Century of Love: A gentle Trojan Horse* in Thai media.
To be honest, I've dated both women and men. But actually, I did not just date them. Well… I've had experience.
Enough. I don't want to hear it. How could you say something so morally inappropriate?
It's the truth. It's us people who came up with these moral values. If people change, they should change too.
But I can't accept it.
You don't have to. Because, even if you don't accept it, it won't change the fact that, in this world, there are men who like men, and women who like women, not…
Can we change the topic?
*Author's Note: the concept of Trojan Horse, defined as "any trick or stratagem that causes a target to invite a foe into a securely protected bastion or place", has negative connotations. That said, in this essay I am not in any way, shape or form using the literal meaning of the expression, but playing with the idea of subtly hiding the final purpose of an action to avoid being rejected upfront, in order to make people understand different perspectives or ideas about a controversial subject, this case being that love is a universal feeling, neither bound to specific physical attributes nor meant only for reproductive purposes.
A bit of a backstory to understand where we're coming from and where we're trying to get to: One31, the company producing COL, is one of the two digital TV channels owned by GMM Grammy, which is the largest media conglomerate entertainment company in Thailand. It is a relatively new channel (2011), but it has become pretty popular in Thailand in a very short period of time thanks to its use of traditional TV and online media, being able to reach a broad audience. It offers a wide range of entertainment programmes, from Thai dramas to variety shows.
Thai dramas (lakorn) are a classical genre of Thai TV. This type of story is the equivalent of a 'soap opera' or 'telenovela'. This genre has a quite fixed structure, the story following a main character who is faced with internal and external obstacles that they have to overcome to be able to live happily ever after. Quite often, the plot is driven by a love story. A lakorn is created to be consumed by a general audience, and the best shows are broadcast in TV prime time, after the news, at 20:30. In order for a lakorn to be successful, TV channels cast the most popular actors and many times incorporate Thai history and traditions into the story to appeal to all ages.
In 2022, One31 released Khun Chai (To Sir, with love), on Mondays and Tuesdays. This show was written by the same team as Century of Love (COL). It is a period lakorn, whose main character is a gay man in Siam in the 1930s. The storyline followed Tian, the heir of a rich Chinese family living in Siam, falling in love with a poor man, and the struggles he faces because he is forced to hide his real feelings by his family because of traditions. The main character was portrayed by a very famous lakorn actor (Film Thanapat), and it attracted the attention of a wide audience, including the older generations of viewers (over 40).
The show has a happy ending where the main character ends up with his loved one and is accepted by his family, and he hopes for a better future for all, no matter who you fall in love with. It positively resonated with its target audience, mostly older women who have been raised in a traditional environment with certain moral values.
The success of the show created a curious outcome: the fanclub for the actors is mainly composed by older women (over 40), contrary to the general BL shows fans, who are mostly younger women (under 30).
Khun Chai isn't a BL. It has all the features of a traditional lakorn. And it was perceived like that by the audience. That slightly changed the game, because it showed how older people raised with traditional values and customs could accept a 'modern' view of love without feeling attacked in their beliefs.
After Khun Chai, in 2023 the same team wrote and filmed Laws of Attraction (LOA), with the same actors but in a modern setting. It was also well-received by the audience.
Soon after LOA finished, the writing team started creating COL. They used the same concept (a male/male love story), but this time they took some risks: they decided to cast new young actors, barely known by the older generations but well-known by the youngest ones, which made the show resemble more a BL than a lakorn. They also placed the show in the prime time slot. And they even made a deal with an international streaming platform (Netflix) to broadcast the show in other parts of Asia. They created a setup for the show to be successful.
And here is where the Trojan horse metaphor comes in.
Century of Love begins as a typical lakorn. Our story starts with San, a poor man of Chinese descent who falls in love with Wad, a rich girl, and whose love story is cut short because the girl's father wants her to marry a rich suitor. When San and Wad try to escape, Wad is killed by her spiteful suitor when she tries to protect San. In despair, San accepts to make a pact with a Goddess to live 100 years more in order to find Wad's reincarnation and be able to love and protect her.
There we have all the elements of the genre to interest the audience: the tragic hero facing obstacles, the cultural and moral values, the star-crossed lovers.
However, once the audience is engaged, comes the plot twist: a 100 years later, San seems to find the person he is looking for... in Vee, a young man.
The writers have smartly shaped the characters to resonate with a general audience: San is a 124 year old man and, although he hasn't aged due to the curse, he behaves and thinks as an old person. His personal values and beliefs are very traditional and set in stone. He is shown to be religious, strict and follows a high moral compass.
As he says to Vee, "he cannot accept" certain new ideas because they are "morally innappropriate".
Uncomfortable? Why would I be uncomfortable?
You are a man. And you had to marry me, even though it's a just a fake wedding to negate bad luck. You must feel uncomfortable.
Oh, P'San. This is it? I don't mind at all.
Why not? If people know you married a man, they would speak ill of you.
Even so, San is not a villain, he is the hero of the story. He is a relatable character and the audience is led to feel compelled by his tragic fate. And a very important point to understand how to reach the older generations: the script never mocks his beliefs or values, it shows that thanks to those, San is also compassionate, kind and fiercely protective of those who he loves.
But, for the story to advance, the script has to make the audience understand how and why San changes some of his beliefs (the moral inappropriateness of loving another man). What's the best way to do that? Using comedy.
And a very basic type of comedy: slapstick and innuendos.
Thus, the older audience can feel more comfortable when watching what, in the end, is a 'non-traditional' love story.
This premise applies to Vee's character as well. Vee is a young man with a difficult past, and the caretaker of his dying Grandma. He is a devoted grandchild and, despite his misfortunes, deals with his problems with a smile.
Vee touches the audience's heart because we feel what San feels: the protective instinct to shield him from harm and give him a better life.
Therefore, if the audience is able to warm up to both main leads separately, would they be against them endind up together? It wouldn't seem so.
In addition, the show also uses the traditional customs and culture in its favour. The Goddess approves and encourages the relationship between San and Vee by all means. And we all know that religion has a very fixed set of rules and principles. If the Goddess accepts this type of love, why would her believers do quite the opposite?
In summary, COL is a lakorn in its content and format and therefore reaches a very wide and varied audience. And it also serves as this gentle Trojan horse I alluded at the beginning because it subtly challenges part of its audience to ponder about what love means and entails: can we deny love to people we don't agree or don't share our beliefs with?.
If love changes people, can people change for love?
"Love is simply just love, and has nothing to do with anything else."
Worawit Khuttiyayothin (director of COL)
ellievsbear
stormborns
origamiaround
izzy806
discoholicmusic
