Fun, Clare, your article about the twilight zone of subtitles and dubbing. I'd like to add my two cents to this, if you don't mind.
An American cultural element can get mentioned in which commercial products can pop up in places it would not have popped up in other cultures' products. The cigarette of Dr. House is a good example. I remember watching Escape from L.A. in the cinema realizing it was one big commercial for smoking cigarettes. But something as innocent as Jeopardy, or crossword puzzles even, have no qualms asking questions about products. The commercial aspect is often not found in other cultures (showcasing for me that entertainment here can be subjected to commercial needs unfortunately).
Dubbing establishes the verbal translation of what characters are saying, but the ambiance of what else is going on is often reduced. Watching Babylon Berlin in the original version with subtitles was so much more engaging than watching one episode dubbed, which we did somewhere midway the series. The dubbers did a good job, but so much was lost from the subtleties of ambiance, music, background noises, we had to switch back.
I am not as focused as you are on the correctness of subtitles, but just a complaint (so I have said it) is that sub-titlers try to translate too much. A two-line subtitle that is visible for two seconds because more two-line sentences need to go there is not pleasant to read, and sometimes not even possible. I have watched a party movie in my original language with my American partner, and it was obvious that the subtitles of the eight characters speaking could not be read by anyone.
I prefer to have incorrect and somewhat minimized translations that make sense in the storyline rather than have every word inserted into the bottom of the screen. And yes, the lettering must be readable (some subtitles are of the cheap kind and blend in with the movie background so it can't be read).
Your focus is more fun to read than my two cents, but I wanted to mention them after reading your good and interesting article.
