Taming the Bad Boy (2024)

Overall: I really wanted to like this 1 hour movie but it didn't quite work for me. Watched on the Flying Penguin YouTube Channel (I bought a month membership, they also have Twins and .avi) https://youtu.be/rYCcDRIB1TU?si=Xq93Mf7Li0oKjbC0

Content Warnings: bullying, homophobia, slap, choke, fight, non con video recording, blackmail

What I Liked
- great to see Holland and the cameo with Hong Seok-Cheon
- attempt at sex education though it felt a bit preachy
- non dead fish lip press kisses (though there was some camera blocks)

Room For Improvement
- started with a flash forward and voice over
- they tried to have too many characters/cover too much and so the main pair felt underdeveloped, not totally sold on the redemption arc
- lack of satisfying consequences for the main bully
- there was an extra scene after the end credits which I did not understand
- subtitles were pretty rough but I understood the overall gist (did not take off points)

Read More

True

If you don't want to read further because it might have spoilers then just know, I definitely recommend you to watch this series. It's not your typical bl and i found that refreshing.

So first of all, I want more series like this one. It felt real, the bullying, the hate against gay people and the story overal. But also the simple and (after they start dating) non problematic love between Jin U and Tae Seop.
Could it been better if the series was longer? Yes definitely, some parts felt a little rushed like the relationship between Jin U and Tae Seop. One moment they were fighting and the next they kissed. But i also felt like Tae Seop was interested from the beginning. Like putting money in Jin U's locker was a nice detail.

I liked how it showed the real problem about not being educated about things like aids. The assumption that only homoseksuele people can get it because the internet says so. And the thought that gay people are filthy.
In a way it was hurtfull to watch since for a very long time I thought that most people had the same opinion. Being gay isn't easy and being out can be hard, especially when you are outed by people you thought you could trust.

The after credist scene made me hope for a second movie or series 🙏

Read More

Okay so it wasn’t the worst hour of my life-

Yes, I clicked on this randomly. It happened to pop up under another show I was watching and since I was bored I was like ‘why not?’. I thought this would be like a real series, not that’s it’s not a real series- but certainly not the length of a short movie.
You can say that I was surprised when they started kissing like 30 minutes in and I thought ‘isn’t this the first episode? why are they randomly confessing their love to each other?!’
I simply cannot believe that the dark brown haired dude (yeah idk his name lmao) actually fell for blonde dude so fast. Like how?! They spent half of the show hating and bullying each other (looking at u blonde dude), just for them to start making out. No way am I believing that, not even if the acting was okay.
I was expecting this to be a much longer series but I was just very disappointed when I finished the ‘first two episodes’ and there was no more episodes. If I wanted to watched a bl with no plot and basic acting I would just finish one of the many series I have On hold instead of wasting my time with something like this.
Honestly, I didn’t hate it per say… I just didn’t need to watch this.

Read More

Despite obvious budget and format constraints, enjoyed it quite a bit !

A very short 1 hour movie (or 2 episodes drama) about the relationship of two highschoolers : bully Ko Tae Seop and newcomer Park Jin Woo. More than really about romance, the story is focus on showcasing the discrimination faced in an all boys school by students suspected of being gays and the bullying inflicted by their peers on them.

Despite the lack of time to get very deep into it, I appreciate this attempt at societal criticism on this important topic of discrimination faced by the LGBTQ+ community. However, it is a bit of a shame that this is also done to the detriment of the romance. There are some interesting master-servant elements that are approached in the relationship but there as well, it remained at surface level of what it could have been. I still enjoyed truly the story overall as it was quite gripping.

Regarding the acting, it was a bit green for some parts, and a bit unbalanced in terms of acting level for the various roles. I particularly enjoyed the cameo of Hong Seok Cheon. I found Lee Ui Seop to be very good for a rookie but I was less convinced by Holland for some aspects of his role. He did not feel menacing enough as a bully and the transition to a more subservient part did not totally work as well. There were obvious budget limitation here. Limited decors with just a couple of sets to film in, minimalism was clearly the key word of the production. The soundtrack was also not bad but not memorable at all.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for a short BL with an indie feel and some elements of master-servant relationship. It approaches heavy topics such as bullying and discrimination which I found interesting but lacked a lot of time and budget to make it really good. It remained as well quite surface level on the societal criticism it was attempting to propose. Still, given the after-credit scene, I'm wondering if a sequel is planned. If that is the case, I will watch it for sure because it was quite entertaining and I see room for further development.

Read More

This important show deserves a longer series!

A brilliantly acted, brave and important, but woefully short series, Taming The Bad Boy's trailer does not tell the whole story.

The trailer leads you to believe that the bad boy in question is Holland's character, Tae Sop, the number one school delinquent, and that this is a show all about his relationship with the new student, Jin U. But in reality, these moments are few and far between. Instead, this is a series about LGBTQIA harassment in Korean schools. It shows a realistic portrayal of what gay students suffer, including violence and bullying, at the hands of their classmates and society at large. I actually wonder if the trailer wasn't almost a ruse to draw in BL viewers who wouldn't normally bother to watch a show like this in order to educate them about the realities of being a young gay man in Korea.

There are really lovely portrayals of some of the different sides of the community, from Tae Sop saying he doesn't like guys but he does like Jin U; to light BDSM scenes that are done with a sweetness rarely seen; to the exuberant, joyful dancing of the three gay side characters; to the homosexual school nurse becoming angry when a student spouts misconceptions about AIDS in a sex-ed lesson. The scene after the credits also deals with the influence of parents on young LGBTQIA members, as well as trying to make the audience understand that bullies are victims too. After all, isn't Min Hyeok the actual bad boy who has been tamed? That's the real subservience in the show - a young man being coerced and controlled by powerful adults who don't consider anything except social conformity.

Yes, the romance between Tae Sop and Jin U is rushed, and I can understand why people watched this at face value and were disappointed. But the importance of having an openly gay star in this show and dealing with very real issues shouldn't be overlooked. The only reason that I didn't rate it higher was due to the length of the show - I wish it could have been 8 episodes so we could have delved more into Tae Sop and Jin U's relationship which, despite all the dog collar action, was very tender and sweet; learned more about the bully Min Hyeok, his motivations, and his feelings about them; and seen more of the fabulous nurse. This is so worth an hour of your life.

Read More

Denounce the situation of harassment and discrimination suffered by South Korean LGBT+ students

'Taming The Bad Boy' (일진조련기) does not seek to portray a homosexual romance, nor does it seek to portray the friendship between five South Korean gay teenagers, students at a high school.
Lim Hyungkyu, its director, aims much higher. Scripted by Yoo Guijong, the short series produced in 2024 by Flying Penguin, denounces the situation of harassment and discrimination suffered by South Korean LGBT+ students in the classrooms, by other students, but which in reality can also be by managers, school officials and teachers, including their parents and other family members.
In a highly conservative, patriarchal and heteronormative society, through the relationship between Park Jin U, a role played by newcomer Lee Ui Seop, a student transferring to a new school, and Ko Tae Seop (Holland - 'Ocean Like Me'), who approaches the newcomer out of curiosity, only to soon discover that she has developed feelings for him, 'Taming The Bad Boy' reflects the situation of isolation and mistreatment that members of the South Korean LGBT+ community suffer from their peers. classroom.
The series is not suitable for all audiences, not even for many BL lovers who expect tender and warm romantic scenes between two boys, since the plot crudely exposes the intimidation, harassment and discrimination due to gender identity experienced by children. students of said South Korean human group, as well as the lack of safe and inclusive environments in schools.
Through the relationship of the protagonists and that of the two of them with Jungbeom (Joo Jongbeom), Seongyu (Ki Myeongje) and Changmin (Son Changseong), three classmates who are also homosexual, and among them five and several homophobes and harassers, among them These Mynhyuk (Byeon Jeong Hyeon), known for playing Park Jae Han in the BL film 'Hold', from 2022, the dramatized denounces the lack of protections against discrimination by the government due to the lack of a comprehensive law that protects LGBT+ people in educational and other environments, including work, as well as the lack of interest of the government and educational authorities in ensuring that LGBT+ youth have support resources to safeguard their education and their physical and mental health.
Through the figure of the teacher, a role played by the popular actor Hong Seok Cheon, known for starring in the film 'Perfect Love' (2003), the series makes visible how the South Korean sexual education curriculum does not include any content about LGBT+ issues. In this case, the educator seems to be a member of this community, so when homophobic students make negative comments about gays, the teacher defends the members of said community, even at the risk of being fired and being exposed to harassment as well and discrimination.
Often a product, television or film, emerges that attempts to raise awareness about complex issues. This is the case of 'Taming The Bad Boy', a plot that may have been reviewed too many times before, but should not be detracted for this reason by being produced in a homophobic country, which persecutes and harasses gays, lesbians, transsexuals, bisexuals…
In just over an hour, the short series becomes a contemporary vision of gay men who struggle to define what is real: for themselves, their romantic relationships and their high school studies in a school whose students despise and humiliate them just for being different.
I won't say much because I don't want to spoil it, but the fact that there are scenes of harassment, loaded with violence, in my opinion, reflects the director's audacity in addressing the issue head-on.
Of course, there are the occasional furtive kiss, glances and knowing smiles between two secret lovers. There are also boys who express their identity through dance and equally confidential conversations in intimate spaces. Kisses between two boys and dialogues about dreams and desires in a series about gay teenagers in Seoul, what would be wrong with that?
The supporting cast is good in their realistic performances.
If you are interested in a drama with a very real approach to the complex topic proposed, you will enjoy 'Taming The Bad Boy'.

Read More

História muito bem contada. (assista cena depois dos créditos)

Mesmo em um ambiente que pode parecer "muito do mesmo" em relação a histórias entre estudantes essa produção foi uma surpresa dupla, primeiro pois é uma história muito bem contada sem ser repetitiva e em segundo por ser mostrada em tão pouco tempo, já que se trata de episódio único, o roteiro foi além do entretenimento foi informativo e útil, falou sobre fake news, saúde, além da relevância de questões LGBT+ (casamento entre pessoas do mesmo sexo, etc) o que aumentou sua importância.
A atuação do Holland que já é um artista merecedor de elogios, foi excelente e mais uma vez provou com sua performance ser um artista multifacetado e dividiu perfeitamente com os outros atores o mérito de que essa produção é muito valiosa e excepcional, todos desempenharam muito bem seus personagens, despertando tantos sentimentos positivos quanto despertando a vontade de reagir a um personagem homofóbico kkkkk e fora as participações especiais que abrilhantaram a produção.
Eu amei e se tivessem mais episódios assistiria (será que teremos uma continuação????) com certeza vou revisita-la mais uma vez. A todos os envolvidos meus agradecimentos e desejo de mais produções similares. Vou acrescentar a OST na minha playlist. 💓💓

Read More