the boyfriends webtoon drama: myths and facts (NOT a callout)
for those of you who are unfamiliar with the name ‘refrainbow,’ here’s a quick rundown of basic information:
Ray, aka refrainbow on twitter, is a 23 y/o gay transmasculine comic artist. there is no easily accessible publicly available information about their race or ethnicity in their carrd.co link (or bio) aside from the words “based in Indonesia.”
you may recognize his art style from this fan animated short on youtube, which went viral mainly for being… less-than-well-received. the comic’s gratuitous usage of internet slang and flashy pastel overtones (some of which clash with each other to the point that it irritates my scotopic sensitivity syndrome), and barely-there character development (to the point where readers have to go out of their way to look up any of the character’s names) have given it a notorious reputation for representing “everything that’s wrong with fandom culture and LGBTQ+ rep as a whole.”
the premise is simple: four guys who go to the same university decide to start dating each other. each represents a different character trope–goth, jock, prep, and nerd.
some users have gone so far as to argue that the webtoon perpetuates harmful stereotypes about gayness, transness, and polyamorous relationships. (while I can’t really agree or disagree since I haven’t read the comic, from the few panels I’ve seen, it does seem to take a strangely infantilizing approach to the discussion of top/bottom dynamics.)
I think we all most of us can agree that just because something makes us cringe doesn’t mean it has no right to exist. at the end of the day, this comic has very little influence on mainstream media, even less so after its controversial public reception.
unfortunately, the controversy didn’t stay fictional.
on May 13, 2021, Ray confirmed that they used to create non-SFW comics featuring members of BTS, which fall under the category of RPF (‘real person fiction’), and later stopped doing so, citing “I’ve come to realize that it is a violation of their consent” as the reason why.
on October 10, 2021, Ray quoted a tweet from 9 years ago (October 5, 2013) where they had, at age 14, called a character from the competitive swimming anime Free! the n word, saying “I’m very sorry for ever using it … I’ll make sure that I will never use it again.”
while I’m glad they apologized for the harm they have caused and are attempting to make amends, it’s not my place to forgive them (I’m nonblack and not east asian), and the same goes for many of you who are reading this post.
for anyone who skipped to the end of this post looking for a TL;DR or waited patiently for me to finish, without further ado, here’s the 'boyfriends’ webtoon/refrainbow discourse summarized.
they’re a troll trying to make the LGBTQ+ community look bad
he genuinely intends to perpetuate queerphobic stereotypes and harmful beliefs about polyamory
they intentionally slutshame/are anti sexworker
*when I say “myths” I mean we currently don’t have sufficient information to determine whether or not they are true, and anyone spreading this information very likely has no real basis for it.
they used the n word at age 14, when they should have been old enough to know better than to do so
he used to create smutty comics featuring real life members of BTS
since then, they have apologized for both
some of the phrases his OCs use and ways they act are stereotypical of gay/trans men and polycules, especially when related to their sex lives
anyway. I’m tired of looking at this post and I have better things to do with my time, so I’m gonna sign off now. do with this information what you will.
annaxmalina
izzy806
baratheonpilled
titsay
prguitarman
romaincrisis
yousharknotpass
