Closed Captions

I can't remember the last time I watched a movie without closed captions. Matter of fact, if there are no captions, I would go find something else to watch. Assumed this is what everyone does but never wondered why.  This article summarizes the results of a survey that asked people the reasons why. Lot of interesting insights including this one:

it as paranoid and obsessive-compulsive behaviour of “postmodern completists” as facilitated by new technological possibilities. 

I seem to follow the action on the screen better with close captions acting as an assist to following the dialog even if in English. I presume that is because it is my second language and in a sense I mentally classify it as "foreign". I do not like looking at captions when the movie is an Indian language I understand. The quality of the translation becomes very distracting after a point. With English captions seem to make the most sense. I have the same words I hear appearing on the screen creating some reinforcement value. Captions when they are essential are a lot less appealing. They leave me wondering about the nuances lost in translation, missed cultural cues and such.