Grey Rainbow (2016)
Grey Rainbow (รุ้งสีเทา , Thailand, 2016) is the best pick for anyone looking for a realistic yet hopeful story with LGBT+ themes. It’s a stand-alone mini-series and it’s comprised of 4 episodes each a little over an hour long. It tells the story of Nuer and Porsche, two college boy roommates who face down impossible odds: their own internalized fears, societal norms, legal obstacles, all for the sake of being together.
Normally I’d do a comparison of the good and the bad, but this show is objectively perfect so I’ll reel out some highlights:
the storytelling - lovely is the word that comes to mind, from the buildup to the narration. It’s a drama for everyone who wants to see two young gay people slowly realizing their feelings and pining and understanding each other. It’s light and happy for most part, but real-world problems are all portrayed honestly (equal rights for gay couples, homophobic parents, the stigma surrounding openly identifying as gay are all addressed more than once) and the couple face these problems, sometimes triumphantly, sometimes with resigned acceptance.
the characters - Nuer and Porsche are honestly the hook of the show. They’re ordinary uni students– Nuer is training to take over his father’s elephant camp and Porsche is a law student– in their final year, and you can feel how close they are as soon as they’re in frame together for the first time. Porsche, in particular, feels utterly human because of his self-doubt and fairly low self-worth, as well as his private exploration of philophobia, his fear of being loved. As an added bonus you have these little glimpses into Porsche, the unofficial narrator’s mind in the form of beautiful two-line poetry:
The attention to detail - I mean, no effort is spared in making this story as whole as possible. The story starts off with a solid foundation of mutual affection and one boy pining for the other, but aside from that, every other aspect of their relationship is explored with a loving, gentle touch so we see how they progress from being friends to lovers, how strong they both are as individuals and how deeply in love they both are. It’s a love story done right, and done remarkably well.
It’s a liiiiitle cheesy. That’s a solid win in my book, because sometimes we want things to be predictable, we need to know love prevails. It’s the way they handle old cliches like jealousy and misunderstandings that makes it so unique and refreshing. There’s a lot of love in this story and in the few occasions they use some overworn tropes, it’s still charming because you really care for these characters.
It’s a beautiful little story chock-full of love and it’s only four hours long, give or take. The episodes are available on YouTube (for now) fully subbed and it’s a wonderful way to see LGBT+ characters portrayed as real people who love deeply and truly.
Watch episode one here Watch episode two Watch episode three Watch episode four (finale)