#phop and dew

[waitmyturtles]

Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: Dew the Movie Edition

[What’s going on here? After joining Tumblr and discovering Thai BLs through KinnPorsche in 2022, I began watching GMMTV’s new offerings -- and realized that I had a lot of history to catch up on, to appreciate the more recent works that I was delving into. From tropes to BL frameworks, what we’re watching now hails from somewhere, and I’m learning about Thai BL's history through what I’m calling the Old GMMTV Challenge (OGMMTVC). Starting with recommendations from @absolutebl on their post regarding how GMMTV is correcting for its mistakes with its shows today, I’ve made an expansive list to get me through a condensed history of essential/classic/significant Thai BLs produced by GMMTV and many other BL studios. My watchlist, pasted below, lists what I’ve watched and what’s upcoming, along with the reviews I’ve written so far. Today, I’ll cover Dew the Movie, screenwritten and directed by the seminal Thai BL artist, Ma-Deaw Chookiat, and starring Ohm Pawat and Nont Sadanont.]

Before I get started, I want to note that I’m publishing this review out of chronological order from the list: I owe you all a review of 3 Will Be Free, which will drop next week, but I just watched Dew the Movie this week, and felt the strong urge to get out my thoughts sooner rather than later.

Why? 

I have had a number of quick conversations about Dew the Movie with some of the around-the-block mentors on Tumblr, particularly with @absolutebl Sensei, who very kindly answered my question last week about where Dew stands by way of the trajectory of BL in Thailand (and just to note, as ABL Sensei says in their answer: Dew is most definitely NOT a BL, but an important piece of queer media to consider for the BL-driven OGMMTVC). 

The (small sample size) majority of people I’ve spoken to about Dew have actually not seen it, which is utterly understandable from the perspective of the tragic circumstances of the film. 

When I first planned on watching it, I put a caveat note on the OGMMTVC list on my blog’s pinned post that Dew wasn’t an official part of the Challenge. I change my tune on this: I would argue, at least from my perspective, that it was a *must for me* to watch.

Again, why? 

As ABL Sensei writes, Dew fits into a stage-checklist mold of queer cinema, where, at the time of its release, it potentially NEEDED to check off certain boxes in order to get produced. It very well may have NEEDED a tragic end (arguably, multiple tragic ends) to get made. It may have NEEDED to kill off a gay character (arguably, multiple gay characters) to be ripe for consumption by a wider audience. It may have NEEDED some amount of equivocating about those deaths within the art itself.

I was aware of this when I was watching Dew, aware of watching Brokeback Mountain again, aware of death and disappearance and erasure.

What I didn’t expect from Dew, possibly as strong a punch in the gut as the impact of the death(s) themselves, was how Asian the movie was.

This sounds silly, coming from an Asian-American towards a Thai movie made in Thailand, about Thai young men, as based on an original story from South Korea. But having visited Malaysia, one of my home countries, a whole bunch in the 1990s, at the same time when half of this film was situated -- I was absolutely struck by how the film did not shy away from the Asian experience of discrimination and the destruction of Asian family systems by way of homophobia and other explicit biases throughout the film.

The depictions of homophobia and discrimination in Dew were so raw that I caught myself actually gasping-crying at certain points. Before I get there, let me offer a quick summary of the film, since I believe not very many people have seen this:

Dew and Phop are two high school classmates in the late 1990s, in an extremely rural town called Pang Noi, adjacent to Chiang Rai. As the wonderful @shortpplfedup kindly noted for me, the timing of Dew and Phop’s engagement took place right before the onset of the 1997 Asian financial crisis that first emanated out of Thailand, and was also set as military dictatorships had given way to democracy in Thailand. 

In their rural town, young men who are either out or presumed to be gay are sent to training camps. Accusations about the spread of AIDS are made vis à vis the LGBTQ+ population. Students who are out are rejected at school and in their homes. 

I’ve written previously about how certain BLs, mainly in the MAME realm (Love By Chance and TharnType), have touched upon a kind of bigotry and bias that I have described as being particularly Asian in nature, reflective, word-for-word, of the kind discriminatory language and ideas that I was exposed to as a kid from my Asian parents. 

To see that kind of discrimination and homophobia orchestrated on a community-based level -- in Dew and Phop’s school, when children are rounded up by teachers and soldiers to be sent to a training camp -- was brutal to watch.

It immediately introduced a level of dystopia to the entire film. And I ended up appreciating that the film went that far, so immediately at the beginning of the film, after we had seen an otherwise happy-go-lucky young man in Dew beginning to engage with Phop. 

We needed that element of dystopia to kick off the film, because: Dew faces rejection from his school and, potentially, from his single mother, to be an out and gay young man in Pang Noi.

More brutally, arguably, is the rejection of Phop from his EXTREMELY patriarchal Thai-Chinese family, led by an almost despotic father, who is ready to take down his son at a moment’s notice, with a helpless mother present as Phop is progressively rejected by his father, his brothers, and the patriarchal family system that keeps that family together. (@shortpplfedup, as I wrote to you, this was Double Savage x 10, maybe x 100.) 

The reason why I liked the juxtaposition of the community-level discrimination vs. the micro, family-level discrimination is that both experiences of this kind of discrimination are dystopic. As humans, as mammals: we crave community, family, and companionship. 

To be rejected by your community is unnatural. To be rejected by your FAMILY is unnatural.

This is not a message that’s limited to Asian media or Asian cultures -- this exact kind of discrimination flourishes in America and elsewhere, including conversion therapy (Dew reveals that his own mother sent him to behavioral therapy). In rural Thailand, this kind of existence... simply cannot exist. That’s dystopic to queerness, to the LGBTQ+ community.

I brought up Malaysia earlier to make a quick mindset comparison. Around the time of the setting of Dew and Phop’s high school days, I remember hearing on Malaysian radio, riding in a car with my family, that the singer Sting (STING, y’all -- vanilla STING) had been banned from performing in Malaysia for his music being “too rhythmic.” 

Malaysia, unlike Thailand, is an Islamic nation. But borders are only lines on a map, and as I’ve spoken at length with the amazing @telomeke about, the cultural flow between the countries is strong and present. It doesn’t surprise me, therefore, that rural Thai towns WOULD engage in this HIGH LEVEL of discrimination and exclusion, as unbelievable as it might seem to Westerns not familiar with either Asian or Western styles of dystopic discrimination, as I’m calling it here.

To try to survive: Phop runs away to Bangkok. And begs Dew to come with him. And Dew dies in the process.

Phop lives. He becomes an adult, a middling adult, with only middling success in his life. After a life in Bangkok, he moves back to Pang Noi, broke, married, reminiscing about Dew.

And he discovers, after becoming a homeroom teacher, that Dew has been reincarnated in the body of a young female student. (This is one of a few times that ideas of ghosts, spirits, the reborn, and the reincarnated are introduced in queer Thai media in 2019, along with Until We Meet Again and He’s Coming To Me.)

We then get the presence of an actual controversial filmmaking trope in age gap, between a young student and an older teacher. Age gap is certainly a present trope in BLs, past and present. 

In lightly peeping the MDL reviews for Dew, I saw quite a bit of consternation about this age gap, and honestly, as a mom, I certainly felt the wibbles as well. But I thought it was an interesting filmmaking device to use, in putting Dew’s spirit in the body of a young student.

Because -- of course -- this inclusion forces us viewers to confront OUR OWN BIASES. Besides the community-level and micro/family-level discrimination we see in the film, we’re also forced to truly dig into what we, as viewers, are biased against. AND, the film very much digs into the controversial nature of teacher-student relationships as well, and Phop is condemned for his closeness with the reincarnated Dew through the student, Liu, wonderfully acted by Pahn Riety of 10 Years Ticket. 

This film is fucking brutal. But the fact that it forces us to CONFRONT OUR BIASES, on so many levels -- it does a wonderful job at that. 

To the end. To the end of the loss of Phop and Liu, so that Phop and Dew can be together in the afterlife. 

The film leans on Thai-Chinese Buddhism in the second half, again, so reminiscent of He’s Coming To Me, leading to ANOTHER non-happy ending that brings two people together in unideal circumstances. Phop and Dew’s spirits will be together, not in this world, but where, exactly? Certainly not in the world of 1990s rural Thailand, a world that wanted them extinct. 

When I say that this film is rooted in its Asianness, I really mean it. I think one needs to have an appreciation for how these themes tie together -- the community-level discrimination, how general sexuality and queerness were treated with such a hands-off/ignoring approach in the SEA region in the 1990s, and why Thai-Chinese Buddhism was chosen as a means of bringing Phop and Dew back together, just like Thun and Med in HCTM. There is an acknowledgement by the Asian filmmakers of these pieces that queerness was brutally unacceptable during these times in Thailand and elsewhere, and these pieces do not shy away from that reality. 

I’m tremendously glad I watched this. I feel like crying right now while watching this, but I’m really glad, as someone with SEA roots, to have watched this, and to have seen discrimination at that level that I have seen previously, and to know it exists. If one takes up the OGMMTVC and feels like they can’t watch this, I can totally understand. But I think Dew the Movie is a tremendous gateway -- as He’s Coming To Me was -- to a very particular Asian mindset around collectivist living that does not jive with individual expressions of sexuality and queer acceptance. 

Those realities are brutal -- I hate thinking about them, I HATE IT. The acceptance gateway that I have discovered vis à vis Thai QLs is a salve to my soul that was subjected to HEINOUS discrimination against ANYONE deemed different from my Indian culture growing up. But that discrimination was also VERY REAL. I’ve broken out of being exposed to it, and I’ve tried to become the best ally I can be. But the acknowledgement, through art, that that level of discrimination can exist, in my Asian cultures, is also a reality that I have a responsibility, as an ally of Asian descent, to reckon with. 

(A quick side-note. Once more: Ohm Pawat shines. This man is a CIPHER of queer pain and queer joy. The acting, directing, and cinematography of this film was stunning. Two hours went by in a flash. If you avoid for the content, that makes sense, but if you’re a film buff, you may enjoy this film just for the devotion it pays to rural Thailand and the spectacular expanses that it captures.)

[Yow. My heart is aching, not just for Dew the Movie, but I’m also recovering from a crazy week of Step By Step, HA. 

But anyway: my review of 3 Will Be Free will be up early next week. WHAT A GODDAMN AMAZING SHOW! The OGMMTVC is definitely ruining me for great content, up against what I’m watching that’s airing now (....side-eyes to SBS, hmph). 

And: I’m digging into Until We Meet Again. IT’S FABULOUS SO FAR. Come AWN, Fluke and all of ‘em! I’m traveling for the holiday next week, but hopefully my watch schedule won’t get too messed up. But with this review of Dew and 3WBF next week, I’m holding all y’all down if you’re looking forward to these reviews!

Here’s the status of the watchlist. As ever, I’ll take any feedback ya got!

1) Love Sick and Love Sick 2 (2014 and 2015) (review here) 2) Make It Right (2016) (review here) 3) SOTUS (2016-2017) (review here) 4) Make It Right 2 (2017) (review here) 5) Together With Me (2017) (review here) 6) SOTUS S/Our Skyy x SOTUS (2017-2018) (review here) 7) Love By Chance (2018) (review here) 8) Kiss Me Again: PeteKao cuts (2018) (no review) 9) He’s Coming To Me (2019) (review here) 10) Dark Blue Kiss (2019) and Our Skyy x Kiss Me Again (2018) (review here) 11) TharnType (2019-2020) (review here) 12) Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey (BL cuts) (2016 and 2017) (I’m watching this out of order just to get familiar with OffGun before Theory of Love -- will likely not review) 13) Theory of Love (2019) (review here) 14) 3 Will Be Free (2019) (not a BL or an official part of the OGMMTVC watchlist, but an important harbinger of things to come in 2019 and beyond re: Jojo Tichakorn pushing queer content in non-BLs) (review coming) 15) Dew the Movie (2019) 16) Until We Meet Again (2019-2020) (watching) 17) 2gether (2020) 18) Still 2gether (2020) 19) I Told Sunset About You (2020) 20) YYY (2020, out of chronological order) 21) Manner of Death (2020-2021) (not a true BL, but a MaxTul queer/gay romance set within a genre-based show that likely influenced Not Me and KinnPorsche) 22) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) (review here) 23) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake Of Rewatching Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS 24) Lovely Writer (2021) 25) Last Twilight in Phuket (2021) (the mini-special before IPYTM) 26) I Promised You the Moon (2021) 27) Not Me (2021-2022) 28) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) (thesis here) 29) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) and Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (2023) OGMMTVC Rewatch 30) Secret Crush On You (2022) [watching for Cheewin’s trajectory of studying queer joy from Make It Right (high school), to SCOY (college), to Bed Friend (working adults)] 31) KinnPorsche (2022) (tag here) 32) KinnPorsche (2022) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake of Re-Analyzing the KP Cultural Zeitgeist 33) The Eclipse (2022) (tag here) 34) GAP (2022-2023) (Thailand’s first GL) 35) My School President (2022-2023) and Our Skyy 2 x My School President (2023) 36) Moonlight Chicken (2023) (tag here) 37) Bed Friend (2023) (tag here) (Cheewin’s latest show, depicting a queer joy journey among working adults)]

[itwoodbeprefect]

whAT is with desperately hiding out in a phone box in the rain after a huge fight and being found by that one person and being reassured about the scary but undeniable Queerness with a heartwrenching hug followed by a very slow very quiet very tender first kiss in 2010s queer thai movies? if i had a nickel etc, i'd have two etc, but that's still two!! that's TWO phone boxes in the rain full of gay people having big emotional moments without even placing a single call!!

[pinkflames612]

Soo, I haven't even finished episode 1 of My Only 12% yet, but Eiw and Cake are already giving me Phop and Dew vibes from Dew The Movie and...

"I think I've seen this film before, and I didn't like the ending."

I just know that they are going to completely break me, and I am here for it.

[mrchictine]

Dew The Movie

This is Indeed a right love at the wrong time. Maybe we are not meant to be by this time, but we should not stop to find ways and overcome those obstacles to love each other again. This might be hard, but in the end, You and me at the end.

*For the full video just click the link below. This video is edited by me and please support me on my YouTube channel, Thank you.*

[eremin0109]

Pran and Pat fights (affectionate)

Phop and Dew fights (derogatory)

[ke-yi-ma]

Dew, let's go together (2019)

"Before the sky turns bright

Before feeling the warmth of sunlight

Before the flowers bloom

Before having a sweet dream

I've never had anyone in my heart

Till your love came

And made me see the brightness

I've never had anyone beside me

`Til your crazy mercy came

And motivated me

To live...

In this mad world."

Love breaks boundaries of gender, age & time.

I think I will remember this one for a really long time. It probably isn't the best that I've watched and it has many flaws but it's also something I've never seen before.

I found this movie accidentally and watched it only because of Ohm Pawat but it gave me back a lot more.

The whole sequence of this film with the cinematography and music is overall very pleasing and comfortable however the storyline hovers on discomfort, misunderstanding, hurt and confusion. The town where it is set is the most peaceful background but it encompasses disruption and fear.

Paired with this setting, Ohm's wonderful acting gave it so much life. His usual cheerful self made his character so precious and loving. The emotional scenes were heart wrenching and rookie actor, Nont played his part really well.

The lovable character of Dew, the disconnected, uncertain character of Phop set in the 90s and their forbidden love for each other. 23 years later their love continues to be forbidden. Times change, people change but with changes new stigmas are introduced.

People have mixed reviews about the second half of this movie but I personally felt a lot of depth and emotions there. Love doesn't necessarily mean romance or sexual interest. I liked their friendship, the way they grew together, and the comfort that they found in each other.

A scene that crosses my mind every now and then was the comparison between the past and the present at the train station. That time when Dew failed to reach him and the time that he could. It was really well done and when they finally met each other at the station it was the most beautiful reunion.

It's a movie that deserves a chance. Yes it could have been better but I really liked the way it was portrayed.

[asiandramas-takeover]

Day 17:

For me there are different kinds of kisses. Imma use gifs for this one so here we go. **cracks fingers**

Passionate Kiss

Fighter & Tutor

Bo Xiang & Zhi Gang

Matt & Shen

Soft Kiss

Tharn & Type

Gook & Tae Joo

Phop & Dew

Passionate and Soft/ The All In One

Hao Ting & Xi Gu

[phopsdew]

i don't think i'll ever be able to shut up about how much i love dew

this boy was the embodiment of youthful innocence. he was cheerful, and goofy, and (just the right amount of) bratty, and vulnerable... he had the most beautiful smile and shiny eyes that where always hopeful, even when his world was falling apart around him.

while getting to know dew, it's impossible not to fall in love along the way.

because dew loved unapologetically. he loved life, he loved his mom, and he loved phop. no matter what others did or said, he was willing to go to the ends of the world to stay at phop's side.

and he deserved to be loved endelessly in return. dew deserved to have lived a long, happy life, being cherished and appreciated and loved :((((

so i guess that's why losing dew hurt so much. my beloved boy only wanted to pursue his happiness in a world that kept denying it of it over and over again.

[panlyv]

7,15,16

hey anon!!!! thank u soso much for playing with me! i hope you've been doing well 💓

7. top 5 bl

OOF OK. the following won't be any surprise BUT they are some of my all time faves and id die for each one of them

history3 trapped (i don't even need to explain this one)

theory of love (best thai bl ive ever seen tbh)

(still)2gether (my comfort series 💕)

where your eyes linger (PURE. ART.)

dark blue kiss (but only sunmork lmao)

15. favourite premise

not a series but i love the concept behind dew the movie. the first half of the film was perfect!!!! the scenarios, the acting, the chemistry, the everything was just on point. i love sad and raw stories even if that means the main couple doesn't end up together so dew the movie really did it for me during the first one hour. then......... they ruined it. i wish they would've gotten rid of the p*do str8 plot and went with phop out and proud, after dealing with all the hardships of leaving and surving on his own, coming back to his hometown, reminiscing all the memories he had with dew and then connecting with someone that also had a very similiar story and so they would bond and fall in love because of that, not him falling in love with a female student several years younger than him while cheating on his wife. the whole story would be gay, sad, beautiful and heart-wrenching BUT with a happy ending because that's exactly the kind of content id die for

16. favourite trope

im a sucker for angsty stories when it's well done and the angst serves a real purpose (like trapped, tol and wyel oops) but..... that's rarely what happens in most bls soooooo it's probably fake dating, slow burn, idiots to lovers im really cliche jsjdhsjhdjdje

bl ask game!

[angstyki]

The Dew Thai Movie really a 10/10. The memoirs being created were absolutely aesthetic as it expresses genuinity from the scenes, to the characters, and lastly, the storyline itself. I'm literallly happy, having chills on how great the chemistry of the couple Dew and Phop from the start until when the revelations began, I fckin crying until the end of the movie. One of the best since I'd never imagined to get hangover by it.

[mrchictine]

DewPhop ⌛

"A right love at the wrong time"

We should always take our precious moment with the person we love because we don't know when will be the last time we will see that person.

[eremin0109]

Dew: Can’t we be friends?

Phop: Do you really think we can be just friends?

isn’t this something similar along the lines of “From two people who can’t even be friends, to being two people who can’t just be friends” dialogue in Bad Buddy???

Welcome to the Ohm Pawat Chittsawangdee “can’t be just friends because gay feelings” cinematic universe everyone.