MAI

It's not lol. This was the most lesbians-written-by-man movie I've ever seen, it was simply laughable.

Two lesbians decide to take a 'cheat day' because they miss dick. Um, sure. Who's gonna tell the director what lesbianism means? 👀

Such an interesting comment! It's fascinating to me that you are mentioning the need for coming-out/homophobia narratives because I think that comment points out a generational difference in way people consume queer content. Much of that has to do, I think, with the fact that the younger LGBTQ+ generation does not know the extent of the struggle (and often violence) that the previous generation has had to endure because of their sexuality. There is a large support system for young queers nowadays, and the the younger generation enjoys a level of acceptance (or at least visibility) that has not been granted to previous generations. In contrast, homophobia has been very much central to the experience of older LGBTQ+ generations. That being said, BL content is generally catered towards younger individuals so I am not surprised that the homophobia and coming-out plotline is getting less attention now. Besides that, we may also realise that 'coming out' is rite of passage that is distinctly Western and that many people in (specifically) Asia will never go through this.

I guess, by virtue of my age, I fall somewhere in between the generations I'm speaking of so I, oddly, find myself emphasizing with both sentiments. I don't mind the occasional fairy-tale utopia in which queerness is not the exception but the norm. However, in the case of Thai BLs, I often find this everyone-is-gay-and-nobody-bats-an-eye storyline out of place since the country itself has not legalized gay marriage. Apparently there is an incentive to make money off the gay fantasy but there is no incentive to use the platform for any form of activism.

Hehe! Glad to know my contribution to this interesting gay-man-conversation was appreciated.😂

I completely agree with you: I have rarely seem a Thai show that doesn't feature the bar-owning ladyboy in some way or another. But, you know, I get it, humans are always amused by things that subvert the norm. Men struggling to walk in heals? Women farting and burping? Children acting like adults and adults acting like infants? How funny!

Katoey people are liminal persons that already have a certain status of unconventionality so, especially in movies, these characters are allowed a certain sass and eccentricity that would never be accepted from the main characters (I have yet to watch a Thai series featuring a ladyboy as the main lead for instance. In most of the Thai BL content that I've watched, the male leads never stray too far from their 'masculine' personality). The flamboyant ladyboy is the perfect (and often only) tool that can carry out an absurdist plotline.

But I have to agree with you here, I personally think this style of comedy is a bit too lowbrow for my taste. It is an easy way to induce laughter while also not needing to think of more complex, creative jokes. But, yeah, as you have said as well, humour is culturally determined, so maybe I'm just too Western for this stuff lol.

Okay, I'm not really following the updates about script changes but, in that case, I'm glad to hear we can expect more from the brother than him being some flamboyant show pony that only appears when the script calls for some sass and glitter. I am extremely curious to see how they'll manage to do that, tho, because they've pretty much set his character up to be a comedic persona in the last episode. It will be quite out of character if he'll go on random tangents discussing gender-queer theory in the future. I guess time will tell.

But to respond to your second point about the trauma: to me that explanation just sounds like an extreme cop-out. The show does not simply depict the brother like a 10-year old but, more specifically, like a FEMININE 10-year old. His clothing and his hobbies align perfectly with what we think girls that age are interested in. Sure, childhood trauma can stunt one's intellectual development but, last time I checked, it does not suddenly make one a MIss Universe aficionado. Moreover, in the original trailer (the one that came out a year ago) the brother had no such feminine traits so I think it's save to say that the scriptwriters have added his katoey mannerisms for laughs. But then, as other people in the comments have also noted, that is a common trope in Thai comedies. Do I think it's funny? Meh, not really. But I also realise this is a cultural thing that other people (especially the Thai) seem to greatly enjoy so who am I to gatekeep?

For a movie with this many award nominations I expected more. The film tries to portray the Taiwanese urban legend of the girl in red (featuring a demon which feeds on fear and guilt and is particularly drawn to children and the elderly) but it ends up as a mediocre, jump-scare invested story that forces traditional family values down our throat.

Pff, absolutely. But if you're going down the workplace politics route, at least try to make it believable. The competition between doctors and the power dynamic between doctors and nurses is real-- if I may believe some of my friends working in the medical field at least-- but these issues have been overshadowed by the fact that the characters act like total caricatures. Prakan is probably the worst of all. The guy has as the personality of a wet towel and his behavior only alternates between throwing temper tantrums at his hot neighbor and blabbering to his colleagues about his own self righteousness. His savior complex could have been used so much better, and we still don't know why the dude such a prig in the first place.

Also, I get that the target audience of this show is probably younger than the average working adult but, really, I highly doubt teens appreciate the forced happy endings of each episode either. Each time we get this stereotypical bad-people-get-what's-coming-to-them wrap up and, frankly, it is boring. Is Prakan ever going to encounter a real obstacle in his life? People want interesting stories, not moralistic ones. But maybe I'm just projecting now, ha!

Meh. Too many plot holes. The last 10 minutes are probably the only exciting thing about the movie.

They basically altered the role to fit him tho. He wasn't that confident in Thai so they just made sure the character wouldn't have to say much. It's not just the role; it's clear he has more confidence now as well.

Guys, I'm hollering at this conversation! 😂 Y'all won't be able to convince me that a character that dresses and acts like the epitome of the gay stereotype is meant to be interpreted by the audience as a straight dude--the guy makes his first entrance donned in a hot-pink coat and attests to having a Miss Universe obsession, for heavens sake. The directors knew what they were doing.

I have seen my fair share of BLs now, ranging from bromances to full-fetched LGBTQ+ films, and it is remarkable that, when it concerns bromances, commentators on MDL are quick to interpret platonic friendships as queer coded (even when the evidence is sparse lol). But when it comes to flamboyant characters we, all of a sudden, aren't allowed to think of them as potentially gay? People be seeing gays everwhere... until they don't...?

Obviously, we know that-- in real life-- hobbies and clothing don't determine or correlate with one's sexuality (shocker) but that doesn't mean that queer stereotypes are now completely extinct. As a matter of fact, the gay, flamboyant side character is still a well-used trope in romance movies. Is it really that far-fetched to think KinnPorsche uses yet another gay-character trope? Just because this is an LGBTQ+ series doesn't mean it can't fall into the same problematic pitfalls as mainstream media. From what I've seen so far, the brother seems clearly katoey-coded, despite the fact that he doesn't use female pronouns. They needed a character for comedic relief and a male character not fitting the stereotypical idea of masculinity is always an easy trump card to play when a scene calls for laughter.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying that we can't have gay characters fitting the flamboyant stereotype. I'm merely saying that it is obvious that the directors wanted the audience to recognise the brother as unconventional (which, in this case, means katoey or just simply gay). As of now, there is no substance to his character; he just exists to provide comedic relief (not to be LGBTQ+ representation).

Just some mediocre retelling of a true serial killer case that shocked Thailand back in the late 1940s. I can't tell tell for sure whether this was a directorial decision or whether this was just the way they made thrillers in 2004-- but the editing was incredibly choppy and the acting was way too dramatic for me to enjoy. I liked the cinematography and the way the slight, ironic twist at the end managed to tie past and present together but, overall, this movie was just a sad compilation of hardship and discrimination. There were no attempts at giving the main character any form of personality beyond that.

In case you were still curious (which I highly doubt after a years lol): the movie's ending pretty much follows the real-life events of the case. The guy was executed, they studied his brain, and then his body ended up on public display at a medical museum in Bangkok (his mummified cadaver looked more gnarly than any of the 'horror' scenes that we were supposed to witness in this movie). They cremated him in 2020 after multiple petitions because, you know, maybe it's slightly inhumane to label someone a cannibal and then deny him a proper funeral. Mind you, it was likely that the guy wasn't guilty at all and merely ended up being a scapegoat for the real killer since the guy was in no state of mind to make a confession (he was found severely mentally ill) and since he had to rely solely on interpreters.

I would too after having to lift and carry my significant other TWICE. No love can conquer that kinda muscle abuse.

Weird episode. But I guess the fan-service got the shippers happy. The only thing I like about this show still is seeing how Perth has actually improved his acting since I've seen him in My Engineer.

This was basically one large anti-abortion campaign lol.

A movie about a guy who is forced to learn the value of life while trapped in a empty pool. The reason this movie has so many "near-saves" has more to do with karma and the main character's stubbornness/refusal to learn his lesson than with him being actually dumb. It's just one of those movies that leans very much on symbolism to get its points across (e.g. even the lack of water in the pool is symbolic as water is typically represented as a powerful life-force). That being said, I'm not too fond of moralistic plotlines in movies, so I didn't really end up enjoying this much.

Beautiful cinematography and interesting premise but, in the end, the story doesn't quite live up to its full potential. I expected a plot drenched in Buddhist symbolism since the main character is a monk; but the entire production has a distinctly Western feel to it. Nothing inherently wrong with that-- I too am a Westener after all-- but the monastic setting doesn't add anything to the story. What is the use of the setting if not to explore Buddhist philosophy? Now the monks end up feeling like mere props meant to spice up a pretty straightforward murder-mystery.

Yeah, I had the same problem unfortunately. It's such a shame, tho, I would have loved watching this!

I genuinely wanted to give this a chance since it's clear that the director really tried to give a mature spin to the BL genre with this story. But, so far, the plot has been kinda boring (episodic formats generally fail to invoke enough emotional attachment to characters for me) and the main leads (or any of the other characters really) don't have the necessary romantic tension to make up for the lack of plot development. Even the dialogue feels moralistic and forced: like, thank you, Prakan, for this wonderful speech about the responsibility of a doctor, but this won't necessarily make your character more likeable. I don't need to be force-fed the narrative that the main character is a good person-- just show it. I'll probably continue watching the next episodes but I just hope it'll get better.

Even the subbers knew there was no saving this mess lol.