Language is next frontier in diversity quest
Spanish, Russian, Mandarin and Farsi among changing voices on the small screen
TV is suddenly speaking in many tongues. The small screen, once resistant to foreign dialogue with English subtitles, is becoming a modern-day Babel of sorts, as scripted American series, especially of the high-end variety, more frequently feature nonEnglish-speaking characters. The Berlitz-ification includes Spanish (CW’s Jane the Virgin, Netflix’s Narcos and Orange Is the New Black and USA’s Queen of the South), Russian (FX’s The Americans), Mandarin (ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat), Farsi (Showtime’s Homeland) and Arabic (Fox’s upcoming Prison Break sequel and 24: Legacy, in which Chechen is also heard). ABC’s American Crime is a polyglot, including characters speaking Spanish, French and Nahuatl, the language of an indigenous people from Mexico. Reasons for the linguistic expansion span the creative, demographic and the economic, but producers say verisimilitude is the motivating force. The Americans casts native Russians, even checking their accents, to play Soviet characters in the ’80s spy drama. “It lends an air of authenticity to the English-speaking audience that it may not perceive on a conscious level,” creator Joe Weisberg says. “There’s a level of realism you just feel in your bones.” Crime creator John Ridley makes language part of the power dynamic in a pivotal scene in which an undocumented Mexican worker (Benito Martinez) turns the tables on his farm boss by revealing he speaks English. “It changes everything (when) folks have a voice and can speak the language,” which “can be used to elevate or oppress,” he says. It’s also a convenient plot device to keep non-fluent characters in the dark.
Immigrant grandmothers speak Spanish and Mandarin on
Jane and Fresh, respectively. U.S.born grandchildren comprehend but respond in English, which represents what happens in many American homes.
“We have seen television acknowledge the diversity of the American population, ( but) that has been primarily depicted in casting. A natural outgrowth of this interest is to include language diversity,” says Bob Levy, a producer and lecturer at UCLA’s School of Film, Theater and Television.
TV has become globalized as Internet-connected Americans can sample programming from around the world. Networks, responding to shrinking audiences, increasingly search for other revenue, including global program sales, to make up for domestic advertising decreases.
“Networks understand they’ve got to become more diverse to continue to attract audiences cutting the cord and younger people migrating to online and to social media content,” says David Craig, a professor at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
On a business level, he says, streaming services and international sales have made TV “a global marketplace. ... Shows need to succeed outside the U.S. as much as they do inside.”
Experts acknowledge the traditional resistance of some viewers to foreign dialogue. Other viewers may not want to have to pay close attention to catch subtitles (you can’t look away, or you’ll miss dialogue), and tiny letters on a smartphone screen may be hard to read.
At FX, which probably will tap into Italian for upcoming Getty family saga Trust and Spanish for its Mayans MC pilot, different languages help convey the authenticity that viewers demand, FX Networks President Nick Grad says.
“Audiences are savvy. In ( border drama) The Bridge, if two police officers are in Mexico, and they’re Mexican, they’re going to be speaking Spanish to each other. It would pull you out of the reality if that didn’t happen,” he says, acknowledging the necessity of finding the right balance in subtitle use. “Some audiences probably just want English. We feel like our audience wants something that’s real and can handle a dollop of subtitles.”