Latin America takes its dubbing seriously…

…and I love her for that!

In case you didn’t know, Mexico passed a law recently that bans the use of AI in dubbing/voice acting, with positive reactions from the rest of the world.

As someone whose family is Mexican (and now lives here), the only thing I could think of is “Well, yeah, no shit.” After five years or so of deeper cultural immersion, I’ve come to realize in this very particular way just how much people respect voice acting as an art form. It’s so much more than a simple translation, or adapting a film so your grandma who doesn’t know much English can follow along. It’s a whole world, almost.

So yeah, how could they let a machine destroy it?

Like I said, my personal context is quite interesting, so I’m gonna talk about it a little more…

See, I was born and raised in Central America, and my direct environment really valued knowing English. Heck, it was common for me to watch movies in English with Spanish subtitles, even while going to the cinema. Honestly, our family was not above avoiding dubs, and we were hardly the exception.

I feel like El Salvador as a country is fairly Americanized. There seems to be a Wendy’s every few miles, the president is an absolute glazer, and my grade school education was highly informed by the United…