The growing popularity of Asian BL dramas: Social change through the representation of Gay characters in Asian Media (Thailand, China) PDF

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The growing popularity of Asian BL dramas: Social change through the representation of Gay characters in Asian Media (Thailand, China) BY MOULI MAJUMDAR MCP-20-17 Submitted in complete fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PG Diploma in Mass Communication and Public Relations at St. Xavie...

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The growing popularity of Asian BL dramas: Social change through the representation of Gay characters in Asian Media (Thailand, China)

BY

MOULI MAJUMDAR MCP-20-17

Submitted in complete fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PG Diploma in Mass Communication and Public Relations at St. Xavier’s College, 2021

Kolkata, West Bengal

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Acknowledgement Introduction Purpose and Aims Methodology Body i) Power-Knowledge in Mass Media ii) The revolution called The Untamed in Communist China iii) The Land of BL- Thailand iv) The fetishization controversy v) Conclusion vi) References

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I’m thankful to Subir Ghosh Sir for his support, motivation and assistance while doing this research. I’m also thankful to my mother for her support.

INTRODUCTION

On 6 September, 2018, Section 377 was ruled unconstitutional by The Court. It took quiet a long time to decriminalize same sex intercourse; something that should not have been the larger society’s concern in the first place. Section 377 states “Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine” (1). In this research paper, we will concentrate on the phrase “against the order of nature”, and understand how media can help destabilize such social constructs and power structures. This dissertation aims at studying the representation of Gay characters in five Asian Television Dramas- The Untamed (China), and I told Sunset About You (Thailand), in order to understand if such TV dramas/ movies could prompt real social change- greater acceptance of sexual minorities in this context.

PURPOSE AND AIMS

There has been a huge debate at the legislative and judicial levels around the granting of a basic human rights to the LGBTQ+ community in various countries, while in some others, same-sex love is still illegal and punishable by law. In such a hostile climate, representation in media matters a lot. Mass Media like movies or Television show spreads social awareness in the society. The purpose behind this research is to understand how TV shows and movies on Gay Love stories made in Asia has succeeded in garnering greater acceptance of the sexual minority group. Aim• •

To understand how mass media channel like TV shows and Movies help in representation To understand how the aforementioned representation in mass media helps bring about social change

Research Questions•

How can representation in media help minorities, and bring about positive social change?

METHODOLOGY

In this research paper, I will be using• •

Foucault’s idea of Power-Knowledge, Foucault’s idea of Deviance vs. Erased

in order to, achieve the aim of the research paper.

Power-Knowledge of Mass Media: Michelle Foucault’s ideas of Power and Discourse was never explicitly applied by him to the world of mass media. But, Mass Media and the concept of power with relation to the former’s ability to influence public opinion is an excellent case study of how Power-Knowledge works. Power should, according to Foucault, be conceived “not as a property, but as a strategy”, consisting of “manoeuvres, tactics, techniques, functions” (1979: 26), and in it, one would be able to discover “a network of relations”, which are in constant tension and activity. It is less a privilege in the possession of someone and regulated by clear rules, but rather represented by a “perpetual battle” and struggle for power (2). The ideas of power and knowledge lead us to Foucault’s idea of discourse. According to him, knowledge and the truth depend largely on existing power relations/structure in the society which are responsible for creating a discourse, which in turn fortifies or combats those power relations (3). The mass media is an institution which produces various types of discourse and communicates knowledge surrounding a variety of issues to the public sphere. It is therefore not only possible, but sensible to isolate his theoretical approaches and apply them to the mass media in order to gain further understanding. Applying Foucault to the media emphasises the complexity of power relations at work which shape mass media discourse and produce knowledge and truth for the public. Elbridge et al argue that media power is not unilateral, but a “complex of very different activities with consequences which can be far reaching” (1997: 31). How media stories are assembled refers to how they are selected and framed, where “the power of the media is the power to define our sense of social reality of the society and the world that we live in”, as claimed by McCullagh (2002: 15). He presents the that the media “do not simply select events to cover; they also offer interpretive frameworks through which these are to be understood” (2002: 25), offering ways to organise discourse. (3) A lack of discourse around a subject has always been positively related to its lack of identity. Fortunately, there exists a discourse around homosexuality since 19th century, when the sexual minority group was described as the “perverse adult”. This discourse gave rise to the power knowledge that specified homosexuality as a deviance from the normal way of life, in turn giving them the identity of an abomination. Such negative identity has percolated into today’s society when we still have Asian mass media- commercial TV shows and movies portraying transgenders, Queer people as laughter-stock, perverted individuals or people in the side-lines of the society, those who can simply be ignored. Identification is a key psychological process that may interfere with or mediate the affective impact of a movie (Igartua and Pa´ez 1998, p. 425). It is an imaginative process invoked as a response to characters of mediated texts (Cohen 2001), one of the principal mechanisms explaining the effects of media entertainment (Igartua and Mun˜iz 2008), and a variable that substantially affect the enjoyment and media consumption (Busselle and Bilandzic 2009; SotoSanfiel et al. 2010). It has been claimed that identification is an effective way to change attitudes towards socially vulnerable minority groups (Igartua 2010). Research has provided evidence that character identification is a useful strategy for persuasion in different domains (Cohen 2001; Igartua and Frutos 2017; Slater et al. 2006; Soto-Sanfiel et al. 2014a, b) that affects behaviors (Moyer-Guse´ et al. 2011). Showing empathy towards the portrayed

character, together with taking their perspective, the sensation of becoming them or adopting their personal motivations are the principal mechanisms around the persuasive process (Igartua and Frutos 2017). (4) According to Igartua (2010), identification is as a multidimensional concept that implies some psychological processes: cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, and sensation of becoming the character or merging. (4) There has been a lack of research that can say whether positive queer narratives have actually brought about a positive change in the perception towards queer people in audiences. This research paper will try to provide evidence to fill in this gap, with respect to certain Asian countries’ audiences who consume Gay Narratives.

The Revolution called THE UNTAMED in Communist China

With a crackdown on Gay youtubers and no hope of change in state policies against same-sex marriage in the current political climate, the Chinese population has put all its hopes on the indie circle in their country to keep Boys-Love narratives alive in TV dramas and movies. Everything started in 2019, when a Boys Love Tv series, The Untamed; adopted from a xianxia novel written by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu called Mo Dao Zu Shi; was released. The drama was so captivating with excellent cinematography, a star-studded talented cast, soothing background music, well-written character arcs; it will probably go down in history. The lead actors of the drama, Xiao Zhan and former K-pop artist, Wang Yibo became the face of Chinese Movie industry in no time, and no-one has been able to snatch their crown till date.

Figure 1: Wang Yibo as Lan Zhan, and, Xiao Zhan as Wei Wuxian, Episode: 22, The Untamed (Mo Dao Zu Shi)

The Untamed is a queer love story set in a fantasy world of kings and queens, taoist magic and political upheaval. The fact that it is a gay love story is not up for debate or interpretation. The 50-episode drama is based on the web novel titled Mo Dao Zu Shi by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. The text is queer. Literature in China doesn’t always suffer quite the same censorship and

scrutiny as the film and television industry. Therefore, explicit stories like this one have a higher survival rate when they’re presented in the written word – especially when published on the Internet. (5) The fact that the explicit physical scenes from the novel had to be removed from the script because of Chinese media censorship laws does not diminish the fact the two male lead characters were in love with each other, and not just platonically. To pretend, or to try and establish otherwise is an act of ignorance and queer erasure. (5) The Untamed was so ground-breaking, and so important for the queer community in China, that to downplay the story as a heterosexual bromance is harmful to the LGBTQ population in that country. Being queer is no longer deemed a criminal act in China, but the LGBTQ population have no protections, no legal rights, and very little representation in their communities. While being queer might no longer be illegal, being queer on television most certainly is. There are strict media laws in place that prohibit the depiction of any content that Chinese authorities deem as immoral. Productions attempting to breach these rules are shut down and their stories never see the light of day. This is the only reason the more explicit and physical aspects of the ‘WangXian’ relationship were not presented on screen. It’s not because the creators wanted to leave the true nature of their relationship up to interpretation. It’s not because they intentionally went for something more ambiguous to please the masses. The physical relationship was removed so that this incredibly important story could pass the censorship guidelines and see the light of day in China. (5) It is subtly portrayed in the drama, which is clearly written down in the text, that the WangXian couple adopted a child, namely, Lan Sizhui. Here we have to keep in mind, adopting a child by Gay couples in China is still illegal. The drama was a bold attempt to stand up against the Communist Government’s apathy towards the Homosexual population in China, and their still continuing disregard to the community’s basic human rights. Previous studies have illustrated that economic development and modernization could increase tolerant attitudes towards sexual minority groups in China. However, compared with developed Western countries, modernization and economic development in China is still lacking. Moreover, unlike Western countries, Chinese people’s view of the LGBT community is strongly impacted by the distinctive discourse of Chinese cultural context. It is likely that LGBT individuals’ experiences pronounced negative feelings, psychological distress and perceive severe discrimination within the traditional Chinese cultural context. In Chinese culture, there is an emphasis on obeying the ‘rules of nature’, due to the historical influence of Confucianism (the traditional power-knowledge structure that still binds the society). People are expected to conform to the gender identities/sexual orientations accepted by the vast majority, which is also a part of the Doctrine of the Mean (‘Zhongyong’), which literally means average and ordinary in Confucianism. Moreover, China is a collectivist culture and therefore Chinese people experience a great amount of influence from their family and society. People in Chinese society emphasize family honour and dignity, and value maintaining ‘face’ (reputation) in social interactions. Being LGBT is still considered a form of shame for one’s family (‘losing face’). Having an LGBT family member could make the family the subject of vicious gossip, and stigmatize the family name. Parents of LGBT individuals will also be blamed for raising children who will fail to uphold their duty to carry on the family line. The

Chinese government enacted a one-child policy in the 1970s in order to control the growing population, and the one-child policy was only recently replaced by a second child policy in the year of 2016. Due to the influence of the one-child policy, the pressure of continuing the family line is extremely high for those in the one child only cohort. (6) The existing discourse of Confucianism and its ideals of family and reproduction to continue the family line can be overthrown by bringing in the discourse of homosexuality as a means of controlling the ever-growing population of China, instead of coercing couples to have a reproducing partner/ or one that aids in the process. AUDIENCE RECEPTION: The Untamed started conversations around legalization of adoption, positive portrayal of LGBTQ+ community as people who upheld the communist values of the state, as shown through the character of Wei Wuxian, who chose to side with the downtrodden community and stand for their rights during a political upheaval that even cost him his own life. The Untamed left behind a legacy of positive portrayal of the Gay community and is the bestcase study as to how a simple TV series could bring about a social change in a conservative Asian country. The series almost faced a ban, but China couldn’t, given its immense popularity and a dedicated fanbase. It has made the common Chinese public aware of the need to provide equal rights to sexual minorities, and today the LGBTQ+ community is loud and proud about their identity, organising pride parades without Government interference. The common perception of Chinese population is either “full support” or a stance where they have nothing against same-sex couples but its still difficult for them to understand them, but the respect never goes away. The Untamed also opened gates to more gay narratives in Chinese media. The very recent costume drama, Word of Honor has succeeded taking a step forward in bypassing Chinese censorship to bring in more bold scenes that scream Gay Love among the two male leads. It was an instant hit. The Chinese TV drama and movie industry has started to churn out novel-to- series dramas based on gay love internet novels, thanks to more acceptance among the general Chinese public of such Gay Narratives.

Figure 2: Zhang Zhehan as Zhou Zishu, and, Gong Jun as Wen Kexing, Episode 27, Word of Honor

The Land of BL- Thailand

Boys Love is no longer a subculture in Thai media industry. It has evolved into the country’s new major entertainment export. The popularity of Thai BL dramas had started with the release of “2gether-The Series” under GMMTV productions and “Tharntype- The Series” under Line Productions.

Figure 3: Sarawat and Tine, 2gether: The series Poster

Figure 4: Tharn and Type, Tharntype: 7 years of love Poster

The wide reception and popularity of Thai Boys Love owes so much to the freedom of gender expression in Thailand. But is the LGBTQ community actually benefiting from the increasing popularity of Boys Love novels and series? A number of local LGBTQ advocates have shunned Boys Love culture, saying that it doesn’t reflect the real lives of LGBTQ individuals, and even portrays a false perception of the community. But the experts we’ve spoken with don’t wholly agree. Noppanat acknowledges that this is one topic you can spend days discussing. The veteran producer and director, who has been doing research on Boys Love for more than five

years, doesn’t think these series are “too fantasized” and are not an appropriate reflection of the LGBT community. (7) “All Boys Love dramas revolve around same-sex relationships so, personally, I think they represent diversity. They are a sub-part of the LGBTQ genre. However, at the end of the day, we’re talking about the Boys Love genre that focuses on romantic fantasy and not more serious LGBTQ issues such as equality and HIV. Being in the middle of this lengthy discussion for so long, I have had to find the right balance between what the audience needs and what needs to be done,” he explains. “Many LGBT individuals possibly live their lives like those [in Boys Love series]. You see young same-sex couples everywhere, right? Society is now more open and they might not have to overcome many obstacles like those before them. So, if you take this case into account, Boys Love series could be real [examples of society]. (7) An LGBTQ advocate himself, Nopparat tries to inject a message about gender acceptance into every Boys Love series he produces. He’s also the mind behind GMMTV’s LGBTQ productions, many of which have been praised for their complex and thought-provoking narratives, including Gay OK Bangkok. “We see new narratives, more diversity popping up every day. For example, I’m really interested in the gender fluidity young people are talking about these days. The world of LGBTQ is sensitive and needs further exploration.” (7) Released in 2020, I Told Sunset About You dived deeper into the concepts of not just gay relationships, but gender fluidity and, acceptance of one’s own sexual orientation.

Figure 5: Oh-Aew and Teh, I told sunset about you Poster

The series focusses on the struggles of the LGBTQ community and coming out through realistic experiences. Is it okay to be gay? Is it okay to be true to yourself?

Is it okay to love truly and without paying any attention to the gender of your lover?

Our over-achiever lead, Teh undergoes a crisis as he isn’t able to define his sudden overwhelming feelings for his same-sex best friend. Teh has spent most of his youth trying to please everyone around him, and the above questions loom on his mind when his feelings grow and turn into sexual-awakening within him. Actor Bilkin Putthipong is natural, seamless and raw in his portrayal of Teh and his conflicted emotions, his fight between conforming to a masculine life and his feeling towards his best friend, Oh-Aew. Oh-Aew might not be academically gifted as Teh, but he is clear and confident about his sexual orientation, gender identity and is not shy of letting people know. Actor PP Krit in his portrayal of Oh Aew will definitely leave the audience in awe, as he tries to navigate through Teh’s sexual confusion, rejection and eventual acceptance. The series with its realistic storyline, beautiful cinematography and excellent cast would move the audience and drive them to understand and empathize with the struggles of the LGBTQ+ community. AUDIENCE RECEPTION: The side characters in “I Told Sunset About You” have been able to define how the audience can be successful allies to the LGBTQ+ community. The series wasn’t as commercially successful as the more cliché Thai BL Dramas, but it left a mark, where the production of more serious, realistic BL series have found a place in the industry. Fujimoto Yukari, a researcher of girls’ manga and gender issues, says the history of BL series in Thailand dates back to 2013, when the first genuine BL drama was screened. In 2016, a series called Sotus was a huge hit. But BL has only recently become mainstream. Now a diverse range of BL dramas have been produced, offering a connection between female BL fans and gay people. The drama Dark Blue Kiss raised issues including discrimination and coming-out to parents, but also depicted love scenes that appealed to a bl fan base. It was crafted so that the audience would naturally support the lead couple. (8) There are significant moves towards official legal recognition of gay couples in the coun...