TheGayMedic

Bittersweet news on Addicted 2. Apparently Chai Jidan confirmed that there would be a season 2 for Addicted but the cast and the script will be different from the initial ones. I don't know what to think at all, I let you judge by yourself: https://38jiejie.com/2019/06/26/author-confirms-addicted-2-is-happening-series-is-filming-in-taiwan/

I can only guess from what I know about the industry. Movies makers are also businessmen, every project is considered an investment and to make the most of profit (ROI: Return On Investment) from a show, they need to determine a public to target, and inside that first target, the heart of target (the potential future unconditional fans), so they create the shows they expect to please the heart of the target, and that may possibly attract the first target. In Thailand the first target is obviously the Thai public, and the heart of the target can be any segment of the population (kids, teens, young adults, adults, seniors...) depending on the nature of the show. With this configuration the international fans are excluded. They might be good for fame but commercially speaking they aren't the milch cow those businessmen would put their bets on.. it's always risky to target a heterogeneous public , there are too many variables to take into consideration when it comes to dealing with an international market, and segmenting an international public is much harder because to each country/culture its own characteristics (example: What American teens may like, wouldn't be necessarily liked by Greek teens.) So, they focus on the target they know the better and consider any international income as an extra profit only.

I saw a few people listing all the Thai series that had engineers in them and there were plenty. My very first Thai show was Right By Me, the leads were engineering students (it's not said explicitly but one has to understand it from the script) and the movie was released in 2005, so the craze is nothing new and old habits die hard. I don't think the Thai filming industry cares about the international opinion, it might be just like the Korean's. When Moon Lovers was released in Korea it was slammed whereas it was very popular internationally. At first a second season was scheduled but when the fans there didn't care, they cancelled it despite all the heated support of the international fans. So, it's possibly the same in Thailand.

Ha ha ha... I think we're getting tired and our nerves picked. It's all Lhong's fault, he's been the main topic and he infected us with his craziness. I don't think there's a reason to argue, to each his own, and I agree with you, there should be diversity in shows so that all viewers get their fill. I don't complain about BL shows being what they are at all. I enjoyed Go! Go! G-Boys! so, I consider myself the last person here in the right to complain about crazy plots... I just have a problem with engineers but it's so vapid that it's not worth talking about it at all lol

I agree but I know gay guys who had absolutely unbelievable and beautiful love stories that are even more exceptional that the ones in series. Club Friday series are among my favorite Thai series, they are based on true stories but they aren't dull in any way. They are incredibly entertaining and touching.
Accidental kisses happen even in real life (I kissed my best friend because it was dark and he switched seats with my lover. I thought he was my man and the jerk didn't push me away, he deepened the kiss and gave it his all before laughing it in my shocked face). Real life isn't that boring, love at first sight happens. I know it because I lived it. I think there are ways to create realistic shows that would be fun to watch, originality and absurdity can spice a very realistic plot and result in an outstanding play. I can cite Formula 17 as an example. The script was realistic yet it's the funniest gay-themed movie that I have ever watched because the screenwriter did an excellent job :)

When I think about it, the metaphor may be considered from three sides. Three stories and three kinds of love that aren't supposed to be:
- The king and the queen: The king is obviously gay, so he wasn't supposed to be with a woman that he didn't feel anything for even if the queen had hopes in the beginning.
- The king and his general: Both are men, one is gay and the other not. They can't be together (although I suspect Hong Rim to be bisexual). I don't know about the Korean history, but I suppose homosexuality was frowned upon back then, so a love between a monarch and an army general could be impossible.
- The queen and the general: Their relationship is forbidden since Hong Rim betrayed the king's trust and the queen cheated on the king.
Seen under these angles, it's hard to say if only the king and Hong Rim's story can be considered a frozen flower.

Lol.. indeed (I didn't want to drop a spoiler, and to keep up with the plot, I said it that way).

It was a romantic love from the king's side, but from Hong Rim's side it was a different story. This is why I said it's the way "the flower of love" bloomed between them, because it bloomed in the wrong way; it bloomed and froze, it had no chance to be. And a flower is supposed to fall for the fruit to bud and grow, but it didn't get the time to reach its maturity. If it flowered from the king's side, the frost was all it got from Hong Rim's side.

I have never met a gay engineering student but I know gay engineers, I have an older friend who's an electronics engineer and he's gay, but it's just the quantity of engineers in BL, they make them sound as if all engineering students are gay.. it would have been more realistic if there were less... but once again, I think I am the one who went from a mere fixation and made up an obsession. When I say that I have never met a gay engineer in Uni, I don't say that there aren't any at all. I am sure there are gay engineering students, but not as much as there seem to be in Thai series. I give too much importance to realism in scripts and I pay it every time I watch Thai series... I will watch My Engineer nevertheless, I just wait to clear the horizon from all the engineering students from the other shows lol

I can stand it if someone dies at the end of a movie or a drama, tragic endings are even my favorite, but to watch someone picking up the pieces once his whole existence crumbles and his love disappears, I can't. I have A Frozen Flower to break my heart again if I want another tough ending, no need for SWC.. but thanks for the suggestion, it's a very good recommendation :)

In Uni, we have the engineering faculty next to the pharmacy faculty, and the engineering students used to come to the medical faculty to flirt with the students. I met a lot of them but never met a gay one, it wouldn't have been hard as we had an LGBT+ club and a few members were engineers but no gay male... So, when I see all those gay engineers in series, I can't help but not be convinced.. I tell myself that it's just fiction but my brain retorts "You can believe it all you want but don't expect me to!" lol

You are right, it's better to leave your sense of logic and your taste buds in a drawer before watching BL... XD But I can't help it. When I watch something I like to spot all the details to discuss them later on with my friend. It's easier not to care when the show is funny. If it's comedic, even if it's messed up it goes down better.. but when the script is a failure everything else goes down the drain and it's hard not to notice. I became worse ever since I registered on MDL, since I rate the shows I watch, I don't leave anything go unnoticed for that my ratings would be the most accurate possible. It's the price to pay :/

Soundless Wind Chime, reading the title already freezes my blood. I read the plot of the movie a very long time ago (maybe 4 or 5 years ago) and wanted to watch it, but, in the meantime, something similar to what happened to Li Qi happened to me, so I can't bear my heart to watch it anymore. I know it would only be too painful to watch. I avoid it for that reason, but it's a movie that I would have watched in other circumstances. Hong Kong accustomed me to masterpieces, Amphetamine is one of my favorite movies and it's a bit similar to Soundless Wind Chime. Too bad, I can't watch it, my heart can't stand it.

No, it wasn't the uniforms, it's just that I was watching Why R U? already and when I saw the engineer in the title something broke in me unconsciously. I just felt that I had to leave it for later, if I forced myself to watch at the moment I'd have regretted it. Morever, I read the plot of En of Love and one of the characters is also an engineer... it was the last straw, but I will watch it once it's completed, I will just "bottom it up" like a glass of wicked whisky lol

2gether is a long story, but to cut it short, I wasn't interested in it at first, fake-dating is so cliché that it repelled me. Then a friend harassed me to watch it and I started watching it just to get her off my hair. I was hooked from the first episode because of Green, i liked Green right away... and then the lovable nuisance disappeared from the landscape from the 3rd episode only to return on the 6th for a very unconvincing scene. Did he really harass Tine for so long just to leave him be so easily? For me it was too unrealistic. Added to that, Phukong and Mil (My Tee all over the place), I like Phukong's personality, I thought he would knock some sense into Tine's dysfunctional brain about his brother's true feelings, but the story took another direction, so Phukong wasn't there to serve the main story but to serve the "Crispy Pork Love Story" that was just taking screen time away from the main story. As for Man and his mysterious fling (Tine's brother) that's another very unrealistic twist. Were men discontinued in markets for him to fall for Tine's brother? Hazard is magic, but hazard can also be tragic, especially in cinema and literature... so, it's all those details that left me rolling my eyes for the past 3 episodes at least... let's not even mention the novel. I wonder how such trash can be popular.. it's badly written, the story is groundless and sick... there's nothing interesting about it.. but let's say that Thai people have weird tastes and I respect that even if I don't understand it :/

Method is South Korean and it's my new favorite Asian movie so far and for too many reasons, but the script is what conquered me the most. It's not to everybody's liking of course, but for the persons who appreciate mind*ucking intrigues and subtleties, it's ideal. The ending was the reason why I rated it 10. Never have I ever rated a show 10 until Method.

Yes this is the problem with Thai shows, they tackle serious topics in the plots and when you start watching, it's the cold shower. There's generally an unbalance between what they sell you and what you get when the show starts airing. Just like with 2gether (but I won't say that too loud, hardcore fans may hear). I liked the extreme majority of the Taiwanese gay-themed movies and series I watched, there aren't much but I loved all the movies with no exception (Artemesia left me starved but other than that, all the movies were above average!)

There aren't much South-Korean gay-themed shows to recommend to anyone as the gay theme is generally off, but, despite the censorship, I consider Method, Night Flight, Two Weddings & a Funeral, Long Time No See, Antique, No Regret, Life is Beautiful (drama), A Frozen Flower,... very good and worth the viewers' time.

I watched the first episode of My Engineer before putting in on-hold for different reasons but mainly because I am tired of engineering students in BL series, when I was a freshman at Uni, one of my teachers recommended to me to attend classes with the senior engineering students to help me understand better some sides of the field of my specialization later, so I spent a lot of time with engineers... and when I watch those Thai series, the memories from engineering faculty well back up into my mind and I am just so not convinced with all those gay engineers. I was told it's because engineering is prestigious in Thailand but still, too much is too much, at least for me. So, despite the fact that I like Cooper a lot, I keep the series to the side. I will binge watch it once it's completed :)

Indeed, it wasn't said anywhere, not even in the novel (not in the translated one I read anyway). His abuser was only some pedophile but even if he were actually a gay pedophile, there was no reason to generalize, because not all straight men are bad yet there are straight pedophiles. I'd have appreciated the story more if, as you say, someone discussed what happened with him in a deeper way, not simply crying it out on Tharn's shoulder.
This is the reason why I prefer Taiwanese gay-themed movies and series, they are better at writing scripts (not as good as South-Koreans' but the censorship kills the fun of it in South-Korean shows). Thai shows are good for entertaining purposes, but as soon as you try to play it nerdy and inquisitive, you find yourself facing a wall lol

Exactly. Type uses homophobia as a mental defense mechanism, he might have always known he's gay, subconsciously at least, but he, somehow, convinced himself that he wasn't, and to make sure that he would never be tempted, he made up that psychological barrier to thwart any object of desire that would come his way, and keep gays at bay.. Convincing himself that all gays were bad was easier for him to accept than the possibility that he might be gay himself. He would have probably lived in denial forever if he didn't meet Tharn.. The latter's personality wasn't an hazard in the script, he was the one gay who was able to break down all Type's defenses without doing much. Type couldn't find anything to blame him for and that was the electroshock he needed to open his eyes on a reality that he didn't want to see at first.

TharnType as a novel and a series has all the potential to be a psychological novel/drama but, as you say it so beautifully, the author didn't show any ambition to go that way.

I agree on that point. I read all the translated Thai BL/Gay novels available and none stands out, not even the one that concerns us here. It's a bit better than the majority but it's not good enough. However, I personally like Tharn and Type's personalities and relationship, idle guys and monotony aren't sexy in my eyes. What I can neither understand nor condone in the series and the novel is the whole "tharnasexual" concept. Becoming gay overnight and being gay for only one man are simply impossible. Type may be bi, perhaps even a questioning gay... And, indeed, when the most important parts of a main story in a novel or a show are amiss, there's nothing to expect from the side stories. At least, TharnType is gay-themed.. watching BL is good for girls, but for me.. it's a bit boring.

One of my favorite Asian movies. Loved it so much back in 2015 and still loving it... if I compare it to all the other Thai movies I watched so far, I'd say it's way better than all of them... Rated it 8.5/10, what's for me an excellent rating!

I can't wait, it's been a lot of memories back in Japan.. and it's always good to see Abe Hiroshi :D

Good movie, I wish I could have loved it more.

I am not a psychiatrist so I don't know all the ropes of the profession, but I am a medical intern, and if there is one thing I know about hospitals it's that they aren't for everyone. When a sick person can stay at home, every physician is bound to recommend them to stay at home, hospitalization is only for the cases that require it, and I think in the case of Lhong any psychiatrist would recommend them to stay in the environment they know the better and have someone accompany them to adapt to the changes to come. Despite the violence of his reactions and their excesses, Lhong is obviously having self-esteem issues and suffering lack of familial love and support that materialized in an OLD, so locking him anywhere with strangers would interfere with any medical assistance he would receive, and a mental health facility can have a toll on his confidence, resulting in a more important damage than the one he'd be treated for. Contacting his relatives and having them take care of him with the distant monitoring of a therapist would do him more good. But once again, I have shy notions of psychiatry and psychology, it's not my field of specialization, only a psychiatrist can tell what's the best for a person in his situation.

As for the reason why Type and Tharn didn't call the police (other than the shortcomings of the script), I am not sure but maybe what Lhong did is considered normal in Thailand. I say this because (to draw a parallel with 2gether) what Sarawat did for Tine in the novel is considered "normal" in Thailand as well, so, maybe what Lhong did isn't frowned upon there either.

Kaownah is, indeed, adorable but I personally don't hate Lhong, I understand him and feel even sorry for him that he had to go to such extremes for the sake of a man. Organizing Tar's rape was horrendous but other than that, everything else he did can be justified. I know that, for love, one can do absolutely anything, passion can reach one point where every action is dictated by naught but the most primal instincts of the being.
Of course, not all lovers lose their minds in the way Lhong did, there must be latent motives that trigger at some point the cause that leads to the effect... in his case despair and jealousy. It takes some mental issues to lose one's self-possession completely and Lhong is obviously having an OLD (Obsessive Love Disorder). It could have been harmless if he got the "object of his craze", but he didn't. I don't think that locking him in a cell is the solution. I think he needs to see a therapist and relearn to socialize step by step. Prison is the last place where a person with a weak psyche should be as the pressure risks to trigger additional issues that would surpass by far an OLD.
This is the reason why I'd like to see a completely changed Lhong who'd have had the time to think things through and get over his infatuation for Tharn. If he could get someone to love him for real, he could become another person, because as much as love makes people go mad, it can also bring out the best in them.

I choked on my drink reading your "Why??" Indeed why? But why not, as well. He'd just need one hell of character development XD