DEFINITELY LOST IN TRANSLATION

Did you know that there are more Le Pain Quotidien outlets in Manhattan than McDonald's? And when they are visualised on Google Maps, a croissant icon appears.

So, why does Hulu translate croissants as coffees in their subtitles?

It occurred when I was watching The Lost Station Girls, a French true crime television series about a twenty-year police investigation into the murders of four young women in the vicinity of the Perpignan train station, in the South West of France. 

 When one of the policemen volunteers to bring croissants for an early start the next day, the subtitle says coffee instead. Why? I understand that the series is aimed at an American audience, and it is on the Hulu Channel (The Walt Disney Company in the UK). However, the action takes place in France with French characters. There is no need whatsoever to adapt it to a US audience to that extent.

Americans can perfectly understand that French people may start the day with a croissant, just like Americans may eat doughnuts instead. But, as French people, we don’t need to replace those with croissants; we understand it’s all about cultural habits.

Not only do the subtitles of this particular series take a lot of liberties with the translations, with the classic transcreation of “match” (football game) by soccer, and worse, but replacing a cultural habit with another because you may think the Americans would rather bring coffees than croissants is silly. Americans watching a French programme may even appreciate to learn that’s what people say when they mean “see you tomorrow for an early start”.

I would never complain about too much transcreation, but this sounds more like the worst of cultural bias than a good grasp of what subtitles ought to be. 

Hulu, Americans are not that dumb; they like croissants, and they understand that French cops may bring croissants to work. So, make an effort and respect our cultural habits and stop the Americanisation of everything.