Aof Noppharnach’s Works: Queer Representation in Thai BL Dramas and a Queer Man’s Struggle with Sexuality
DISCLAIMER: This article contains spoilers. Please read at your own discretion.
Just this year, I got into watching Boys Love dramas because it is easily accessible online. Boys Love, abbreviated as BL, involves two male characters, usually teenagers or those in their early twenties, in a form of romantic relationship. This genre of dramas are produced in Asia, mainly in Thailand, Japan, and Taiwan.
However, these works have also found a fan base beyond Asia, as BL dramas published on YouTube now have subtitles in multiple European and Latin American languages. Also, fans from all over the world have created social media accounts dedicated to showing their love towards these BL dramas.
With community lockdowns announced by governments worldwide, people who are lucky enough are now confined in the spaces of their own home. They look for ways to keep themselves busy, aside from the existing commitments they have to do. Because of this, a BL drama named 2gether the Series, produced by Thai production company GMMTV, has gotten the spotlight as it is currently airing during period of the global pandemic.
But with the spotlight that 2gether the Series got, issues about the problematic representation of queer men in BL dramas also emerged. These issues are not unique to 2gether the Series, as other BL dramas also have this issue on queer representation.
But how did the problematic issues in BL dramas, specifically in Thailand, start?
According to a literature review by Zsila and Demetrovics (READ: The boys’ love phenomenon: A literature review), BL originated from Japanese shojo manga in the 1970s when romantic stories between 2 men started to become popular among young female readers. These stories were written by women for women using their fantasies of a relationship between two men.
Because of the success of shojo manga involving male lead characters, BL manga has branched out into two two categories: shōnen-ai which focuses on the romantic aspects of boys’ love, and yaoi which focuses on the homoerotic aspect of it. However, these fantasies of women, especially in yaoi, are usually not representative of actual queer men. Some themes in the content, which include stereotypes on dominant (seme) and submissive (uke) roles in relationships, internalized homophobia, and the positive framing of rape as a start of a relationship, are problematic in nature.
While these elements fulfill the sexual fantasies of the female consumers (known as fujoshi) of BL manga, these are unrepresentative of actual queer men in the real world. These can actually do more harm than good to queer men, who are supposedly represented by these content. Queer men can be compelled to adhere to these stereotypes propagated by these works.
Likewise, Thai BL dramas have their origins from female writers writing for female audiences. A lot of these dramas start out as web novels written primarily for female readers. Popular novels get picked up by a production company in Bangkok and are recreated into a drama series for both TV channels such as GMM25 and web-based platforms such as YouTube, LINE TV, and eventually, Netflix.
Although the issues are more toned down in Thai BL dramas, certain problematic aspects of Japanese BL manga still persist in these Thai BL dramas because it was originally written by female writers for female audiences.
However, a significant difference between Thai BL dramas and Japanese BL manga is that Thai BL dramas have more queer male audiences who are able to relate more to the stories because they are portrayed by actual human beings.
Therefore, a challenge for production companies and screenwriters is to write BL dramas that balances both (1) giving the action and romance between two men that female audiences are looking for and (2) giving the genuine representation of queer men in the story without including problematic themes. This becomes extra challenging if the producers are adopting a web novel that was originally intended for female audiences.
Several Thai BL dramas that I’ve watched have been able to integrate in their story the genuine struggles that queer men face in terms of their own sexuality. Out of curiosity, I searched to check who directed these dramas. One common name pops up: Backaof “Aof” Noppharnach.
P’Aof (P’ being the Thai term for an older sibling) was either the director or screenwriter of several dramas that were able to successfully integrate the struggles of queer men in the plot. Concretely, his works are able to show how the male queer characters are dealing with their sexuality while being in love with another man.
For this review, allow me to frame these three dramas into three levels of acceptance in terms of queer men and their own sexuality.
My Dear Loser: Edge of 17 (2017) and Our Skyy Episode 2 (2018) and a Queer Man’s Struggle for Self-Acceptance
Let’s start of with the story of In (Pluem Purim Rattanaruangwattana) and Sun (Chimon Wachiwarit Ruangwiwat) from My Dear Loser: Edge of 17 (2017). P’Aof did not direct this series but he did write the screenplay for it.
The story of their relationship was years in the making. Sun was already at ease with his sexuality when they met while In still had insecurities with his own attraction to boys, causing a lot of complications with each other. Since it took a long journey for In to come into terms with his sexuality and eventually declaring that they are a couple, let us relive that journey of how their relationship developed while In was in his journey towards self-acceptance.
Sun was a new student in the school. He happened to end up in the middle of the fight between In and a school mate. Unluckily for Sun, he ends up being the same classroom as In. With a bad first encounter, Sun was scared of In. But, Sun eventually finds a friend in class captain Ainam (Puimek Napasorn Weerayuttvilai).
Bad first impressions aside, In and Sun started to spend more time together during their school break when Sun had an argument with his conservative aunt due to his sexuality. Due to the argument, Sun asks In if he could stay at his house during the school break. During his stay at In’s house, Sun eventually starts to develop feelings for In.
Sun started to give clues to In that he likes him. However, In is oblivious with these clues and interprets these clues as Sun being genuinely caring for him. He liked the feeling of being cared for by Sun, but does not associate this with a romantic feeling towards him. Unknown to Sun, In started to have feelings for Ainam. In tells this to Sun, not knowing that this causes Sun to hurt.
Still clueless with Sun’s true feelings for him, In asks Sun to accompany him in buying a Valentine’s Day gift for someone, not knowing at first that it was for Ainam. When Sun found out, this hurts him even more and decides to start avoiding In.
Valentine’s Day came. Sun was still avoiding In, and In has confessed his feelings to Ainam. She tells In that they’re better off as friends. Meanwhile, In sees that a boy from the upper years gave Sun a Valentine’s gift. This causes In to feel jealous. But looking back, he just wants him and Sun to be together as close friends who care for each other, but not necessarily lovers. If that’s the case, he wonders why he felt jealous seeing Sun being pursued by another boy.
While Sun was still avoiding In, Ainam asks In what is happening between him and Sun. In tells Ainam that he likes having Sun so much in his life that he doesn’t want to lose him. This implies that he does have feelings for Sun, but he is still struggling to come to terms with his attraction to men. Ainam assures him that it doesn’t matter if a person is straight, gay, or lesbian. What only matters is that two people love each other.
After that conversation with Ainam, In bumps into Sun. They clarify their mutual feelings for each other, but In still has reservations about his own sexuality. Sun assures In that a homosexual relationship is just the same as a heterosexual relationship. Sun then asks In what is the label between the two of them. Still having doubts, In tells Sun that for him, they can sort out the labels later. What only mattered to him was that they were together.
P’Aof left an open ending for their relationship at the end of My Dear Loser. This is sensible because at this time, In was still figuring out his own sexuality. Before making things official with Sun, he had to get past this stage.
Did In have clarity with his sexuality? Did they become official? These things were left for the audience to answer and hypothesize…until the Our Skyy anthology was released roughly a year after the My Dear Loser was aired.
Our Skyy (2018) is an 5-episode series produced by GMMTV. In each episode, the continuation of the story of 5 previous BL series produced by GMMTV. Episode 2, now directed by P’Aof, features the continuation of In and Sun’s story with the answers to the two questions above.
So…did In have clarity with his sexuality? Did they become official? Not exactly…at first.
Set a few years after the events in My Dear Loser, In and Sun presumably never got past that stage of being together with no labels. Since they never established themselves as boyfriends, In eventually goes out with a girl. Sun runs away from Bangkok to avoid the pain he feels from seeing In with someone else.
In, now a single man once again, finds Sun in the Thai countryside in order to make things right between them. But when he finds Sun, he sees him with another man named Toey (Mike Chinnarat Siriphongchawalit).
In contrast to his reservations in My Dear Loser, In asks to join Sun and Toey in a camping trip, in the hopes of trying to win Sun back. As he tries to win his friend back, In feels that Sun’s feelings for Toey was real, slowly making him hopeless.
This was a turning point for In. From having self-doubts with his own sexuality, he was now certain that he saw Sun as someone he wanted to be his lover. But with a man between them, In now has the dilemma of confessing his genuine feelings for Sun or letting Sun be happy with someone who is clearly making him happy.
At this point, Sun once again asks In what he truly felt towards him. Now at terms with his own sexuality, he finally tells Sun explicitly that he likes him and is scared to lose him again. Now that things are clearer, Sun assures In that him and Toey are just friends. After years of ambiguity with each other, they finally declare themselves as boyfriends.
With In and Sun’s story, it can be seen that a queer man’s journey to accepting his own sexuality has no uniform formula. Even though In and Sun were the same age, In came to terms with his own sexuality much later than Sun.
P’Aof was able to use these two productions through the character development of In to show the struggles of a queer man with accepting his own sexuality. Although he was guided by his friends along the way, his journey to self-discovery never felt forced. The feelings he felt in his journey are valid and natural. At the end of the day, only he himself knows when he is ready to accept himself.
In real life, some are like Sun, who accepted his sexuality early. Some may be like In, who needed more time and guidance to accept his sexuality. Whichever of the two characters queer men identify with, self-acceptance is the first step of any queer man’s self-discovery.
He’s Coming to Me (2019) and the Struggle for Acceptance from Family and Friends
Imagine being a young law student who happens to be in a basketball varsity and has the ability to see ghosts. Now imagine being in that same situation, but you are also attracted to men. Also, the guy you are attracted to is a ghost waiting to be reincarnated. That was basically what Thun (Ohm Pawat Chittsawangdee) was going through in the 8 episodes of P’Aof’s He’s Coming to Me (2019).
In order to know why the ghost named Mes (Singto Prachaya Ruangroj) couldn’t reincarnate, Thun brought him to his apartment so that they could solve the mystery together. But something about Mes, besides him being a ghost, felt different for Thun. After being kissed by his female friend Plaifah (Gigi Sarocha Burin), Thun was certain that he was attracted to men. And specifically, he liked Mes.
But how is he supposed to tell his family and friends this secret of his?
Being in a basketball varsity definitely does not make things easier for Thun. In this all-male environment where toxic masculinity is present, homosexuality is often used as an insult. Although Thun was indeed attracted to men, this environment did not make it easier for him to come out to his family and friends.
Eventually, Thun did tell this to his friends, but it wasn’t the most ideal situation. In his friend group, Prince (Chimon Wachiwarit Ruangwiwat) had a crush of Plaifah, who had a crush on Thun. Thun was stuck in a love triangle he didn’t want to be part of. But each day he kept his secret to himself, it was another day for Plaifah to get closer to him, and another day for Prince’s jealousy to fuel up more.
Prince’s jealousy with Plaifah’s closeness to Thun causes a heated confrontation between the two. When Thun makes it clear to Prince that he did not like Plaifah, Prince asks why did he kiss her then. Thun then tells Prince explicitly that he was not attracted to girls. This was overheard by Plaifah and the other person in their friend group, Khiao Khiem (Sing Harit Cheewagaroon), leaving everyone in shock.
The way Thun came out to his friends was far from ideal, but how his friends reacted to it was very much ideal. Prince and Khiao Khiem assured him that they are okay with him immediately and that things will not change between them. But they did tell him that they needed time to grasp that fact that he was attracted to men. They also probably needed the time so that they could know better how to properly support him in the future.
As for Plaifah, she did avoid Thun for a while. We really can’t blame Plaifah for how avoiding Thun because the two of them kissed and she did have feelings for him. She could’ve felt as if she was used by Thun to validate his own sexuality. But eventually the two of them cleared things between each other and Plaifah even jokingly told Thun that she’s now more comfortable to invite him to her house more.
If Thun’s friends reacted negatively instead, Thun could’ve found new friends who understood him better. But what if it was his family who reacted negatively? After Thun lost his father at an early age, he only has his mother who he has grown to be close with. What if his mother couldn’t accept him for who he is?
Unlike coming out to his friends which was accidental, Thun’s coming out to his mother was more intentional from him. Contrary to how he came out to his friends, coming out to his own mother was a much more emotional experience for him. Again, if his mother couldn’t accept him, there was a possibility of him losing the person he confides to. Luckily for Thun, his mother did accept him for who he is.
Coming out to friends and family is never easy for any queer man. Just like self-acceptance of one’s own sexuality, acceptance from family and friends is not a uniform process for everyone. Some will have accepting family and friends. But for others, their family and friends will not be as accepting. They will have to exert more effort, usually in an economical form, to be accepted by their family and friends.
Even though the reactions from his friends and family are very idealized, Thun’s thoughts and emotions throughout this journey of his is something that queer men are able to empathize with. This was something P’Aof was able to integrate in the story, alongside the very unorthodox romantic pairing between Thun and Mes that has never been seen in a BL series.
Dark Blue Kiss (2019) and the Struggle for Acceptance from Society
Pete (Tay Tawan Vihokratana) and Kao (New Thitipoom Techaapaikhun) have been boyfriends for quite a while at the onset of Dark Blue Kiss (2019). They have reached the age where they have to start thinking about their lives after college.
With the mindset of working in the future, Pete and Kao share this conversation, which resonates with queer men worldwide:
“Why do we have to prove more than others anyway? You and me are just like other people. It’s like we disappoint our parents with our sexuality. So we have to be a good person, get a good job. I’m good because I want to be. Not that I have to be a better person than everyone else because I like men.”
Of all the elements in P’Aof’s works so far, this conversation is definitely the most progressive in terms of genuine queer representation in terms of acceptance from society. Unlike the first two stories above which tackled how queer men come to terms with their sexuality within themselves and a small group, Dark Blue Kiss discusses this journey of acceptance from a broader perspective.
This quote from Pete and Kao’s conversation implies a harsh reality that not only queer men, but also all other members of the LGBTQ+ community face: in many societies, queer people are still seen as lesser people than others. As Pete and Kao said, it’s as if they have to exert more effort in life than others in order compensate for their queerness.
Unlike coming out to one’s self, family and friends, coming out to society has more complicated dynamics. The perceptions people among family and friends have on queer men may be different from the perceptions of people in the work force. Even if queer men are out to their family and friends, they might have to keep closeted at their work places.
For Pete, this doesn’t affect him as much. Since he comes from an affluent family, he has a safety net in his family that he can count on if he is unable to find a job due to his sexuality.
But for breadwinner Kao, he does not have the same privilege as Pete had. In order to help his mother support his sister’s overseas studies, he balances a part-time job tutoring math to high school students.
Having a part-time job, he had to keep his relationship with Pete a secret because parents might not want their children to be taught by someone like Kao. This seemed simple to do, until Non (AJ Chayapol Jutamat) came into their lives.
Kao was hired by Non’s father (who is also the boss of Kao’s mother in a school) to tutor him. But unlike Kao’s other students, Non liked Kao and he had intentions of stealing Kao from Pete. From a privileged viewpoint, Pete told Kao to simply stop tutoring Non.
However, Kao couldn’t simply stop tutoring Non. First, Non could’ve used his relationship with Pete to sabotage Kao’s reputation as a tutor to high school students. Second, Kao’s mother, who still didn’t know about Pete and Kao, could’ve had her job at risk if Non decided to vent out to his father. In order to appease everyone at stake, Kao decides to secretly tutor Non without Pete knowing.
Although the intensity of Kao’s dilemma is not necessarily something all queer men go through, this presents a reality check to the possible difficulties queer men face in society. Just like Kao, queer men could possibly risk losing opportunities they deserved if people found out they like men.
What’s more tragic about this is that oftentimes, sexuality is not even a factor to one’s capability of performing well in a job. Children wouldn’t become attracted to the same sex just because a queer man like Kao is teaching them math.
Fortunately, there is legislation in several countries have been passed to protect queer men, and queer people in general, from this discrimination in the work place. P’Aof was able to transform the Dark Blue Kiss novel from a simple love story to a commentary on the harsh realities that queer people face in society.
Although the presentation of these realities in the series are very “in-your-face” and emotionally distressing, P’Aof frames everything with a happy ending for Pete and Kao. But as long as society is not yet ready to accept queer men unconditionally, this happy ending that Pete and Kao got will not be achieved by everyone.
What’s Next for P’Aof?
GMMTV posted dummy trailers of upcoming drama series for 2020. Among the upcoming series, P’Aof is directing another BL series for this year called A Tale of Thousand Stars.
Based on the dummy trailer, this series centers on Tian (Mix Sahaphap Wongratch), a man who suffers from a heart disease, but could live because of a heart transplant from Torfun (Aye Sarunchana Apisamaimongkol). As a sign of gratitude, Tian vows to continue the dreams that Torfun left behind in her diary entries. This leads him to meet Phupha (Earth Pirapat Watthanasetsiri), who was Torfun’s love interest.
As of writing, A Tale of Thousand Stars just finished the first script reading. With lockdown restrictions being gradually lifted in Thailand, production work for this series can gradually start. But with the situation with the coronavirus pandemic still unstable, BL viewers might need to wait until early 2021 for this series.
With a long way to go before A Tale of Thousand Stars airs, changes that are not found in the dummy trailer might still happen. But one theme that I expect that will be seen in this series is the integration of genuine queer struggles in the story, as seen in P’Aof’s previous works. Just like the three works above, it might also feature the struggles with accepting one’s sexuality in either of the three levels. But, it might also feature a new theme on queer representation never before seen in other BL dramas. We’ll just have to wait for the end of 2020 (or start of 2021) to see.
The Way Forward
The rise to popularity of BL dramas did come at a price. It exposed certain problematic aspects of these dramas, most especially in terms of genuine queer representation. But with directors such as Aof Noppharnach, Thai BL dramas are now being reinvented to appease both fujoshis and queer men alike.
Although Thai BL can trace its roots back to the yaoi manga culture, I think it now has the capability and popularity to make itself distinct from the BL culture of yaoi. Whereas yaoi manga is in a print form that is open to many forms of interpretation, I think BL dramas evoke more specific reactions to its audience, most especially to queer men who are able to empathize with the emotions of the actors. Future directors of BL dramas should take this into consideration and be more mindful of the queer representation when they create their content in the future.
