Ryan Ginstrom wrote:
> Went to see "The Last Samurai" today with my wife and a friend. Subtitled
> version natch.
> 
> So as we get ready to see the flick, our friend leans over and asks,
> ライアン、 字幕読めるの？
> 
> I really tried to understand the process that could have led to this
> question.

He was worried you'd miss the full experience, of course. Eyeball
ping-pong is an essential part of it....

> Naturally, everybody reads the subtitles in a subtitled movie -- that's what
> they're for!

I've grown to appreciate subtitles in modern films--the sound effects
and music are usually so loud, I can't hear the original dialog through
them.

I'm impressed by my knitting teacher, though. She likes going to see
foreign movies but doesn't like dubbing. So she goes twice--the first
time to concentrate on reading the subtitles, then she can sit back and
enjoy the film itself the second time, because she now knows the story.

> But Ryan is a gaigin, he can't read Japanese!
> Shoot -- maybe we should have gone to the fukikomi version???

Nah.... Then he would've given you a running translation through the
whole thing, interspersed with questions such as "how do you translate
*kimono*"....