If I start talking about a movie called La Guerre des Étoiles, or about one of its main characters called "Dark Vador," busy building a space station called "L'étoile noire" which is later on, for no apparent reason, re-branded "L'étoile de la mort," does it ring a bell?
Well, back in France and other countries like Germany or Spain, which make heavy use of movie dubbing techniques, these are the kind of inaccurate names the fans have to deal with. Luckily, the DVDs are now the standard medium for movies, and you get to choose in which language you prefer to watch the movie. But more importantly you have the choice whether or not watch the movie in its original version.
Back in the VHS days, this language feature was not available and even if as a hardcore fan you would reach out to foreign friends to send you an original version, your VHS player would not be compatible anyway. Therefore, the game was fixed from the start, no chance to capture the artistic essence of a movie or the talent of the actors when their voices were changed across productions.
However it is important to note that you hardly notice it when you have been used to this your whole life (or at least your whole youth), until you get to watch the original version (shattered glass sound) and then the game is over. After spending enough time watching original versions and being surrounded by English-speaking cultures, there is no way back, the lip dub becomes irritating and the changed title rather painful to read.
An "interesting" aspect of this heavy dubbing starts to appear when a given actor, or actress, so far famous for dubbing a Hollywood star, attempts to make a career of his own and in his own language. You then start hearing Tom Cruise's voice in some local French movies. But again this is not really a problem since the same actor can dub the voice of many American actors at the same time. For instance, Ethan Hunt and John McClane happened to "share the custody" of a single French voice for a while. Confusing, isn't it? No, really, you get used to it.
But the real problem is that the countries that have a tendency for this kind of practice aren't doing any favors to their people. Young kids in France, for instance, are not used to hearing English anywhere, apart from two or three mandatory weekly hours in school. This situation directly impacts their proficiency and interest in foreign languages. I must admit that the internet has definitely helped in that sense but the level still cannot be compared to the one seen in countries of northern Europe, such as the Netherlands, Denmark, or Sweden, where teenagers are fluent in English.
Learning a language can be both passive and active, it is OK not to practice every day: Not everyone decides to be an expatriate or hang out with foreign friends. But hearing English every day on TV, for instance, will help training your ear for when it will actually be needed.
Luckily, original versions are now being shown more and more in movie theaters across continental Europe, and youngsters make more use of subtitles than audio dubbing, so the situation is certainly getting better. But if governments really wish to promote foreign languages in schools and universities, no need for fancy programs; just stop showing the "Le Seigneur des Anneaux" movies on TV and start promoting those from "The Lord of the Rings" instead.
But again, dubbing movies can also have a positive side. For instance, Keanu Reeves happens to be quite a good actor ... in France.
