This review may contain spoilers
Bangkok is also a character in this bitter colorful love story
Gelboys has become my favorite BL series from Thailand. The cast of the four main characters is really good, especially PJ and New. They were both amazing!
I really liked the four characters, I could empathize with all of them. Initially, it was hard to like Bua and Chian, but even they became more human later on. I really identified with For4mod because, like him, I am a person who has always sought monogamous relationships my whole life and tends to romanticize this type of relationship too much, eternally searching for perfect partners (who do not exist). In the first scene of the series, we are introduced to the protagonist, a guy who is crazy about having a monogamous relationship, someone who hates having uncertain and informal relationships. Unfortunately for him, he falls in love with another guy who can only offer him the uncertainty he hates so much. Chian is obsessed with his classmate Bua - who is strangely lonely despite his popularity on the internet - who does not reciprocate his interest, but gives him unfounded hope. To top it all off, Baabin, Fou4mod's best friend, harbors a repressed passion for his friend.
Four people who harbor confusing feelings for each other, many passions directed at the wrong person, many unrequited desires or, worse, reciprocated with unequal intensities.
Along with all this, the suffocating omnipresence of social media, maximizing anxieties, minimizing self-esteem, and increasing the feeling of loneliness in the midst of the crowd.
The photography in the series takes us deep into the center of Bangkok, making us familiar with alleys, lanes, train stations, and shops. For those who have never been to Bangkok, it's as if they had the opportunity to get to know the city. For those, like me, who already know the city, it feels like they're watching an old friend being portrayed from a beautiful and glamorous point of view.
The scenes of sexual intimacy were beautiful and well-executed. They didn't fall into any cliché of mechanical penetration scenes. They used sexuality more in the sense of touch, of discovering the body. The sequence in which Baabin and Bua "perform" sexual poses is a delight. It was incredibly sexy, but without being vulgar or overbearing. In a way, it is a surprisingly innocent scene, where two virgin boys play with their bodies, one inciting the other, testing their limits.
The disappointments that all the characters go through were well explored thanks to the good performance of the cast. Such moments made me remember the disappointments I have experienced throughout my life. How painful it is to be rejected, betrayed or hurt by someone we like. And watching the series as an adult, it is interesting to reflect on how these disappointments will continue to occur throughout life. And it will always hurt, but we learn to deal with these frustrations.
A beautiful series about coming of age in the age of social media in a big city in the global south. I wish more people in the West could watch series like this.
I really liked the four characters, I could empathize with all of them. Initially, it was hard to like Bua and Chian, but even they became more human later on. I really identified with For4mod because, like him, I am a person who has always sought monogamous relationships my whole life and tends to romanticize this type of relationship too much, eternally searching for perfect partners (who do not exist). In the first scene of the series, we are introduced to the protagonist, a guy who is crazy about having a monogamous relationship, someone who hates having uncertain and informal relationships. Unfortunately for him, he falls in love with another guy who can only offer him the uncertainty he hates so much. Chian is obsessed with his classmate Bua - who is strangely lonely despite his popularity on the internet - who does not reciprocate his interest, but gives him unfounded hope. To top it all off, Baabin, Fou4mod's best friend, harbors a repressed passion for his friend.
Four people who harbor confusing feelings for each other, many passions directed at the wrong person, many unrequited desires or, worse, reciprocated with unequal intensities.
Along with all this, the suffocating omnipresence of social media, maximizing anxieties, minimizing self-esteem, and increasing the feeling of loneliness in the midst of the crowd.
The photography in the series takes us deep into the center of Bangkok, making us familiar with alleys, lanes, train stations, and shops. For those who have never been to Bangkok, it's as if they had the opportunity to get to know the city. For those, like me, who already know the city, it feels like they're watching an old friend being portrayed from a beautiful and glamorous point of view.
The scenes of sexual intimacy were beautiful and well-executed. They didn't fall into any cliché of mechanical penetration scenes. They used sexuality more in the sense of touch, of discovering the body. The sequence in which Baabin and Bua "perform" sexual poses is a delight. It was incredibly sexy, but without being vulgar or overbearing. In a way, it is a surprisingly innocent scene, where two virgin boys play with their bodies, one inciting the other, testing their limits.
The disappointments that all the characters go through were well explored thanks to the good performance of the cast. Such moments made me remember the disappointments I have experienced throughout my life. How painful it is to be rejected, betrayed or hurt by someone we like. And watching the series as an adult, it is interesting to reflect on how these disappointments will continue to occur throughout life. And it will always hurt, but we learn to deal with these frustrations.
A beautiful series about coming of age in the age of social media in a big city in the global south. I wish more people in the West could watch series like this.
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