Hey boo! Dipping my toe back into BL after being ferociously busy in 2023. What did I miss? Your incredible 2023 round up posts. That’s what I missed! Search function in this sad but addictive little spot of the world is terrible- can you please repost the 2023 BL roundup? Pretty please with Pavels on top? Merci mon doux petit grincheux
Hi babes!
Ugh, sorry about a busy 2023. WELCOME BACK!
NP here ya go:
Best 23 of BL 2023 - Quirky Awards
SHOCK & AWE AWARDS
1. Biggest BL surprise of 2023:
The last 3 months of 2023 in general got my biggest WTF award.
GMMTV fielding OffGun A
All my year-end round ups:
TOP 10 BL Trends of 2023
Top 10 BL Secondary Pairs of 2023
2023 BLs Best Trope Execution Awards! TOP 10
All the BLs Announced for 2023 that didn't happen
BL 2023's Best:
Back Hugs Thailand & Elsewhere
Cute Bits of Domesticity
Boys Feeding Boys
BOOP!
Best Cuddles
Heads in Laps
Touching Head Touches
Thailand Put His Head on Your Shoulder
Put Your Head on My Shoulder (not Thailand)
BEST KISSES (not Thailand)
BEST KISSES FROM THAILAND
Hey ABL, so excited for top ten season, best time of the year!
I used to really love your trope execution awards, so just wondering if you'
Not sure how many BL fans takes BL Awards seriously,...but I certainly do, that's why this curiosity. And often times I'm left confused with not just the nomination, but the winners and the sponsors as well. It seems like only commercially successful BL, or actors with a huge fan-following tend to have a greater chance of bagging maximum awards. Whereas, BL series with terrific storyline and acting, often is overlooked, if it's either not talked about among the audience, or if the lead couple isn't that well-known or well liked.
That's why,...I'm intrigued about the fairness and inclusivity of the awards. Like for example, despite a certain BL gaining a massive popularity among the audience, neither the lead couple, nor the director or the author bags any award. Case in point: "Triage" (2022). While some random awards is being given to Bible & Build for "KinnPorsche (2022)", especially the announcement coming at the time when Build and Poi has apparently had a legal settlement.
I don't mean to discredit any BL actor,...BUT,...I'd like to know,...what is the criteria used for selecting the winners, the diversity and representation of nominees and winners, and the potential impact of these awards on the popularity and success of a series or actor.
Because,...it is important to examine the processes and criteria involved in selecting winners, and whether they are transparent and free from biases. Additionally, considering the representation of diverse themes, characters, and creators in the nominations,...selecting the right winner is crucial to reflect the broad range of talent within the BL genre.
So,...my question to you are as follows:
What criteria should be used to judge the quality of BL series in award functions? Should it be based on the acting, storytelling, production values, or other factors?
How do you think the recognition and celebration of BL series through award functions contribute to the overall acceptance and visibility of LGBTQ+ representation in media?
Are there any notable trends or patterns in the winners and nominees of BL award functions? Do certain actors, series, or production companies tend to dominate the awards, and what factors do you think contribute to that?
In your opinion, are there any deserving BL series or actors that have been overlooked or underrepresented in past award functions? Who would you like to see recognized in future ceremonies?
How influential are BL award functions in shaping the industry and driving the production of new BL series? Do you think they have an impact on the types of stories and characters being portrayed in the genre?
Should there be separate award categories for different aspects of BL series, such as acting, writing, directing, or should the awards be more general to encompass the overall quality of the series as a whole?
How have BL award functions changed over time in terms of categories, nominees, and winners, and what do these changes reflect about the genre's growth and evolution?
xoxo
Arjuna
I honestly couldn't give a rats arse about awards. They are, generally speaking popularity contests of some kind or another (whether that is the popularity within industry, or popularity with fans). Occasionally, I'll report on them if I feel like BL broke ground with that particular win.
There is one component I do consider, especially with something like Asian art awards, which is countries like Thailand (in the weaker positional politically and film quality wise) will push for categories it can win (best kiss for example), because they can win it with their catalogue. Using the show that got the biggest reach in the zeitgeist (for a style Thailand is already known to dominate, BL) is an intentional choice and has nothing to do with how anyone feels about the quality of said show or it's representation, just its reputation.
Anygay... It's a bit like the Eurovision song contents. Taste and ability, production values and so forth, has very little to do with actual results.
(1) What criteria should be used to judge the quality of BL series in award functions? Should it be based on the acting, storytelling, production values, or other factors?
I wouldn't. Whether there are criteria in place or not, pop culture is by its nature subjective. It depends on what your goal is from that media. What do you WANT your entertainment to do to you?
Should it tell an engaging story and exemplify fictional narration? (in which case basically all BL is out, sorry)
Should it be quality of filming and production? (in which case Japan and Korea will almost always win)
The skill of the actors? (hi Taiwan, but ALSO I would put much greater weight on comedy which is a lot harder to do properly and never wins awards) I think it's a lot hard to act funny than sad.
Should it be the emotions it makes you feel? Which emotions are better? (It's a lot harder for me to feel comforted and transported by a BL so I'd vote My Dating Sim over The 8th Sense ANY DAY of the week. But most would disagree with me.)
Or how entertained you were at the time (the immersive experience)?
Here on this blog I engage with moots all the time who feel entirely differently about any one BL from me. And we are all in BL fandom. Imagine if it opened up to a wider audience to judge.
Personally? I actually do feel like a piece of media impact on culture (global or regional or both) should be taken into account.
Example: I absolutely loathe the movie Titanic. But I still feel there is a good case to be made it should have won, because it was such a sensation and so popular with viewers at the time that is SHOULD have won. It represents a pop culture moment, it's existence and what it DID to cinema after counts for something in my book.
Frankly I'd be tempted to make a case for Twilight winning a major award. For the same reason. Because of the audience it reached and the sensation it was. For me a thing having IMPACT on culture is something I value highly and think should be recognized with awards.
To value-judge something means you need to consider what is important about that thing to you, the judge. And I think it's important for a piece of pop culture to have REACH. I am not the biggest 2gether fan or TharnType or KinnPorsche. But do I think they "should" have won something because of what they did to the BL genre at the time (for better or worse). So I am absolutely fine with the fact that they did win things.
There is a part of me that says "yes, award them" because they introduced so many people to BL, and by default brought new watchers in so that they could discover the more obscure and interesting (to me) stuff.
(2) How do you think the recognition and celebration of BL series through award functions contribute to the overall acceptance and visibility of LGBTQ+ representation in media?
Hum. I am of the opinion that normalization is good. For me, the most important thing is to get the mundanes accustomed to the queers. Just let them see us kissing and holding hands and cheek snuffling and everything in between - all the time... everywhere. MewGulf crashing Thai Vogue's website is an important moment in BL history but also queer rights. Because it was so popular, because it was everywhere, because THEY were everywhere as a fantasy couple. They sold a lot of people a lot of product, but they also sold a lot of people on gayness, too.
Since in many cultures queer is fighting taboo, there is a disgust reflex that's engages in some bigoted, overly religious, and under-exposed individuals when seeing visual representations of queerness. IMHO exposure therapy is the only thing that really works to shift taboo (and even then it often takes generations). Still, just showing them queers in their media, on their billboards, and in their awards shows can really help move the needle of the general population towards acceptance, or at the very least tolerance and a sanguine/neutral reaction when encountering actual queer humans IRL.
(3) Are there any notable trends or patterns in the winners and nominees of BL award functions? Do certain actors, series, or production companies tend to dominate the awards, and what factors do you think contribute to that?
I don't know. I don't follow them closely enough.
(4) In your opinion, are there any deserving BL series or actors that have been overlooked or underrepresented in past award functions? Who would you like to see recognized in future ceremonies?
Taiwan in general. Politically this can't be done as any awards event where China is participating cannot recognize Taiwan. (Your Name Engraved Herein notwithstanding.)
I'd like to see KBL's start to get some in country recognition, for filming style if nothing else (I'm thinking about TMS 2, 8th Sense, and Semantic Error). But among other things it has its Japanese roots working against it as well as a shorter format and, of course, the gay.
I'd like to see Asian BL's in general get recognition outside of Asia but BL is fighting a loosing battle as romance almost never wins awards let alone non-English language romance, let alone queer romance.
(5) How influential are BL award functions in shaping the industry and driving the production of new BL series? Do you think they have an impact on the types of stories and characters being portrayed in the genre?
I think the biggest influence they have is more direct. For example, My Beautiful Man would not have got a 2nd season if it had not won awards (I don't think). And Old Fashion Cupcake probably would have had a season 2 if it had won something significant (which it should). (Japan is very awards motivated.)
As to whether it effects story I am not sure. I do think the success of something like TMS2 and even (to a certain extent) ITSAY has encouraged Korea (the most savvy of the BL producing industries) into pushing into darker and grittier stuff. Or at least broadening their scope and their formula. (I think the success of KP is prodding them into both higher heat and better chemistry, whether they like it or not. And they don't really like it.) As a result KBL is getting ever so slightly and consistently more flexible.
But also, as they (and Thailand and Japan) continue to produce more and more BL content this was always bound to happen (award recognition or not) because experimentation is a natural progression of exponential growth.
(6) Should there be separate award categories for different aspects of BL series, such as acting, writing, directing, or should the awards be more general to encompass the overall quality of the series as a whole?
Again I would challenge notions of quality and value, also significance and importance, as being something that can be awarded (or even recognized and judged fairly) given the basics of human nature. What I would award for, and what you would award for are, at base level, completely different.
On a simple scale, language alone makes something like quality of dialogue and script difficult to award. What is a clever and fun script in Thai is completely different in Japanese or Korean.
(7) How have BL award functions changed over time in terms of categories, nominees, and winners, and what do these changes reflect about the genre's growth and evolution?
Again I don't know this one either as I don't follow.
I mean what I have noticed that has changed is that BLs are being recognized at all, for anything, and that counts in my book. (Maybe i have too low a bar?)
But I am old enough to remember a time when we didn't have queer rep AT ALL that wasn't death or punching down, so this whole damn bubble of BL joy is a win for me.
That's why I do this blog.
And hand out my own awards...
The best ofs that do not appear in any of my other wrap ups. Being entirely opinionated and arbitrary, I may make my case, or I may just put
