Ones that support it will have some sort of long LCD/Dot matrix screen at the back of the theatre below the projection windows. They display the subtitles reversed right to left, and then the polarized filters you place at your seat reflects the subtitles in left to right format. Just like those little angled screens you see to the sides of people doing public speaking, which reflect the teleprompter.
marsilies
It's not really a filter, but a refracting screen. The display is at the back of the screen and reversed, so the little screen you get refracts that display back to you, while nobody else notices.
Agunslingerborn
I’ve never heard of that. Very cool. Not sure the small town I live in would have it though.
sarzaya
Was with my friend who is deaf. She went through 3 before the 4th one actually worked, but it was better than nothing. (We live in california and were at a Cinemark)
DartTarget13
If you are in the US, ADA sets the standards for any cinema. https://support.totalcinemasolutions.com/portal/en/kb/articles/cinema-ada-requirements
vetcareassistantchris
Pun intended?
PineappleLoopsBrOether
In other theaters you can get the closed caption device that is electronic, and you attach it to your cupholder, and it has a bendy neck to adjust it to be in the right place for you. Wireless.
RealScienceMan
Every AMC has them at least, so if you're in the US the biggest theater chain has them
KevinStrexcorp
Might be worth asking.
eppykaze
I learned about them after I saw them in use about 10-15 years ago. Cineplex Odeon in Canada is where I saw them.
allenvasher3000
There is something similar called mopix rearview. Here are all the options out there
https://www.delawaredeaf.org/links/movie-theater-and-entertainment-options/
randomdrifter54
Ask anyway? Worse they can do is say no, and it sounds like that's a problem legally if they don't.
GoneSolo
Can't hurt to ask. Worst they can say is eww
anthrolover6
Along with what others have said if there is a "Malco" theater near you they also will have closed captions for most movies. Most theaters you just have to talk to a manager and they can get you one.
Dagenite
Legally, they are supposed to have that thingy
IHaveAGuyForEverything
If they are the US, “legally” doesn’t mean much anymore given what the govn is getting away with. But yeah, most so still do have them. I found out about them a few months ago and I get them every time. I go to WAY more movies now.
ShamelessSeamus
It's 2025 and not much is illegal these days.
HenryLongfellowIII
Protesting?
DontKnowTheSource
Depends on the country for legality. US sure, that's federal (?), Brazil probably has something, Haiti might not have a law in place for it but I'm sure they got the tech!
randomdudefromtheinternet
Germany does not have this, at least i have never seen it on bigger Cinemas
Arcanum3000
I've never seen it in use in the US, but it exists and is reasonably common. There's a closed captioning indicator on movie listings that support it.
ProbablyWrong524