BLISS RATING: ★★★★
“First loves teaches us many things, but losing it teaches us to be strong.” – Unknown
I am almost reluctant to comment on this series as it is not at all like your typical BL series. I am reticent to call them BLs but they do involve the blossoming of very young feelings of romance between juvenile boys. I am not sure what the reason for their production except for simply giving these young actors an opportunity to hone in on their acting talents. They are simple stories of bromances, or maybe simple connections of friendship between boys, or even ‘puppy love’. There is nothing elaborate here nor is there any deep hidden meanings. It is just what happens sometimes with young boys when they realize that they may be ‘different’, or they now begin to think differently about some of their friends or guys in their age group.
The first story is called “Mom, Please Do Not Disturb”. It is a simple basic story between Son, (Son Korbboon Garun) and Pluggy (Pluggy Tharakorn Khamsing). Son has some water accidently spilled on him while sitting down and Pluggy, walking by, helps him to dry out his clothes in his room which is nearby. There is a story about a connection between the two and you can sense when perhaps, just perhaps, they like each other as they both have some awareness of the activities of each other. Pluggy sings him a song since he is a budding musician. As Son falls asleep on the couch, you can sense that Pluggy is smiling and feeling good about his new friend and thinking about other things. (We are not really sure, but we can surmise by the expression on his face). He gets a call from someone who is telling him that he should be someplace else, but he cannot make it (Oh this brings back so many memories of wanting to be with someone but knowing you should be somewhere else). Son’s phone rings because his mother is calling but Pluggy does not answer it or wake Son up. He lets him sleep. This is a story of confusion, stirrings, not wanting to let this feeling end but unaware of what it is exactly each is feeling.
In the second separate episode called ‘You Never Eat Alone”, it is a story about Folk (Folk Touch Inthirat) and Petch (Petch Sirin Siripanich). Petch is ill and alone and orders food from a local restaurant. The individual who brings him his food is a former friend of his. Folk is a bit surprised as Petch is living with his sister. It is obvious that these two were friends, perhaps explored feelings for each other in the recent past, but Petch is too afraid and too young to yet be able to declare that. Folk is a bit older and is a bit more secure in who he is. Petch essentially asks Folk to wait for him until he is better able to handle all of this. He genuinely seems heartbroken that he cannot be more demonstrative in his feelings and the best he can do is hold hands. This is a surprisingly good and sensitive snippet of very young love with built in heartache and disappointment. I thought this one was very well done.
The third and fourth episodes are combined into one. “Everybody Run’ with Ball (Ball Saranwut Chatjaratsaeng) and Paul (Paul Poori Siphrai). Paul is a runner and is befriended by Ball who is also a runner. This is a very intricate and delicate and sensitive episode filled with symbolism. While NOTHING is ever said or done, you can sense and feel that there is an attraction between the two that will never materialize as Ball is already with a ‘boyfriend’. (I use these terms loosely as they are so young and truly do not fully understand the term or its meaning). At the end, they only see each other from a distance but Paul who only had one fish in the fishbowl now has two in the fishbowl. Ball glances (from a distance) and sees that there are two and smiles, realizing now that Paul is understanding that only one fish in the fishbowl can be a lonely thing and he has stepped into the adult world of realizing that companionship may be a good thing. This one is very beautifully done, and it does appear that these two had a bit more acting experiences because they were quite believable. I enjoyed this brief encounter of young unrequited romance. The subtitles of their characters are shown through and the shared disappointment of neither one being able to develop a friendship with one another, while unspoken, is very evident.
The other snippet interspersed with this one is “Night Before Everything’. This is a story between Shogun (Shogun Watcharaphon Suwanrueang) and his friend Nut (Nut Nathanon Metharathip). They are close friends with Shogun defending Nut from others because they are calling him gay, but he does not believe it. Apparently during a sleepover, Nut touches Shogun and becomes angry at him. Nut tries to say that it was an accident but, in his awkwardness and inexperience to effectively handle this tells Shogun that he did want to be more than just friends. Of course, Shogun freaks. But a few days later, Nut comes to the basketball court to tell Shogun that he is leaving for Bangkok and to wish him well. This is a complex story that goes from sad to a bit melancholic. Nut is undoubtedly gay and is attracted to Shogun as well as perhaps other guys. But he is so young and does not completely understand what it is he is facing and is clumsy at explaining it. This story is sad and ends up unresolved as many of these young crushes do. The acting of these two very young guys is spot on and there is some connection on an emotional level to these characters.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. the series? I would never make an attempt to single out any one individual actor in this acting-class like exercise. I thought they all deserve kudos for expressing themselves as freely as they did and for allowing us a glimpse into the young minds of guys, some of whom may be realizing they are gay. It allowed them all to develop their own individual and unique style of portraying a character.
Sure, these small vignettes are not very long and are not particularly well acted (they tended to be very wooden) and do look more like a training rehearsal for more roles for them, but that is not what made these stories very entertaining and effective. While they are raw, there are some spurts of genuine emotions able to break through and shine in each of them.
They are soooooo young and I can imagine that roles like this would make them perhaps uncomfortable. However, they did a pretty good job of showing that in subtle ways they are attracted to another guy. We know it is ‘puppy love’ but it can be so cute and adorable to watch. The production value of these tiny snippets is surprisingly good and so is the camera work. All these guys could have a future in series like this if they decide to pursue that. I was somewhat shocked that this series was even made. With certain prudish attitudes and parochial ways of thinking children are so innocent, we do not want to recognize that the stirrings of feeling and emotions and likes do start at any early age. (I can honestly attest to that. I remember vividly my first crushes and ‘puppy loves’). To have explored that tastefully was extremely refreshing and offered a pretty good window into how young guys who are pondering their sexuality what they are thinking or acting sometimes in an unconscious way.
Kudos for putting this out and I appreciated this artistic endeavor into a world where we do not want to even talk about.
Leave a Reply