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The Root (2022)

A couple months ago, when I first started working on my project exploring the early history of Thai sapphic representation, I came across a mention of The Root: one of the first shows to air on Channel 3 (a major television channel) to feature a sapphic main character.

The Root premiered only a month before GAP, which meant that it was technically "ahead of its time" in "some sense." Why then, I wondered, was no one talking about it?

I scrolled down on the MDL page for the show to read some of the reviews and top comments, and oh:

Disgusting display of LGBTQ RELATIONSHIPS This series is a conservative propaganda film on LGBTQ relationships...LGBTQ relationships [in the show] are framed as... predatory and manipulative [which is a] conservative narrative... [that is] plainly stupid. DISGUSTING!! Lesbians SKIP THIS DOG SH*T!!

That's why.

As a result, I took a break from thinking about the series for a bit, and decided to return to it a little later. I was curious about what this piece of media looked like, and how it fit into my understanding of what was going on in the entertainment industry in the early 2020s.

How could The Root and GAP overlap timeline-wise, when they had such different approaches to queer representation? The very idea that both could be on air at the same time seemed so incongruous.

Also, I was interested in other questions, too. Why was The Root made? What connections did/does it have to both currently active players in the QL industry, as well as to older, more troubled pieces of representation from the 60s and 70s?

Originally, I was going to cover The Root alongside two other shows that also premiered in 2022, but after watching the series, I decided that it deserved its own post. So, I've separated everything out into two sections.

The first, this one, will cover The Root alone, including a background of the show, its connection to queer films and novels from the late 1900s, criticisms of the work, and my own personal thoughts. The second will cover The Root in conjunction with GAP and Love of Secret to explore what was going on with Channel 3 in 2022, especially in terms of sapphic representation.

TW before proceeding: mentions/discussions of homophobia, discrimination, grooming, threats of self harm/suicide, violence and harm towards others, abuse, rape, SA, and predatory behavior (the show contains discussions of some very sensitive topics, so please take care before reading this post or before choosing to watch the series. In terms of the content of this post, most of these subjects are not discussed in explicit detail.)

Lastly, I should also mention that this post is a little long- just to give everyone a quick heads up.

Background and Previous Adaptions

The Root is an adaption of the 1971 book, Rakkaew, which was written by the novelist Krisna Asoksin. Krisna won the S.E.A. Write Award in 1985, and was named a National Artist in literature in 1988. According to her Wikipedia page, many of her novels often focus on topics surrounding family or domestic drama, as well as social or political themes.

Rakkaew has actually been adapted twice: first as the film Pitsawat in 1987, and secondly as drama The Root in 2022.

As far as I can tell, all three works have aspects of the same basic structure- though they also have some key differences to each other, which I'll touch on a little bit later.

In terms of The Root, the show follows the story of a young girl named Roithongsai (nicknamed "Sai"). Placed under the care of an older woman named Rangrong (nicknamed "Rong," but I'll use her full name in this post just to hopefully make things a little clearer/for differentiation's sake), Rangrong raises Sai from a young age and behaves in a predatory way towards her (throughout the series, it's articulated how Rangrong acts more like a lover towards Sai, rather than a parental figure or an older sister).

Trying to exert control over Sai's life, Rangrong will stop at nothing to make sure she stays with her (including resorting to tactics related harassment, manipulation, and violence)- even as Sai tries desperately to escape.

Story

In The Root, we're first introduced to Sai in an intentionally disorientating way. She's shown frantically buying tickets at a busy bus stop, trying to sneak onto the bus without anyone noticing her. As she keeps glancing back at the station, Sai seems clearly aware that someone has been following her.

Although she does her best to disguise her appearance and prevent anyone from tracking her down, the bus is eventually stopped en-route by the police, and they end up catching her.

It turns out that Rangrong (Sai's guardian and adoptive older sister) has sent her driver to track Sai down while she's trying to escape, telling him to behave as if he's her father who looking for his daughter who has run away from home. Armed with a fake medical certificate, Rangrong's driver claims that Sai is mentally ill and a compulsive liar. Thus, her protests that he isn't actually her father aren't believed, and Sai is surrendered back into Rangrong's custody- despite being above the age of majority.

This section of The Root hints at the structure of the rest of the show, while also underscoring how powerful and manipulative Rangrong is- as well as how difficult it is to escape from her. Despite Sai's desperate attempts to be free, Rangrong's wealth and influence makes it easy to gain control over the authorities, to cut off Sai's access to any escape routes, and to any avoid threats of punishment or legal action. Dealing with such a influential and relentless person, the show spends much of its runtime focusing on Sai's escape and the process of taking Rangrong down.

Moving on from this initial opening framework, as the series progresses, we learn more about the evolution of Sai and Rangrong's relationship- as well as Rangrong's background.

Sai first came came to live with her when Rangrong's father was still alive. Since Sai came from a poorer background, Rangrong's father offered to adopt her at a young age- providing Sai with a better life while also supporting her other siblings. In turn, he secretly hoped that he could raise Sai to be an obedient child that would later become a good future wife to Ekkarat (his son and Rangrong's older brother).

After Rangrong's father's death, Sai passes into the care of Rangrong. Because of the substantial age gap between the two of them, Rangrong was involved in raising her. During this time period, although Sai only viewed Rangrong as an older sister, Rangrong fell in love with her. The characters' ages are never specified during the flashback scenes where everything is revealed, but it's strongly implied that this happens while Rangrong is an adult and Sai is still a minor. Thus, the series has been criticized for its portrayal of topics such as grooming.

One day, when Sai is older (now a university student), Rangrong sexually assaults her, touching her inappropriately and kissing her without her consent. Sai feels incredibly violated by this, and struggles with the lingering effects of what she's physically went through, and well as the sense that one of the closest people in her life (essentially one of her family members) has betrayed her.

Despite knowing that Sai hates her for what she did, Rangrong continues to pursue her. Possessive, manipulative, and at times delusional about what she's doing to her, Rangrong will stop at nothing to get her back (including resorting to harassment or violence).

Queer Representation, Homophobia, and Conservative Narratives

Now that I've covered the basis of the show's story, I think it's definitely not an understatement to say that the plot lines present in The Root could be considered incredibly problematic.

Although queer people are not exempt from being groomers or predators, there is a long history of LGBTQ people as being portrayed as dangerous, manipulative, or sexually aggressive in media. This often stems from beliefs that queer people are inherently deviant, wicked, or immoral. Framing queer people in this way can reinforce negative stereotypes: an article by Fiveable notes that

"When films depict LGBTQ+ characters as dangerous or manipulative, it fosters fear and misunderstanding among heterosexual audiences. This misrepresentation can lead to increased discrimination and violence against the LGBTQ+ community, as it plays into existing prejudices and societal fears."

Channel 3's choice to air a show with this plot line is especially concerning given the fact that at this time there were not very many mainstream shows with sapphic main characters.

More had started to emerge in the mid-to-late 2010s, such as Club Friday Season 7: Online Love, which aired on GMM25 in 2016, but for the most part (especially compared to what was on air at the time) there were comparatively few. Some of the small number of shows that did, such as Rak Kan Panlawan (2017) (which is one of the only other dramas with a sapphic main character that aired on Channel 3 before GAP), also did not always feature endgame same-sex relationships (for instance, Toon, one of the leads of RKP, starts off the series dating women before swearing off them completely and deciding to only pursue men after a series of heartbreaks).

So to have The Root be one of the first to appear on Channel 3- and to be possibly some people's first encounter with seeing a queer main character in a major lakorn- is... just not a good look (to put it lightly).

There are some other ways that the portrayal of Rangrong's character could be considered offensive, too.

Later in the series, it's revealed that another character (Rangrong's former friend and current business rival), Li, had almost an obsessive level of interest in/desire for her.

In a flashback from when they were younger, it's shown that Li kissed Rangrong without her consent- this time in a scene that mirrors the same positioning and cinematic framing of Sai's assault. As a result, at times Rangrong has been both the victim as well as the instigator of unwanted physical contact, kissing, and touching.

In the present day, Li continues to pursue Rangrong, despite her sense of disinterest. Li points out Rangrong's hypocrisy in doing the same thing to Sai was done to her, and that had so deeply hurt her in the past). She also calls out Rangrong's (at times) delusional approach to the world.

Narrative-wise, although Li's relationship to Rangrong was perhaps meant to serve as a parallel to the primary plot of the show, it's disappointing that both of the sapphic characters in The Root were portrayed as initiating or engaging in unconsensual acts. This is definitely problematic in terms of queer representation.

What's going on is very complicated, though, because Rangrong has also been sexually assaulted by men- in particular by her ex husband, Wut. Wut was extremely violent and abusive towards her, especially up until her escape from him. In fact, all of the men in Rangrong's life have failed her- her father treated her badly, and her brother Ekkarat refused to intervene or take her seriously when Rangrong begged him to help stop her ex husband's abuse.

One of the reasons why Rangrong perhaps latched onto Sai so much and fell in love with her is because Sai was one of the only people who was willing to defend her, despite still being a minor at the time (this is the reason that's implied in the show).

As a result, because of her previous experiences, Rangrong has developed a hatred of men. In episode three, she confronts Sai over her relationship to a man, Din (someone who helps Sai escape from being under Rangrong's influence, and who also serves as her love interest).

During their conversation, Rangrong commands Sai to stay away from Din. She declares that:

"I will never let you date any man even if you don't like women. You life belongs to me. Got it?" (EP. 3, 1:06:29)

Thus, tied alongside Rangrong's desire for Sai is also a fear of her being "corrupted" or mistreated by men.

Lastly, towards the back half show, it's revealed that Rangrong might have some mental health issues. It's revealed that she takes pills and that without them she struggles from hallucinations. As Rangrong's actions have gotten increasingly more dangerous and manipulative over the course of the series, Sai purposefully throws out her pills, causing her to spiral.

Gradually, Rangrong starts to exhibit more aggressive behavior. Recording the various violent acts she's committed and showing the videos to her company's board of directors, Sai leverages this as proof in order to remove Rangrong from her position as CEO. In doing so, Sai thus reduces her sense of power and influence: making it so Rangrong can no longer control her anymore.

At the very end of the series, Rangrong ends up in a hospital to receive mental health treatment. This makes sense within the overall context/narrative of the show because of Rangrong's previous erratic and aggressive behavior (and is a choice that she herself is actively involved in making), but this is also not necessarily great- especially for such a plot line to be featured on a mainstream series with such massive reach. [1]

To recap, this brings us to three major stereotypes that Rangrong's characterization potentially touches on (and definitely exists in the wake of), including the ideas that:

Queer women hate men and/or are not attracted to them due to previous traumatic experiences

Queer people are pedophiles, groomers, and/or have inappropriate relationships with younger people

Queer people have mental health issues and/or are inherently mentally ill

As a result, it's no wonder why the series has been labeled as a conservative piece of propaganda- it definitely shares many similarities to different discriminatory beliefs or talking points.

Thai Sapphic Representation in the 1970s

I thought it might be interesting to go back and frame The Root within the context of the 70s (the decade of the publication of its original source material), and what was going on in terms of sapphic representation at the time. I think this might provide some clarity as to why the show is the way it is.

According to Sanchai Chotirosseranee and Atit Pongpanit's paper "Thai Film Archive and Early Thai Queer Cinema" from The Routledge Companion to Asian Cinemas, depictions of queer characters as evil or deviant began to pop up more in films made after the 1970s; reflecting a shift in social attitudes that started in the 1960s. Thus, Rakkaew was written at a time where some of these ideas were widely circulating.

Even earlier than that, following the end of World War II, medical discourses surrounding the negative treatment of homosexuality had begun to make their way into Thai novels. According to Wanna Numun's article, the Significance of Homosexuality in Thai Society:

"Some writers such as Anchan in writing Nang Aek borrow Charles Socarides’ approach that homosexuality is a mental illness originated from an emotional abuse in childhood" (pg. 162)

While I'm not sure if this belief might have influenced the construction of the novel, there were already previous literary connections being made between queerness, mental health issues, and abuse.

What's going on The Root is a little different (i.e. in that these issues are complex/operate in different several ways), but one could argue that there's a somewhat uncomfortable level of connection that's been established in the show between all three (more of an implicit setup that draws off of already existing prejudices).

Moving onto films from the 70s, depictions of queerness from this time period were also troubled. Notably,

"Female homosexual characters were also portrayed as deviant and violent in several films... In Hua Jai Tee Mai Yak Ten (Weary Heart, 1977), a female English tutor has a secret relationship with her lonely female student. She finds out later that the student is having an affair with her brother’s boyfriend. The teacher shoots both of them dead and later turns the gun on herself. Similarly, in the last scene of Wai Rean Pean Rak, a lesbian comes to her former girlfriend’s wedding with a gun to kill the couple before losing her mind. In the low-budget comedy film Hor Sao, one scene shows a lesbian character pointing a gun at her girlfriend when the girlfriend is about to leave her for a man. A plot device in which female and male homosexual characters commit sexual harassment is a repetitive trope in Thai films. In the prison drama Khung Pad (The 8th Prison, 1974), the film portrays a women’s penitentiary in which the female protagonist faces a sexual threat from a lesbian inmate" (pg. 538).

Somewhat similarly to Wai Rean Pean Rak or Hor Sao (but not totally), The Root also features a wedding crashing scene. This happens during Sai and Rin's wedding, where Rangrong points a pair of sharp scissors at the couple. She then threatens to kill herself, behaving extremely erratically. During this segment, she asks Sai:

"What can't you be with me? Why ... Why did you choose him? Why did you choose a man? Are you afraid that people will consider our love bizare?" (EP. 12, 1:03:44)

In other sections of the series, plot lines surrounding Rangrong's violent, vengeful nature are played out, too: for instance, she's implicated in the deaths of both her father as well as Sai's biological father- letting them pass away by refusing to call for medical attention when they needed it (it's important to note that some of these deaths, like her father's, are out of hatred, protection, and revenge, since Rangrong disliked the way that he treated both her and Sai).

To me, there's an eerie sense of crossover between some aspects of these films from the 70s and The Root, almost as if they're conceptually playing out the same tropes and the same scenes. One might argue, that in some sense, The Root is really stuck in this period from the past- more at home with films from the 70s than those from the early 2020s (though disappointing portrayals of queer characters are not exclusive to either period).

But because The Root aired in 2022, I feel like it also (possibly?) resists this sort of labeling or categorization- one could also challenge (to some extent) some of the narratives surrounding the series' conservative nature.

Contradictions, Complexities, and Counterarguments

Not all queer characters in the show are demonized- some, like Sai's biological younger brother (Rakchart), are treated with empathy and understanding.

After Sai and Rangrong learn that he's been bullied by some of his family members (including his brother and his father) for not being "manly enough" (he was caught with a tube of lipstick), as well as for being gay, they both defend him.

In a conversation in episode one, Rangrong tells him,

"Listen Rakchart. You're not wrong for being gay. You are you. You're not wrong for being different. You're not a bad person. You're not doing anything wrong. Do you understand?" (EP. 1, 18:39).

She later helps put a stop to the bullying. Similarly, Sai also comforts Rakchart, and we later learn that she's the one who has helped provide him with the lipstick in the first place.

Over the course of the show, Sai articulates several times that her dislike for Rangrong has nothing to do with her sexuality. For instance, in episode nine, she says:

"In the past...I believed that [Rangrong] was a sister. I don't hate the love that...women give each other. But what she did to me was like being assaulted by a family member. [That's why I don't want to go back to her]." (EP. 9, 11:55)

There's also a surprising lack of explicit homophobia in the series- except for one minor encounter towards the end of The Root (one which doesn't go unpunished), Rangrong and Li are never insulted, looked down on by other characters, or unaccepted solely because of their sexuality. There's rarely any specific, targeted instances of derogatory language being used to refer to them.

It's hard to express fully the vibe of the series/what's going on here to those who haven't watched the show, but I think it's definitely important to be clear that there's some ways it might escape certain, more totalizing generalizations.

For instance, Li is given a moment in episode eight to express the amount of discrimination that queer people often face in society.

She says that:

"Sai's dad was of the older generation. Parents of that generation usually don't accept the love that isn't between men and women. No matter how open society is to other types of love, there's still no equality. Those who aren't straight are hated no matter what." (EP. 8, 1:00:53)

Honestly, the placement of this line of dialogue within the series is a little off/uncomfortable to me (especially during this particular point of time in the story, where it's used somewhat to contextualize/explain Rangrong's actions), but I think it would be remiss not to mention that The Root does (at least partially) touch on the topic of discrimination (even if a little bit iffy).

Moments like this underscore why it can be so hard to sum up the show, or to try to place it totally in one particular box. So many of the characters are complex- Sai's father, for instance, is a homophobic old man who says hurtful things to her younger brother, but he also supports Sai when she's in danger. Li treats some characters, like her brother's wife (Charawee) badly, but we later may feel (to degree) that her dislike of Charawee is justified once we learn that she's actually trying to manipulate him.

At different points in time, Rangrong has been both a victim and an perpetrator. Even characters that we should theoretically be rooting for, such as Din, are unlikable at times- although he helps Sai and protects her a lot, sometimes he displays instances of red flag behavior (such as being aggressive, possessive, or demanding towards others).

Because almost all of the characters have complicated backgrounds and histories, I feel like- to some extent- it can be hard to 100% pin down people like Li or Rangrong solely as flat, walking stereotypes, especially when the straight characters in the story also have demons, and exhibit similar behavior/character traits at times (i.e. also being violent, manipulative, or obsessive). Maybe I'm being a little bit too generous here, but I think it's important to acknowledge that this show has a lot of complexity, and to open up the space to different counterarguments (whether you might totally agree with them or not).

As much as The Root has a connection to the 70s, it can also be situated within other contexts, such as certain literary lineages or lakorn-based categorizations.

From reading descriptions of some of Krisna's other works, such as her 1970 novel Sawan Biang, it seems like it touches upon some similar topics, such as rape/SA, inappropriate relationships between pseudo-family members, and revenge. So, these subjects weren't limited to her stories that only featured queer relationships- they were also present in ones with straight relationships, too [2].

In addition, it seems like some changes to original story may have been made when adapting the novel. According to an article by The Standard, it seems like Rangrong's bad experiences from marriage as well as the abuse she suffered were expanded upon specifically for the series.

Also, the article mentions that both the book and the previous film place more of an emphasis on family upbringing. In the novel, Sai's is "a 'lost child' [without any biological family members/roots] confused by the definition of love in both family and romantic terms- leading her to express herself by being wayward and self-centered" (thanks to @arminthada for recommending me this source and helping me with the translation- appreciate you so much!).

Depending on how both these things were expressed in Krisna's work, they may either support or complicate different homophobic stereotypes or tropes. This is why dealing with the series is so challenging, too- it's hard to tell without reading the original source material what changes may have been made for the better or worse, or which ones were incorporated in slightly different ways.

Lastly, I think it's also important to situate the show within the context of other ongoing productions. The Root was actually produced by Change2561 (the same production company who made Pit Babe), which led one commenter to write in an older, circa 2022 forum post:

"Now that I've typed this far, I want CHANGE to make an LGBT story with a happy ending, without forcing psychotic villain roles onto LGBT characters. I believe they can do it if they actually want to." (credit to @arminthada for recommending this thread; comment was created with the help of some translation tools)

(something which is incredibly ironic in retrospect)

To be a little fair, like what was going on with Krisna, it's worth it to acknowledge Change was also producing a lot of other lakorns around this time period with similar topics/themes, including ones containing instances of manipulation (The Wife, 2022) revenge (Krachao Seeda, 2021), predatory relationships, and SA/rape (Bad Beauty, 2022). So, again, the plot lines expressed in The Root weren't exclusive to only Change's queer productions- one could perhaps argue that they were present in other straight ones, as well [2] (although that doesn't excuse it completely).

However, that being said, it's also absolutely imperative to recognize the specific harm that may have been caused by The Root- especially with of how it intersects with different homophobic beliefs and stereotypes, and also because of how it was one of the first shows with a queer female main character to reach a major mainstream audience via Channel 3.

It's very difficult to get over the notion that it might have reinforced negative stereotypes surrounding lesbian and sapphic women, which is especially disappointing given its position in terms of queer television history [3].

Connections to the Current GL Industry

All this (The Root airing on Channel 3) was also happening around the same time that GAP had first begun to appear on TV (both shows overlapped by a span of 11 days).

I'll cover the dichotomy between the two shows in an upcoming post, which grapples with different concurrent expressions of queerness in 2022, but for now, it's worth it to mention that the show also has some surprising connections to the GL industry.

S Vorarit (of Pit Babe fame) as well as Chod Saithip (both of which are associated with Change, and whom have served as The Root's executive producers), have been involved in numerous different shows that've featured sapphic representation, such as Club Friday Season 8: True Love...Or Hope (2017), Club Friday Season 11: Love Crosses the Line (2019), Affair (2024), and Harmony Secret (2025) (like what the commentator hinted at earlier, I haven't always heard very good things about some of these pre-2024 shows, but that's perhaps a conversation for another day).

Koo Ekkasit, the series' director, previously worked on several other shows featuring queer characters, such as Club Friday Season 6: Changed (2015), Club Friday Season 8: True Love...or Confusion (2017), and The Fallen Leaf (2019). In 2020, he would go on to direct Tonhon Chonlatee, and he's also slated to work on the upcoming GL series No Romeo.

In addition, Kao Supassara, who played Sai, started in one of the first-ever GL series, Love Songs Love Stories: Pae Jai (2015). She also will play one of the leads in the upcoming show Love Design.

Please don't bother the people mentioned above, as it's possible that they may have had numerous and complex reasons for working on this project (it's hard to know without getting access to different translations, or having interviewers ask truly hard, invasive questions about their participation in aspects of the show's production).

In addition, I don't think that (simply because they worked on the show) they should all be labeled as inherently bad people- it's unfair to generalize them that way. Many of them, such as Koo and Kao, have been involved with and/or participated in productions with sapphic characters long before it was "cool" (before there were very many shows with queer representation, and before the GL industry really exploded. In addition, there are many other pioneering actors/directors in the queer media space who have also worked on some more controversial projects as well).

But I include this to underscore the fact that queer representation has had very uneven periods of development, and at times a bit more of a rocky road. I feel like we sometimes only talk about screenwriters', directors', producers', and/or production companies' best, most interesting, or most important works while sometimes ignoring ones that are a little bit more unpopular or that contain more negative portrayals of queerness/queer people.

If we never talk about Change2561's past as a company, how do we acknowledge the growth, changes, or risks they've taken in terms of their LGBTQ productions since then? Or the pivots that both themselves and Channel 3 have made in terms of queer content-related audience recognition or branding (especially in terms of the GL space)?

I think the challenge of The Root, at least for me, is trying to reconcile multiple things at the same time- to hold in my head a network of conflicting views, beliefs, and contradictions. This show is hard to talk about because it can be uncomfortable to watch or discuss, it's not easy to process, and it can sometimes be difficult to define.

In addition, to complicate the viewing experience even further, because The Root is so dramatic and because the characters are so complex, at times it can even feel like an entertaining and compelling watch (which for me, especially as a queer person, constructs a layer of guilt surrounding my -partial- enjoyment of it).

Watching the show, then is a process of trying to come to terms with everything- the good, the bad, and the ugly- and trying to figure out where it makes the most sense to stand.

---

Thank you so much for reading! While working on this post, I tried to strike a good balance between being fair towards the show (especially since I found that some comments/reviews didn't touch on the more smaller nuances of it) and being critical of it- which ended up being kind of a challenging thing to achieve. I also had to leave some characters and smaller details out in order to make things a little easier to understand, so there's some stuff I wasn't able to fully touch on.

I should note that by including some of the arguments/counterarguments in the final section, my goal was less to take a definitive position, and more so to try and spark different conversations surrounding many of The Root's contradictions and complexities. It's hard to find the best balance between acknowledging the context that the show was operating in- as well as some things that it tackled in a more complicated way- compared to the many things it did wrong/handled horribly. In the End Notes section down below, I've included additional information/thoughts regarding more of the nuances surrounding the show's creation/production.

Thank you so much again to @arminthada for helping me with some of the translations and research, and for @waitmyturtles for chatting with me about the show when I first discovered it. Thanks as well to Neko Meow Meow for translating Rak Kan Panlawan (so I could reference it here), and to Sanchai Chotirosseranee, Atit Pongpanit, and Wanna Numun for providing amazing research on the history of queerness in early Thai film and literature- definitely recommend giving both of their pieces a read if you can!

More that I've written about sapphic representation: Mhom Ped Sawan, Director Claire Jirassaya, Club Friday Season 6: Changed, & Evolutions in Thai GL: Director Nay Saratswadee's work with Yes or No, Love Songs Love Stories: Pae Jai, and The Secret of Us

---

End Notes/Asides:

[1]: It's worth noting, though, that the show also makes the point to acknowledge that not all people with mental health issues are dangerous, violent, or manipulative- I wanted to bring up the fact that there's also a little bit more nuance/complexity involved.

[2]: If I had to have a theory as to why this show was made, I think it might actually be due to the success of some of Krisna's other works. Some of them, such as Sawan Biang have been remade multiple times (SB has had six different TV/film adaptations between the years of 1970 and 2008), or have won multiple different awards- although not all of these adaptions have been super successful. Her novels' focus on the topic of domestic drama also makes them (in some sense) ideal for serving as the source material for lakorns, which often contain more dramatic storylines (such as ones focused on revenge or family conflict). However, they may have also been not super suitable in some cases, too (see below- though I'm not sure how much of it was based on what was present in the original source material vs. the changes that production companies made while adapting the story).

[3]: However, aside from The Root, there were also some controversies surrounding a few of adaptions of Krisna's works, and some signs that Channel 3 should have perhaps re-thought their decision to air them. In 2020, a petition was launched on Change.org in order to urge CH3 to stop re-running the 2008 version of SB because of the insensitive way that the show handled the topic of rape. The petition was created in 2020 and ended up garnering over 16,900 signatures, but the series was still re-run again in 2022. So CH3 decided to go ahead with airing TR anyway despite the backlash that occurred from what happened with the previous show.

[4]: This is only slightly related, but I thought it might be interesting to mention in light of how different people have reacted to the show. When the page for The Root was first created on MDL, the tags "lesbian romance" and "lesbian relationship" were incorrectly added. This led some viewers to get an incorrect impression of the series, or to begin watching it thinking it might have contained GL-related content when it really did not. Luckily this has since been corrected, but, early on, this caused many people to write comments/reviews (such as the one shown above) warning people against watching the series.

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