jpny01

I have no idea what's going on. This is either the worst written or worst edited show in the entire history of civilization. And that's only a SLIGHT exaggeration for the sake of drama. I have no idea what happened this episode. North's mother walked in on North & Ongsah horsing around, screamed because North collapsed offscreen, went to the hospital, where there was a teleporter back to his mother's office where they stole the bribe money and wend through a sliding glass door that wasn't there before. Maybe that was the teleporter and they went to go spend the money in Bora Bora.

Is he the guy who looks really good with his shirt off? There are so many characters I've given up trying to keep track. Fortunately North & Ongsah are really distinctive looking, so I can follow their plot.

He started off as a ghost, so it would be a little weird if he ended up one.

I think he's evildirectorlady's secretary.

That was kind of awful and abusive of him, TBH. She's horrible and misguided, but she's suffering because her husband left her for a man, so doing that in front of her was a bit much. I get why he did it, he was angry, but it wasn't very constructive.

They do serve an important purpose. The evil director hates them for their sexuality because her husband left her for a man. They are not used just as comic relief but are real characters that make decisions based on principle, which is an important departure from the transphobia that suffuses Thai series. That being said, there is way, wayyy, wayyyyyyyyyyyy too much screen time for them. Way.

I think I understand you. I guess there are audiences that want cute and pleasant interaction between the pairs, but to me it's boring - if there are no challenges to overcome, then the reward when they get together is only "aww, that's cute". In the case of Oxygen, my reaction was just a shrug - I didn't care. When the couple have to overcome obstacles, internal and external, when they get together is a huge moment. For example, Kao has had to work for it, so most likely his first kiss with Phu will be a bigger deal. Although I'm not counting on it because whoever wrote this doesn't seem to care about plot or character development.

When you look at Gameboys or Hello Stranger, there was a long journey to get the couple together, so it was a huge emotional high when it happened. Or the buildup so far in Gaya sa Pelikula has been so intense in just four episodes that I'm likely to burst into tears when they finally kiss.

I think you have a good point that it's better to have smooth and boring :) rather than awkward and forced - like TinCan was wonderful in LBC (natural AND dramatic), but look like they were forced at gunpoint in LBC2. On the other hand, 2Gether was so wonderful for the first half, but fell apart in the second when they introduced contrived drama that was inconsistent with the characters. But to me, their interaction in the first half did contain obstacles - Sarawat was intensely private, especially with his feelings, and Tine didn't understand his feelings - plus you had Green as an external obstacle for Tine - it was all so well written and touching and funny.

I guess what I'm saying is, it's not enough to have two cute boys being cute together - the writing has to be good, and that has to include character arcs that make sense.

Gaya sa Pelikula (Like in the Movies) is wonderful - it's extremely well-acted and both funny and moving, with very high production values - you'll see that in the very first shot. I loved TinCan in the original LBC, but the limitations of Can are more plain as a main character, and Mean is obviously over it. I don't understand the decision to retell the story rather than continuing it - very strange.

LOL, I love it. But we should keep in mind these are teenagers - they aren't going to have adult perspective & experience.

I'm not sure - I think she will defintely cause something terrible to happen, but she's much more than the usual BL cartoonishly evil girlfriend - she's a fully realized character, not a plot device. And that was some powerful acting. I think it's worth waiting to see. It looks like whatever happens may result from wherever she's going with that guy - I think her trajectory may be tragic rather than tired-stereotpyical bitch.

I think a lot of what Sandee is seeing is exaggerated from her perspective - like I don't think Ken & Shake were holding hands in the performance - I think she just saw it that way, because prior to the camera's perspective becoming hers, their hands were barely touching. Likewise, I think Shake was probably very confused about what was going on, whereas Sandee was perceiving bitch-eyes.

Thank you! If Thai BL wants to continue to be formulaic and use amateur actors, I can get over it, as long as there are PhuKao's in there.

However, non-negotiable, there must be a total stop to misogyny and transphobia. A female character can be a villain, but not a spiteful manipulative jealous harpy that perpetuates negative stereotypes of women. It's OK for there to be some silly female characters, but all the non-evil women are OTT toxic squealing fujoshis. How about a supportive friend? A good female character would be Kim on My Day. A good commetary on the fujoshi trope is The Shipper. Trans actors & characters can be comedic, but not pathetic. An example of a properly used Trans actress is Jennie in The Shipper, where she was a comedic fuck-up, but also the Angel of Death. She had agency and depth of character. Or better yet Jennie in 2WillBFree, where she's a fully-rounded tragic character who is also a little terrifying.

I think we need to actively oppose this, not just refuse to watch, especially as these are shows aimed at young impressionable people.

I'm fine with bisexuality if a character is bisexual. What is not OK is the BL trope "I'm not gay, I only love [boy X]" Nobody ever says, "I'm not gay, I'm bisexual" or "non-binary" or "genderfluid" or just about anything except "I'm not gay, I only love X". Can you name a BL where there's an actual bisexual character? I can only think of one.

Nobody hurt me, but I can't help but wonder why you're following me around being rude to a stranger about a fluffy BL fantasy - I think you're too invested in this. You'll note that I wasn't referring to Oxygen (I believe I specifically referced Theory of Love), where nobody has really brought up the subject of sexuality - we don't really know nor does it matter what their sexualities are since they all seem to be self-aware and comfortable with who they are - that's one of the precious few refreshing positives of the series.

I think Gaya sa Pelikula is my favorite. In general I'm enjoying the Filipino shows more because they have an LGBTQ+ sensibility and are more original (or were - I'm starting to see more copycat shows as more and more productions jump on the BL bandwagon), whereas the Thai shows are aimed at teenaged girls so they are more fluffy, formulaic, and fantasy-like.

They also insist on a strict seme-uke dynamic which I find untrue to real life and makes the story feel like some Victorian romance novel with a passive boy dropped into the female role. There's a disturbing undercurrent of misogyny (even Khim, who is a caricature rather than a real character) and even homophobia - effeminate characters are almost always jokes, and the mains are all so straight that it reaches the point of fetishization of heterosexuality.

I tend to prefer shows where there's a dramatic arc and not just 14 episodes of fluff. There needs to be character development and something to overcome, some sort of drama. Other I've liked are Hello Stranger, TharnType, He's Coming to Me (if you ignore the ending) the first half of 2Gether, The Shipper, & Quaranthings among others. I'm fine with characters behaving badly like in TharnType if it's properly set up and motivated - watching saints interact is boring.

I may be investing too much into this.

On the other hand, Oxygen has four times as many votes as GSP but is running even, which is like saying the movie Plan 9 From Outer Space is as good as The Godfather. And even then, Plan 9 is entertainingly bad, whereas Oxygen is like watching paste congeal, other than one pair of side characters.

Just as long as you have GSP at the top, I won't object to any ranking. :)

That's a pity - thanks, I appreciate the explanation.

That's a good point.

For some reason, they always seem to cast beginning actors in the main roles and experienced ones in the side roles, when it should be the other way around. I think that's part of it. Also, they aim the main pair at early-teen girls, so they need to be bland, unthreatening, and pretty. Take Ram in My Engineer, a towering, tatooed pile of muscle - I doubt it would have occured to them to cast him in the main pair, even though he's talented and can convey so much without even talking.