jarabaa

I cannot outright disagree with anything you write - there is plenty that is accurate and there are many examples of Thai and other Asian "BL" series which reflect the points you make. However, I am a gay man and I have watched numerous BL series from Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and Korea over several years - series which I felt did make an effort to depict the lives and loves of real gay men, which used the word "gay, and which addressed genuine everyday LGBT issues. Sometimes, it's true, what we see shows us very unreal characters who are "in a world of their own", you're right. And from time to time there is a a certain amount of totally vague sentimental blather about love without gender.

However, I have been watching BL for years and I have never had any sort of feeling that "this is written by women" or "this is intended for a female audience". Believe me, I am much more used to material written by men, i.e. straight men, which is full of ludicrous claims about men's and boys' lives and the nature of being male, plus appalling representations of heterosexual relationships, not to mention endless scenes of men fighting men, men killing men, men competing against men. men deceiving and tricking men, etc. I am perfectly happy if a few women writers devote themselves to the topic of men LOVING men and even more pleased if female fans show a devotion to their work.

100%

There have been so many Thai BL series in which we see tiny pint-sized child versions of the main characters appearing in constant flashbacks. Not only that, but the characters themselves - young men - have a way of referring to their earlier childhood personas and actions rather regularly in all sorts of ways. I find this distracting and incongruous. I am not in my 20s now, but when I was a young man, I did not constantly feel a connection to my childhood experiences of 10 to 15 years earlier. I was friendly at all levels with people I'd known earlier, indeed as children, but I didn't think of them as "former children" and I didn't see my adult relationships as reflections in any way of my early boyhood friendships. When I was a young boy, I saw adult men as very different from myself, remote, somewhat frightening, not similar, certainly not "my future form" - and when I was then a young man years later, I did not look back to my childhood existence as some sort of blueprint for my young adult life. Not at all. I didn't feel close to young children or their world.

Yet in so many Thai BL series we see young men who seem to be spiritually and emotionally wrapped up in their early boyhood lives and who live their friendships with other adult males as echos of their childhood associations. Plus there are all these flashbacks. I think I am maybe the only person who feels alienated and put off by this focus on early boyhood relationships supposedly providing some sort of model for a man's adult loves. That's not how I experienced things. Not one bit.

I tend to agree with you. If we want to follow this series and others, we end up having to pay good money to subscribe not only to Viki but to Gagaoolala, crunchyroll, and other sites. For our money, we get access to tons of stuff which holds no interest for us. Plus we end up feeling cheated, as well as forced to participate in the exploitation of the unpaid subbers. After all, we pay, subbing is a highly valuable service, the subbers get nothing at all - so where does the money go? I dared express similar opinions on another MDL page and was roundly denounced by another fan as an "ignorant youngster" (in reality I'm an ignorant old man!) ... but I think you're right: there's no other way to look at it.

Please explain. It would never cross my mind to dismiss a total stranger's opinion in public as "that sounds so weird", especially as the opinion in question was purely intended as a compliment to someone else - i.e. "uzumina". And so, as you have been so bold as to tell the world that what I wrote is so very weird, let's hear what the problem is. But please ... please .... do not use the words: cringy, creepy, toxic, entitled.

"C'est terrible, j'aimerais bien être plus positive sur cette petite série qui aurait pu être sympa, avec de jeunes acteurs et un petit budget."
Et moi aussi, je souffre un peu. C'est vrai, c'est peut-être "terrible", mais pour moi, tout est racheté par vos descriptions exceptionnelles. Surtout vos récits minutieux des bizarreries, y compris celles de nature médicale. S'il vous plaît, continuez à regarder cette série et fournissez-nous qui peuvent lire le français avec ces commentaires délicieux!

Moi aussi. Trop bien écrit, quelque chose de délicieux. Mais il y a quelques mots que moi-même je ne connais pas ... toubib? choupinou? Mais sans doute le prix Nobel de littérature pour: »Et lent…lent…lent. On a le temps de tuer un âne à coup de figues molles.«

So nice to read to a seemingly endless series of warm, positive comments which are real and spontaneous. Not part of a project aimed at boosting the number of comments. But everyone's individual project of aiming to express how much he or she is enjoying, indeed loving, this hot, romantic, perfect "BL" ... I have nothing spontaneous and original to offer. Except I agree agree agree. Besides the two beautiful romantic leads, our stars, I love: the camera angles, the autumn colours, the numerous details filling out our heroes' characters, the music which accompanies the scenes so discreetly and compellingly, the fantastic support characters ...

100% what I was going to write. Thank God for "Semantic Error". Just what I needed. Craved. I love every second. I could watch 1000 episodes. Loving the interaction of these two beautiful, sexy Korean men.

What? "Murder, assault, stealing, rape, torture are all depicted as well and they are part of the plot"? They are? Hmmm... I've missed a lot of those elements here. Who was murdered? Who was tortured? What got stolen? Maybe I haven't watched far enough... Meanwhile who are these "somewhat literate folks" and why should they be able to discern what's "romantic"?

Thanks for expressing your very sensible views with such clarity and ... firmness! Plus rightly condemning the toxic word "toxic". "Toxic" is a fancy scientific word for poisonous. It has become ludicrously overused and overworked on the pages of MDL. Sadly. I am also astonished how ubiquitous "creepy", "cringey" and "trope" are. But "toxic" is the worst.

The general point you seek to make is vital. If those who wage a war against all they deem "toxic", "inappropriate" and "problematic" are victorious, they will condemn and eliminate the whole world of creative and artistic endeavour. Quite literally. At least in the English-speaking world. All Shakespeare will fly out the window. All Jane Austen, all Dickens etc. Plus all operas - in all languages. Everything. Only Sunday School tracts (which don't quote the banned, highly toxic Bible) will be permitted. The whole thing is too absurd. But it is good that you stress that very absurdity.

Of course drama is about people behaving "badly" = in toxic, creepy ways. People being people. Enemies becoming lovers. In fact, enemies becoming lovers is a popular m/m romance theme. Why? Because we men are taught to be each other's enemies. In sport, in the military, in politics, in the working world - we are supposed to fight and defeat each other, outwit and vanquish one another, endlessly compete and struggle with other men, hating them, ruining them, humiliating them. Etc etc. It is the default m/m way of being. So of course the enemies to lovers theme is sensationally dramatic and entertaining. It's just a winner. How could it not pack a unique dramatic punch? It is so lovely, so exciting, so novel and radical to see two men slowly drop their defences, discover new feelings, throw their conditioning and all male conventions to the four winds ... and cross over that boundary into the electrifying new territory of love., tenderness, desire and eroticism. I doubt I'll ever have enough m/m enemies to lovers romances, good grief. I never even saw ANY sort of m/m romance till I was a mature adult! And so, clearly the whole tension and excitement of this narrative project - enemies to lovers - requires that we have to see lots of male/male antipathy, competition, outright fighting and general man to man nastiness - before we can encounter the heady, overpowering pure excitement of the opposite m/m reality. And believe me, it happens in reality.

I remember how stunned I was when I saw this exquisite moment in the very enchanting and magical end of a Japanese film - where I really, really didn't expect to run into our beloved Taiwanese love birds.

Thank you for making those points politely.

In reality, ... I too am what you call a "creative industry employee". Though I don't work for gagaOOlala, it's true. And I've been in this particular working milieu for ... decades. Meaning that I am not the "confused young person" whom @SaruwatariMayu likes to hurl scorn and insults at.

And I do not support or promote illegal platforms.

But I had some questions on my mind about the way that this excellent series is - in my view - locked up. You are very committed to investing in BL production, I realise. And @SarutawariMaya is ... equally committed - plus appparently an expert on the "business model" in the case of gagaOOlala. But I too am keen to keep the BL industry afloat. I am a supporter of various legal platforms already. But they seem to be multiplying. And they often contain all sorts of other material which has nothing to do with BL or LGBT content: a major dimension of the concern I articulated above. For which I was told at length that I am an assholish ignorant youngster who understands absolutely nothing, needs to get educated, has no idea, etc.

In reality I work for a major media institute which runs numerous film festivals. I would love to do more to promote (etc) some BL material (such as this series) at the international level. However, I find that telling people they have to subcribe to gagaOOlala just to have a look at "Paint with Love" is ... a challenging invitation to issue to colleagues in the "creative industry". It's quite likely they just won't do it. Ultimately I would like to have other routes (NOT illegal platforms) which might well involve payment, but which do not involve open-ended subscriptions covering all sorts of unknown content. The other thing I am concerned about is the "quality of discourse" here on MDL. I know that sounds pretentious. But I've known this site a few years and I find that many pages are now awash in really abusive "comments" from people who think that brutal put-downs of unknown others are somehow de rigueur. It really worries me. You refer to wishing to eschew "rape and violence". Well, there's a lot of violent speech on this site nowadays; @SaruwatariMayu subjected me to quite a bit of it - and everyone finds that perfectly fine. As I say, it's the norm nowadays. But, as I also said, it worries me. Anyhow, thanks for being totally non-violent and polite.

Again, is it so difficult to share your expert level of authoritative information without insulting a total stranger? Why do you do this?

Anyhow, let us see what unpleasant remarks you've managed to fire in my direction this time.

First, you declare me to be without doubt a "confused young person" - a class of people for whom you seem to have deep contempt. Oh yes, and I am so foolish and ignorant, clearly, that "I have no idea how these things work".

Yes, OK, let's go along with your scenario. I am an ill-informed youngster who has no idea. Thank you for descending from your lofty pinnacle of authority to "reply in good faith". With weary disdain, you inform me, the ignorant kid, that gagaOOlala have invested a "huge amount" in this series - therefore it's a gagaOOlala "exclusive" and we are obliged to pay gagaOOlala to reward them for their generous investment in "Paint with Love". So - sounds like you know a lot about the relationships between Portico Media, the parent company, gagaOOlala, the streaming platform, and Pops, the Thai production company. But ... you don't. Although I may be a "confused young person", I've been able to look into the production history of "Paint with Love" - and it doesn't correspond to the story you give us.

But perhaps that's not important. What IS important to you, evidently, is finding new ways to insult me and heap scorn on me, the ignorant young nobody who has no idea what's what. Next I'm told I'm "entitled", a meaningless term, especially as the basis of your claim is a question you attribute to me which I never asked. Let's continue: you assert with all the superior disdain of genius that I .... "dare to complain". Well, actually, I dared to ask some questions. And finally, you go for the jugular - which is what you clearly enjoy. My comment is "absolutely assholish" ... I am "aggressively criticising" a business model (!) which ... I know "absolutely nothing about" (Which you then announce to be .... your problem? However assholish I am, how is it your problem??) And finally, the coup de grace: "Now get educated and stop trying to pretend like you know anything about it."

As before, I wonder - what do you get out of this? I didn't aggressively criticise anything. I didn't do anything "assholish", though I guess it's not a term I'm very familiar with. I didn't say anything "entitled", good grief. I am in fact a total stranger to you. I've done you no wrong. You've never met me. I may not be a "young person" (confused or otherwise) at all. I'm glad to accept that you are a highly knowledgeable. educated, well-informed and mature individual who works in the "creative industry" and knows all about gagaOOlala, its investments and the "business model" it represents. Fine, but what do you get out of insulting me? "Confused young person", "no idea", "entitled", "you dare complain", "absolutely assholish", "aggressively criticising", "you understand absolutely nothing", "get educated", "stop trying to pretend". Goodness knows what inspired that tirade. But you're right, I often feel that I understand absolutely nothing...

I've added an edit above to my original remarks. I accept that the phenomenon which I found bewildering and alienating is not designed to silence anyone or to put an end to BLs. I recognise that the "blizzard of messages" I referred to is experienced by others as stimulating and interesting, and that it actually engages people in entertaining exchange and discussion. Meanwhile, there is still a lot that I find incomprehensible - that's my problem. And I am not always sure what the connection to "Bad Buddy" is. But again, that's my problem. Maybe I would like more "serious discussion" but I agree that the comments pages cannot and should not be "limited" in any way which promotes that priority. People should be utterly free to say whatever they like - and I guess that must include me too. And finally, the total number of comments steams ahead towards 30,000 - it was around 21,000 when I wrote my original comment!

OK. One simple question. One simple answer. Since the beginning. That is, the beginning of the series. We're not talking about something dating back to 1956. It was just a couple of months ago. I don't understand why it's important "how long" I've been on this page. I cannot confirm, however, that I have read all 27,389 comments to date.

Where did I say I was "dissatisfied and disappointed"? I enjoy "Bad Buddy". As much as anyone else.

Let's get this right. GagOOlala is a business. It isn't a charity. It isn't a not-for-profit Thai artists' collective. It's in it for the money. And you are here seemingly to promote the GagaOOlala business and boost their income. Secondly, it does not pay Thai actors. Not at all. GagaOOlala's money goes to ... GagaOOlala - and Portico Media, which it belongs to. Finally, how on earth is material that someone pays for "free" content? If you pay a subscription, you've PAID. Nothing is free.

The other thing I am curious to know: what do you get from gratuitously insulting an unknown person in public? Does it feel good to you? Do you feel ... witty? Rich? Powerful? Clever? First you say that I "whine" about people getting paid. I'm not whining, as you know. I posed some perfectly reasonable questions. I am obviously not trying to prevent anyone "getting paid". I am questioning the ethics of locking up creative content behind a (relatively expensive, in my view) media subscription service, GagaOOlala, which is part of a much larger Taiwanese entertainment company called Portico Media Co. Ltd. Finally, for no reason at all, you tell the world that "no creative" anywhere would wish to receive attention (let alone payment or other support) from a contemptible low-life like me. Again and again, I marvel at the things people write on this site. No one would want attention from "the likes of" me, you say... What do you get out of that? Do you know me? Have I done you wrong? Hurt your business interests in some way? This sort of contrived, 100% unnecessary nastiness is taking over on MDL - but I want to know what satisfaction it gives you.

That sort of offensive attack on your potential audience is a bizarre way of promoting what you are SELLING. Yes, selling. GagaOOlala is a business. Not a charitable fund for the Thai BL community.

It's very bizarre. Ep 6 has existed for several days. If you are an English-speaker who doesn't know Thai, you are out of luck. This one episode is somehow locked up in Gagaoolala - where you will be forced to join that platform long-term as a subscriber, paying around $100 (US) a year, even if you do not want to look at anything else on the site. That's your one and only choice. Very few people will be willing to pay that kind of money just to watch it on Gagaoolala, so clearly the people who made "Paint With Love" wish to hide their product from view and are thoroughly uninterested in attracting overseas English-speaking visitors. Only English speakers, however. There ARE illicit or irregular versions of ep 6 with Spanish and Portuguese subtitles, if you know those languages. See below! The odd thing is that no version with English subtitles exists alongside the Spanish and Portuguese versions in those "pirate" settings.