Charlotte Little: More subtitled screenings are needed at UK cinemas

Imagine that you’re at the cinema to see the latest blockbuster: you’re sitting in your seat, overpriced popcorn in hand, waiting in anticipation for the film to begin rolling. The film starts to play! But… there’s no sound. You begin to realise that the entire film is in British Sign Language. There’s one problem… you don’t know any sign language.

Now imagine that less than 2% of film screenings in your area are provided with English audio and dialogue, with screenings often taking place in the morning during a weekday. Now replace ‘audio’ with ‘subtitles’. This is a real issue faced by Deaf and Hard of Hearing (HoH) individuals in the UK who wish to attend a cinema showing of the latest film.

Between February and June 2018, #SubtitledCinema campaigners Ellie Parfitt and Michelle Hedley studied four cinemas and the subtitled showings these establishments individually provided over the course of four months. The cinemas are based in Norwich, Northumbria and their surrounding areas.

The lowest statistic found from their research was an astounding 31 subtitled showings out of a total of 7,618 screenings, this is 0.4% of screenings per week. The highest statistic was 153 subtitled showings out of a total of 5,898, an average of 2.6% of screenings per week.

Their research revealed that during these four months there were more than 5,000 screenings that hearing people were able to attend. In comparison, Deaf/HoH customers were provided with 150 projections that were at convenient times. This is only 3% of the opportunities afforded to hearing customers.

Many multiplex cinemas argue that there is a lack of demand for subtitled showings, with low numbers of attendance. 11 million people are living with a hearing loss in the UK, this is the equivalent of 1 out of every 6 people.

However, if cinemas continue to screen subtitled showings at unreasonable times, such as 11 am on a Tuesday, when most people are working, there isn’t going to be an audience. This isn’t because people don’t want to attend, it’s because of inaccessibility. If these showings are rescheduled to more convenient timings, with efficient and proactive advertising, this would increase demand and audience presence.

Since the arrival of streaming services such as BBC iPlayer and Netflix, the popularity of subtitles has risen with many hearing users opting to switch on captions. Many people struggle to understand the dialogue of films for several reasons, regardless of whether they are hearing impaired or not. Subtitles can also be beneficial for those whose first language isn’t English.

On a more anecdotal note, the first-ever captioned screening I saw was Star Wars: The Force Awakens during my family’s Christmastime tradition of a cinema trip on Christmas Eve.

I didn’t even realise the screening we were attending was going to be captioned. I hardly ever went to the cinema as I preferred to wait for the DVD to be released so I could watch the film with subtitles. I never even realised captioned film screenings at cinemas were available. Watching films without subtitles means I have to concentrate a lot more than hearing people would, and I would still miss out on important plot points and dialogue crucial to the film’s storytelling.

This accidental subtitled screening completely changed my cinematic experience, as it meant I was able to complain about the plot holes and laugh about the punchlines during the car ride home. I wasn’t left out of a shared experience. Even though subtitled cinema screenings are sparse, these showings allowed me to gradually fall in love with film, leading me to join my University’s Film Society and to becoming President of said Film Society. We even went on to organise a subtitled short film festival at our local independent cinema, the Belmont Filmhouse.

If you would like to learn more about this issue, then visit Action On Hearing Loss. If you would like to help, then you can sign this petition!

YourLocalCinema.com is a website that displays all of the subtitled showings available in your local area, this is a website that I use religiously so that I don’t have to check all of the individual cinemas’ websites for subtitled showings, I highly recommend it.

Charlotte describes herself as: “I am a hearing and visually impaired 21-year-old student living in Scotland. My condition is called Usher Syndrome Type 2. What’s that you say? The best way to describe my condition is that I have tunnel vision and it takes longer for my eyes to adjust to different light settings, I also wear hearing aids for my hearing loss. Feel free to Google it though!  I often call myself a subtitles enthusiast, advocating for accessible cinema screenings and representation of disabled people within the film and television industry. I write about disability representation and accessible cinemas on my blog  www.captaincaptions.com”