A Thousand Times No

I just saw a rough cut of “I.O.U.S.A.” (the latest documentary from “Wordplay” director Patrick Creadon) at the Philadelphia Film Festival tonight. At one point in the film, a pair of Chinese factory workers were being interviewed onscreen. I tried to follow the subtitles onscreen while also trying to listen the workers as they spoke in Mandarin, but the timing of the written and spoken words began to diverge. Then the onscreen subtitles said something about being paid $10 a day in wages, which was completely missing from the audio track.

After the film was over, I spoke with Kate Incontrera, an associate producer of the film who was on hand for the screening. I mentioned the discrepancy in the subtitling; with a rueful smile she said that last-minute edits were made on Sunday just before the first festival screening on Monday, and there was no time left to refine the subtitle synchronization. “I told them that somebody was going to catch the difference when they took out some of the audio,” she said, noting that this was part of the work still in progress. I felt weirdly globalized.

Really, I think they should just leave out the subtitles for that portion of the film completely, and just have a little sign that pops up onscreen (a la VH1 Pop-Up Videos) that reads:

“If the US doesn’t bring down its national debt soon, this is what your life will sound like in twenty years when China owns your ass(ets). Get used to it.”

Let’s review, shall we? What are the options for dealing with the U.S. national debt?

• Option 1: Tax more than you spend.
• Option 2: Brush up on your Mandarin.
• Option 3: 没有第三个选项.