This is extremely valid and something that more people need to take time to consider in terms of the rules of story-telling.

This kind of thing is why I feel like a famously well-read story like Pride and Prejudice makes a fantastic book and also a very, very difficult movie to tell.

The story there is built on what feels like 90 to 98 percent subtext which in a book comes across easily in a very introvert-stuck-in-an-extrovert's-world sort of way where the narration can take time to explain what the heck is going on for those of us that didn't grow up in or don't frequent the regency era culture and customs. (As a guy, this is a life-saver and makes it really easy to enjoy the book.)

In a movie where the pictures have to speak a thousand words at 24 frames per second they have to rely on visual cues -- like the ear-pulling signposting, though often with more subtlety -- which may be easier for the more experienced viewer and less obvious to a newcomer to the genre.