axelcarlisle

I agree with the ME and GP observation. It was a bit odd.

That said, I’m waving it off for now as Viangpha Mork being a small provincial town/city in Chiang Mai where there are limited personnel in the local hospital. So in the case of an emergency, if the GP or a specialized doctor isn’t around, an available doctor like the ME can help with at least the basics.

It’s fine. Max and Tul have done far more explicit scenes in Together With Me. Also, Asians - while occasionally conservative - don’t seem to have the same kind of hangups about sex as Westerners seem to have, at least not to that level when it’s just “smouldering.”

Thais have it right with their shows IMO: be more vigilant about substance abuse rather than police (healthy) depictions of sex and sexualiity.

Probably the subject matter around drugs and (possibly) a human trafficking / prostitution ring. Thailand seems to have stricter rules around this, especially drugs and alcohol usage. Notice that in many Thai shows, they blur alcohol, smoking, etc.

Ai, Ni, and Chonlatee have all explicitly identified as gay / liking men. They have explicitly stated they aren’t into women.

The whole premise of the show is that this is exactly how a lot of gay people in real life are afraid to come out because they can be rejected or beaten up even by their friends and family, and this is especially a true problem in Asian society. This is not painted as ok by the show at all.

The show is not SOTUS or 2gether where Arthit or Sarawat’s friends are all accepting of MLM with minimal judgment. This show actually tells EXACTLY what it’s like in the real world for many gay people. The point it’s making is that it is not ok at all and the journey of these characters and their is clearly heading towards all of them finally standing up to Tonhon. This is clearlt one of the reasons why the characters of Miriam and Na are there - they are the voice of reason (even if Na is narcissistic) that’s going to likely help them develop as characters.

As a gay guy, I ask: how is the series itself homophobic? It’s been made very clear that Tonhon’s homophobia is not a good thing, and the one character who found his bullying romantic was criticized by one of the gay characters.

At no point have I seen the series paint homophobia as a good thing, save for Episode 1 where they used a predatory gay man as a stereotype (though those unfortunately exist in real life too).

The only one who positioned his homophobic bullying as romantic was Pang, and she was immediately criticized for it by Na.

The fact that the writer was aware enough to immediately criticize Pang for her romanticization of a violent homophobic tsundere using one of the gay characters is actually a step from some other BLs where everyone finds it romantic. At least this time, she was clearly painted as wrong.

And Miriam herself told Chonlatee to dissociate himself from that kind of person.

I fail to see how the bullying was romanticized when almost no character agreed with it, and the single character who thought it was romantic was called out for it.

Only Pang, the best girl, framed it as romantic.

Na was vocal in saying it was despicable.

Seems to me it’s a subtle jab by the scriptwriter against typical BL authors (usually women/fujoshis) who think violent tsunderes are romantic. It’s surely not a coincidence that the character who called her out on it was the gay boy (Na) who knows that homophobic bullying is not romantic at all.

The only primary one who framed it as romantic was Pang.

Na rightfully called her out for thinking it was romantic. He found Tonhon’s behavior unacceptable.

How I read that scene was that it was a subtle critique of Thai BL writers, mostly written by women as you said, because the one who mainly found the situation romantic was the girl, Pang (who keeps on saying she has a BL heart).

So it was a pretty subtle jab at the trope.

That was pretty much the point. It was supposed to be cringey and the party attendees were supposed to be uncomfortable. Looks like the director and actors succeeded in executing the scene.

Welcome to Asia, where our toxic patriarchy has often made parents want grandkids to continue the family name and business.

Welcome to the real world, where actual toxic homophobia makes actual gay people not just uncomfortable when they are subjected to it.

Be thankful you have the privilege to only feel uncomfortable with it. Others don’t have the privilege because they actually get hurt and die from it.

True.

This is real life for many actual gay people out there.

Even closeted gay people who act exactly like Tonhon because of how his father is (it’s not an excuse of course, but an explanation - and that clearly no one is born homophobic, homophobia is learned).

And yes, it’s very clearly signaled that Tonhon is gay but has severe internalized homophobia that manifests as toxic masculinity. People like this exist.

How he grows and changes (and how they develop that) will be the crux of the series and will be the benchmark to see if it succeeds or fails in its storytelling.

This is correct.

It’s really amusing to see people complain about the homophobia when at no point does the show seem to say homophobia is a good thing - quite the opposite.

It shows how toxic homophobia is, and I don’t think it shows it in a good light. The only exception that has someone romanticizing homophobia is Pang swooning over Tonhon basically assaulting Neung - but even then, I think it’s a subtle critique of how BL writers (usually women like Pang, unfortunately) have propagated the trope that violent tsunderes are romantic, and Na was in fact the voice of reason telling Pang that what Tonhon did was actually wrong.

So far, I’ve not seen the show present homophobia as a good thing. I think that old time BL viewers who aren’t gay and who find it uncomfortable have just been fed with too much BL where homophobia is either downplayed/watered won or else non-existent.

Off the top of my head, I think the only shows I’ve really seen tackle the truly ugly (and many times deadly) side of homophobia are TharnType, Together With Me: The Next Chapter, and Until We Meet Again.

Now whether TonhonChonlatee is handling the issue in a better way is subjective, but it’s a plus for me that at least that show is not sweeping the problem under the rug and tackling it head on.

I also do appreciate the gay characters actually identify as gay and not the common “I don’t like men except you” trope so common in BL. And I think therein lies the core issue of why homophobia is easily ignored in other series - if the character declares they’re not gay, then the semantics make it easier for homophobia to be almost a non-issue.

Yes. I think the problem is that Thai BL has so watered down or downplayed homophobia in most BLs that, when one finally dares to show homophobia (and how it develops, intentionally or not, in this case clearly due to Ton’s father) in all its ugly glory, people get upset.

As a gay guy as well, I agree and say this is it. This is what true toxic homophobia looks like. It’s not a world where everyone is gay. This isn’t the happy rainbow world where Arthit or Sarawat or Pete/Kao or Type or Dean’s friends are all immediately accepting.

This is a world where gay people feel the need to hide because they might lose their family and friends or, worse, get assaulted.

While TonhonChonlatee does have its imperfections (it can be over the top), the sad reality is that this is how it often works in the real world when you’re gay and surrounded by homophobic family and friends.

Between Bangkok Buddies, The Stranded, and MGYG, this guy is shaping up to be a great and versatile actor; he has such high potential. I hope GMM gives him more projects.

Super satisfied with the ending.

I’m glad the resolution regarding the parents made sense and at the same time wasn’t dragged out (though the conflict could’ve started a little earlier with more foreshadowing).

Win definitely won me over with his breakdown scene at the dining table. It was subtle and repressed, nuanced, natural, done with no major melodrama - what one would expect from someone who was brought up to keep his feelings to himself, to be the obedient son. Even when he wanted to let it out, he was trying to repress it but he started to crack. I think it was a wonderful way of finally showing what makes the character of Pai tick and why he’s that way. It’s reflective of what he is.

Given more projects, I believe Win is an actor to watch out for - I think he has potential to be one of the truly amazing yet underrated thespians in GMM along with Pluem, Chimon, Ohm, Tay, Fiat, and Puimek.

I’ve liked Marc even before Blacklist. He’s pretty young and can still hone his skills, especially playing opposite Win in this series, but given the character of Itt, he did good enough.

I loved the entire series, actually. Yes, there were quite a number of hiccups and flaws all throughout, particularly pacing and also some strange character motivations, but over-all when taken as one whole, it felt good. It might not be the best, but I think it was better than several other shows I’ve seen so far this year.

Mild is truly awesome.

I totally never really warmed up to Techno in Love By Chance, but Techno in TT is just so much different and so much better, and a huge part of that is really Mild. Part of it is also the writing, I guess, considering how much more fun and interesting Techno has been in the TT shows compared to LBC and LBC2 - but really Mild just nails the character so well.

Plus, the fact that Kla is nowhere to be found (so far) in TT2 makes it even better. Now I do think they mean for the boyfriend Techno mentions in passing to be Kla, but until he outright says the name or Kla shows up, I’ll just imagine in my head that he found someone else / someone new some years after LBC2 and before TT2.

The Mame universe is full enough as it is with toxic couples, so I’ll for now just imagine Techno finally found someone else other than Kla. He deserves better

I am in the minority that thought Ja with the wig in UWMA was adorable LOL

So what’s the valid source if so? Would like to read the news as well if this is valid/accurate.

Exactly. I have no idea where the notion that Ben went for Olan as a second choice came from. Ben never led Olan on, ever. Even when Olan said he was planning to court Ben, Ben was ambivalent at best.

Ben’s got a lot of flaws, but leading Olan on never happened.