Bayamon_Hill
Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
This review may contain spoilers
A Coming-Out Story Isn't Necessarily a BL
There are some things to say right away - the story is beautiful in its way, the settings and acting are great. BUT....
If this were a BL series, the story would revolve around Teh and Oh-Aew coming to realize that they like each other and then kissing at the end. The journey is MUTUAL in that both are finding their way toward each other.
This is a more of a coming-out movie, where the story obsessively focuses on Teh's realization of his homosexual attractions and Oh-Aew just so happens to be the person who awakens those feelings in him. In fact, this would make a better film than a series.
By the end of this, I was really dissatisfied with the absolute torture Teh put everyone through to come to his self-realizations. I found him to be selfish and self-obsessed. I think it's episode 5 when Teh's wonderful brother Hoon, calls him a crybaby, and that definitely applies to Teh. I just don't have much patience for crybabies who seem to always be saddest about their own predicament and barely moved by others. In fact, I don't know if I can even describe Teh as a good person because he always has motives for what he's doing. You can understand why a movie focused on Teh wouldn't be much to my liking.
Besides, if you think Teh has it bad, what would this story be like from Oh-Aew's point of view? He decides to go into acting as a child, only after getting permission from Teh, then once he likes it, Teh drops him for betraying him. Can you imagine the hurt Oh went through? Oh is a single child without the benefit of a comforting brother to give him the go-ahead to explore his gay feelings. He had to come to those realizations and experience all the pain and hesitation ON HIS OWN. Imagine how hard that would have been. And still, he was willing to put himself out there - first by accepting Teh's friendship again after being hurt so badly by him and then by repeatedly showing affection toward Teh only to be swatted away. Oh-Aew even is willing to treat Bas poorly on his way to get Teh to accept his feelings. Teh is CRUEL to Oh-Aew and to Tarn, for that matter, and isn't worth all the screen time.
In the end, I would have liked Oh to have run that journey on his own, because the show should have allowed him to come to his own realizations too - that he doesn't need anyone in this world to support him who is not ready to accept him as he is, bra and all.
This series might look beautiful and might take itself very seriously, but it doesn't succeed at telling a BL story. If this is BL, then so is "Brokeback Mountain" and we can agree there is a difference.
If this were a BL series, the story would revolve around Teh and Oh-Aew coming to realize that they like each other and then kissing at the end. The journey is MUTUAL in that both are finding their way toward each other.
This is a more of a coming-out movie, where the story obsessively focuses on Teh's realization of his homosexual attractions and Oh-Aew just so happens to be the person who awakens those feelings in him. In fact, this would make a better film than a series.
By the end of this, I was really dissatisfied with the absolute torture Teh put everyone through to come to his self-realizations. I found him to be selfish and self-obsessed. I think it's episode 5 when Teh's wonderful brother Hoon, calls him a crybaby, and that definitely applies to Teh. I just don't have much patience for crybabies who seem to always be saddest about their own predicament and barely moved by others. In fact, I don't know if I can even describe Teh as a good person because he always has motives for what he's doing. You can understand why a movie focused on Teh wouldn't be much to my liking.
Besides, if you think Teh has it bad, what would this story be like from Oh-Aew's point of view? He decides to go into acting as a child, only after getting permission from Teh, then once he likes it, Teh drops him for betraying him. Can you imagine the hurt Oh went through? Oh is a single child without the benefit of a comforting brother to give him the go-ahead to explore his gay feelings. He had to come to those realizations and experience all the pain and hesitation ON HIS OWN. Imagine how hard that would have been. And still, he was willing to put himself out there - first by accepting Teh's friendship again after being hurt so badly by him and then by repeatedly showing affection toward Teh only to be swatted away. Oh-Aew even is willing to treat Bas poorly on his way to get Teh to accept his feelings. Teh is CRUEL to Oh-Aew and to Tarn, for that matter, and isn't worth all the screen time.
In the end, I would have liked Oh to have run that journey on his own, because the show should have allowed him to come to his own realizations too - that he doesn't need anyone in this world to support him who is not ready to accept him as he is, bra and all.
This series might look beautiful and might take itself very seriously, but it doesn't succeed at telling a BL story. If this is BL, then so is "Brokeback Mountain" and we can agree there is a difference.
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