#be like me and blame ohm pawat

[waitmyturtles]

(TW: family violence, fatphobia) (and spoilers)

Alright, as promised, thoughts on Double Savage, episodes 1 and 2!

First, cast thoughts:

Ohm Pawat: plays characters with names starting with P who have terrible fathers (although the pops in 10 Years Ticket was redeemed somewhat at the end, his historic FV towards his older son was unforgivable -- very similar to what we’re seeing here now towards Korn). 

Film Rachanun: always, ALWAYS spunky and fabulous. SHE SPARKLES.

Perth Tanapon: my first drama with him, but clearly a VERY strong actor.

These three in particular need to hold down the show and each other, because Ohm’s character, Pakorn/Korn, is the subject of abject abuse, psychological and physical, from his father, who is also the father of Perth’s character, Pawin/Win.  

You need a STRONG cast to decipher what the hell is going on with Korn and Win’s family. Korn, the older brother of the two, was born during a recession. Win was born during an economic upswing. Korn and Win’s father, a shopkeeper, blames Korn -- literally calls him a “jinx” to anyone who’s listening -- for any and all bad luck that comes to the family. Korn’s father abuses him incessantly. He kicks Korn out of the house, and Korn is shown sleeping on a bench outside the family house, often in the rain. One of his siblings will sneak him back into the house to sleep. Korn and Win’s older sister, Li, and their mother, are also shown. The mom, Li, and Win are barely able to lodge a protest to the father for his lifelong treatment of Korn. If Korn is abused, he tends to walk away, leaving his beloved mom/sister/brother in his wake. 

(Someone needs to seriously call Thailand’s version of DCFS/ACS on Korn’s dad, because WHAT. THE. FUCK.)

Before I get into Film’s character, I just want to say that I think this show is depicting interfamily trauma beautifully already (even though it’s beyond heartbreaking). The silence among the family members is deafening, and very real. I mean: Asian family patriarchy. If I were talking with a SE Asian therapist at this very moment, I wouldn’t need to go on to explain what we’re seeing. From how I watch the show from a SE Asian cultural lens: the father has had such an abusive stronghold on the ENTIRE family, that they’re all willed into silence, and are only able to show support for each other OUTSIDE of the grip and gaze of the father. I experienced this quite a bit in my childhood, and saw it in my cousins’ families where truth needed to be spoken outside of an assumed leader, and the emotional compensation that needed to take place later in our lives consumed us. 

I don’t know if this is exactly what @shortpplfedup was referring to when you said that you understood why Korn picked up the gun at the end of the episode...but to me, the lineage of this trauma leads me to understand why Korn did that. In the wake of yet another abusive episode with his father, Korn simply thought he was trying to help someone. (Poverty --> family abuse --> crime: a common pathway that is NEVER INTENTIONAL on the part of the children/offspring on the receiving end.)

So Film’s character, Rung, comes into the mix. Rung is a young woman attending Win’s school, who befriends Win and Korn. Rung asks questions about Win and Korn’s family. She calls bullshit on the superstitions surrounding Korn and his father. She states that her family doesn’t believe those stories.

I want to note that superstitions are common both by way of religion and culture across Asia. (For instance, I was advised once to not swim in the ocean during a particular time of the year, because it was a moment close to a festival regarding water spirits, and it was thought that there were ghosts in the ocean.)

We saw a tremendous amount of religious and cultural ritual in Moonlight Chicken. But superstitions, as we’re seeing here in Double Savage, affect groups/families/communities at the micro level. Parents can VERY EASILY write off children with these mechanisms. (Like I mentioned in my last DS post, I have family members that have written off their children at early ages for just about everything -- their looks, their luck, their birthdays, their supposed lack of intelligence, etc. These parents would literally call their children “fat” in front of me and apologize “for them.”) 

I see what Double Savage is doing here -- calling fucking bullshit on this practice, particularly when it’s used to judge, condemn, and abuse children. It’s common, it happens, and once more, with these amazing shows coming out of Thailand (where WERE THESE SHOWS when I was a kid), we’re seeing broad and public commentary about how negative and abusive these behaviors are.

We clearly haven’t gotten to the meat of the series yet -- the drama that will occur between Korn and Win, as Korn sinks further into a life of crime. But what I’m finding interesting right now is that between 10 Years Ticket and Double Savage — two shows starring Ohm that were directed by female directors — we’re seeing BROAD and VERY DIRECT commentary on patriarchy, and interfamily and community trauma. (This, to me, is much like how @respectthepetty​ noted that GMMTV’s Midnight Series earlier this year was constructed in part to offer critical political and social commentary.)

And at least in Double Savage, vis à vis Rung, we’re seeing VERY direct criticism of otherwise common cultural practices that ALLOW for these abusive behaviors not only to take place, but to take root and to proliferate across generations. And we’re only two episodes in! Good for you, GMMTV. [I mean -- why not throw Bad Buddy into this mix, too? Like I mentioned earlier: someone (P’Aof?) is recognizing that Ohm can really fucking handle this hardcore intergenerational material. This shit does NOT seem easy to portray, and in BBS/10YT/and now DS, he’s handling it deftly.]

Whew. Me likey. Fuck the patriarchy. Let’s see how this show continues to set up this plot.

One off-thought: the chemistry between Ohm and Perth, and Ohm/Perth/Film -- SPECTACULAR. WOW. Ohm and Perth are so clearly bros in real life. They’re clearly ad libbing a lot, and it’s a lot of fun to watch. (I wish Ohm had spent more time on camera with Off in 10YT — they could have had a similar vibe.)

Film’s character is sooooooo different from Neon in Dirty Laundry (and I can’t wait to see her in My Precious, where she’s paired again with Nanon), and she’s just so versatile and fun to watch. SWOON, I love her.

[chaos0pikachu]

I’m not a BOC ~defender~ or whatever but I do think it’s interesting how fandom interacts with the company itself like there’s almost a para-social relationship with the company itself? Which is wild to me? Like there’s a standard that BOC is held to that I don’t see with other studios by fans that I find really interesting. 

Like, example,  Ohm Pawat (come on y’all know this dude) had a recent “scandal” of bullying and homophobic social media posts blow up on Twitter* but I didn’t see fans blaming or even involving GMMTV at all. I don’t even know if GMMTV even made a statement on the scandal. And it’s not like talent under GMMTV haven’t had their fair share of scandals but I’ve never really seen folks act like these scandals were the specific fault of the company itself

and I’m just kinda curious why lol like what is it about BOC specifically that’s got ppl so hyper vigilant on them? 

[Before anyone attempts to waffles this shit I’m not saying BOC is a “good” or “bad” company like those metrics are so nebulous that it’s pointless to apply them. Companies are not people, they do not have a personhood no matter what Citizens United tried to claim]

Like there’s been critiques of BOC that I’m like yeah I get that, I agree with that, and then others than I’m like, eh that’s not how business really works, and then others that I’ve been like that’s a fucking completely misinformed bonkers claim to make take the fucking stan goggles off pls 

But the obsessiveness towards BOC is just really interesting cause I don’t see it towards like any other studio that produces BL/GL media 

**I have no opinion on this scandal or Ohm so don’t come for on that either idc

[zucchan]

IT'S HARD TO BE FAKE ENEMIES BAD BUDDY | EPISODE 4