There are many major movies in theaters right now, but one that made lots of waves was Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The animated film has gotten praise on everything from visuals to characters to just being plain great. Representation is also an important factor, with an Afro-Latino teen as the main character. Miles Morales and his mother speak Spanish and it was important to writer Phil Lord to not subtitle their Spanish dialogue.
I grew up in a bilingual household in the bilingual city of Miami where you hear Spanish all over the place, and it's not particularly remarkable. I certainly understand what it's like to feel like you're half one thing and half something else. It was important for us to hear Spanish and not necessarily have it subtitled. It's just part of the fabric of Miles' community and family life.
In the film, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is the son of a Puerto Rican mother and an African-American father. Miles and his mother, Rio (Luna Lauren Velez), speak Spanish to each other throughout the film, notably during one of the earlier scenes in which Miles is getting ready for school. This is representative of the home life of many biracial families. There are no subtitles accompanying the Spanish lines of dialogue, because, well, there are no subtitles in life.
Co-writer Phil Lord (who is part Cuban) told Remezcla that it was important to authentically represent the home life of a modern biracial family, and that can include speaking in another language. Rather than subtitle these lines of dialogue, Lord decided that it was better to work without them in order to not distract people from the screen.
If you are reading subtitles, then you are likely getting distracted from the full impact of the moment.
Additionally, the lines of dialogue are brief. Miles and Rio aren't necessarily saying anything that a non-Spanish speaking viewer couldn't figure out through context clues. The two of them are simply going through a typical day and it doesn't require subtitles to distract from that.
This is just one of many things that Into the Spider-Verse does well, and partly why it's made such a big impact in a short amount of time. The movie has gotten stellar reviews from critics and it broke records at the box office. Even though it's, like, the seventh Spider-Man movie, it's leaving a big impression on people and that's because it's bringing something different to the table.
You can check out Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse any time you want because it's in theaters right now. For more movie news, be sure to keep it right here at CinemaBlend, and we'll keep you updated on all the latest information.
