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Why Aren’t Movies Captioned?

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A lady asked,

Why don’t movie theaters have subtitles for the hearing impaired. They have them for foreign films. Maybe they do and I don’t know about them.

Some films are open-captioned—so you read the captions just like on your TV. Most hearing people do not like them, so open captions are not too common. Typically open-captioned movies are shown in “off” times and only shown once or twice.

Much more common is rear-window captioning where you ask for the little screen that you put in the cup holder and aim at the rear wall where the captions are projected in reverse. This way it doesn’t bother the rest of the people.

Rear-window captioning was becoming quite popular, but just recently, some big movie chains have switched to the new Sony closed-captioned eyeglasses. You wear a pair of special glasses and see the captions floating in front of you. This doesn’t bother anyone else so also have a good chance of becoming the latest captioning method of choice. You can wear the glasses over your existing glasses.

So there are captioned movies out there. You just need to ask when they are being shown. If you don’t know where to find captioned movies, check out CaptionFish. You can learn more about CaptionFish in my article CaptionFish Finds Captioned Movies Showing Near You.

[Note: Captionfish is shutting down on December 31, 2014. Here is the massage, “We are closing Captionfish down on December 31st. As one of our valued supporters, we wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your support of Captionfish through its amazing ride. This has been a labor of love, but due to our personal commitments and lack of funding, we are unable to provide ongoing support for Captionfish.”]

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Hearing Loss Research & Resources

Free Visor Cards

Download your free Visor Cards for hard of hearing or deaf people here.

Loop Systems

Loop your home or meeting room. Discover how you can hear wonderfully clear sound again when listening to the TV/radio, etc, or when listening to a speaker at a meeting.

Loop systems are one of the best-kept secrets in town. To learn more about Loop Systems and what they can do for you, click here.

Take Control of Your Tinnitus—Here’s How

If your ears ring, buzz, chirp, hiss, click or roar, you know just how annoying tinnitus can be. You do not have to put up with this racket for the rest of your life. This book teaches you many things you can do to help bring your tinnitus under your control so it no longer bothers you.

Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

Sounds Now Too Loud for You?

Hypersensitive to Sound front coverIf some (or all) normal sounds seem so loud they “blow the top of your head off”, or make you wince or jump, or cause you headaches or ear pain, or affect your balance, or result in fear or annoyance of sounds so you feel you have to avoid these sounds, this book is for you!

Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

Hearing Phantom Sounds?

When hard of hearing people begin hearing phantom voices or music, they immediately worry they are going crazy. It never crosses their minds that they are sane and are just experiencing Musical Ear syndrome.

To learn more about the strange phantom sounds of Musical Ear syndrome and what you can do about them, click here to read a comprehensive article about Musical Ear Syndrome.

Or get the book—Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

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Center for Hearing Loss Help

Neil G. Bauman, Ph.D.

1013 Ridgeway Drive, Lynden,
WA 98264-1057 USA

Email: neil@hearinglosshelp.com

Phone: 360-778-1266 (M-F 9:00 AM-5:00 PM PST)

© 2025 Center for Hearing Loss Help – Help for your hearing loss, tinnitus and other ear conditions

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life [which also includes perfect hearing] through Jesus Christ our Lord." [Romans 6:23]

"But know this, in the last days perilous times will come" [2 Timothy 3:1]. "For there will be famines, pestilences, and [severe] earthquakes in various places" [Matthew 24:7], "distress of nations, the sea and the waves roaring"—tsunamis, hurricanes—Luke 21:25, but this is good news if you have put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, for "when these things begin to happen, lift up your heads [and rejoice] because your redemption draws near" [Luke 21:28].