CAPTIONLESS!

There are so many “Good Things” to be talked about this series. I may miss out some points to consider, and I’ll take responsibility of my negligence. Without further ado, I’ll break down my analyzation about this series!

“Norm-Breaking!”

Unlike most BL-themed series, that goes with a repetitive plot mixing it up with some unique representation of events. GSP (Gaya sa Pelikula) are one of those “FEW” BL series that took a step forward to be different in many aspects. In a general perspective, we see most BL series to have a common background.

In example, the common BL story conflict would be likely to revolve on 3rd Party Issues. With one of the main characters (mostly the MASCULINE character), having an ex-girlfriend who’s still nosing around to reconcile her broken relationship with one of the protagonist.

Another common conflict of a BL story that compliments with my 1st sample is all about Trust Issues. That one character thinks that his partner would do something stupid or make a mess with someone, is somewhat an overused concept. Yes, it is indeed a core topic to be discussed. But if it keeps on repeating in a single-story baseline, it will only make a general impression on how bad it is to be in a SS (Same Sex) relationship, which supposedly not the ideology to be imposed in BL stories.

Labelling conspiracies is a big issue that most BL series/movies do lack of acknowledgment. They would simply impose some characters’ mindset that identifying someone as “GAY” is a form of insult or a derogatory statement. We all know that this is actually how most people would think about the LGBTQ+ community. But keep in mind that this stereotyping would not help those who are deeply closeted. As one of the main reasons why BL genre stories existed, is to give a gleam of hope to the community that we acknowledge and appreciate their existence in this world with no much disgrace in the identity that they have.

GSP did a lot of synergizing to compliment with some of the ‘REAL ISSUES’ that we should be aware of. As how the series is narrating, GSP did a scenario on addressing conflicts based on the interpersonal aspect of the characters. A niche situation that most couples been into, yet not being a vocal topic enough to be publicly acknowledged.
As how Karl struggles to look at himself as GAY, is how most LGBT people feel. The way how his environment nurture him the thoughts that being GAY is a disgrace, pressures him a lot to acknowledge his true self. Considering the fact that his character was pre-made to be a replacement of his older brother (because his older brother died too young), he had no choice but to fit in the shoes of his belated brother in order to please his parents.
As with Vlad, he struggles to risk in a potential relationship due to his past relationship where he was dumped just because that person wasn’t ready to acknowledge his identity. The frustration that he feels, speaks to most LGBT people. The feeling that you are the only one who is brave enough to be open about your relationship is a big burden. You have no choice but to limit your actions towards to your partner publicly, fearing that your partner may think that the people around you would recognized your relationship (due to the fact that he wants your relationship to be discreet).


“Why do we need to be acknowledged as Gay?”

It is for us to be labelled as how it should be. A sense of self-identification and people being able to acknowledge your identity is what LGBT people stand for. This also plays when the norm would speak only about the LGBT people. The “Straights” would also likely want to be acknowledged as Straight if ever the norm was on the other way around. Merely because the norms doesn’t fully recognized the thought of someone being GAY, and Vice-Versa if the norm wasn’t how most people see it today.

GSP did a good execution in this concept, in the form of Vlad’s character. An openly-gay man, which never feared to be labelled as Gay. His character enables us to realize that acknowledging yourself as Gay (if you are to be) is not a bad thing. It’s never a bad idea to acknowledge yourself on who you really are. Just because people see your ‘identity’ as a disgrace, doesn’t mean you are. Vlad enables Karl to acknowledge him as Gay, not to think of it as a form of euphemism but a form of acknowledgment to his identity. Also Vlad wanted Karl to acknowledge that his feeling would considered him being Gay, because it’s how it should be.

The reason why some LGBT people sticks to be called as Bisexual is because on how derogatory the word Gay looks like in other people. GSP emphasizes the idea that you should never fear to acknowledge yourself as Gay, and rather be called out as something as a “Safe Spot” like Bisexual/Bi-romantic/etc.


“Coming Out of the Closet!”

Have you ever been so feared to be called as something you never wanted to be acknowledged off? That’s basically you being “KARL”.

The struggle of Karl’s characters not to be perceived as Gay is a struggle of most of us.
A person who is in a “May-December Affair” with a rich man/woman doesn’t want to be labelled as a gold-digger. A Kinless teenager boy, who is a sex worker, doesn’t want to be called lecherous.
So on, people didn’t want to be called out as something due to the fact that is it inclined with a negative ideology. In instance, Karl struggles to accept himself as Gay, because he thinks that people around him would just insult him for being Gay.
We all know that “Coming Out” is a process that should be done deliberately. This thing should not be done by force, which Vlad did a not-so-good thing to Karl forcing him to acknowledge himself as Gay. His actions, the way he feels about Vlad, may project to his identity as being Gay. But for as long as he is questioning himself, don’t force him to speak out.


“Just Ally Things”

Let’s give GSP a round of applause for letting those people supporting the LGBTQ+ community a part in the story. Ate Judith’s storyline behind her existence being an ally (Vlad’s Older Sister) was an eye-opener for most people today that support the LGBTQ+ community. I can say that there are many “Judith”, who did a mistake in the past and regain themselves from their wrong ideologies preventing to make the same mistake again.
It was brave enough to convey the story of Judith, who did insult Vlad (when he was young) for being gay, that she thinks was the cause of their parents’ separation. This is a story of those families who had just started a good relationship with their LGBT relatives, after realizing the mistakes they did in the past for insulting their identity.


OVERALL, I can say that GSP is an S-tier BL series. Better than most BL series that I have watched. A must-watch series in my opinion!
With that, I might create a different review that will tackle about the “Bad Points” that I have noticed while watching this series.
This review is taking too long to pile up the “Bad Points” that I have recognized.

Anyways, that’s all I can say!

PS. This is only my POV. The Rates are solely based upon looking all the "Good Points" I have noticed in this series. The rating may vary when "Bad Points" are included.

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Opinion Only!

I’ll just gonna give some little things that I’ve noticed while watching this.

GOOD MUSIC= A good OST in a movie/series will always got my attention.

ON POINT MICRO-REACTION= Especially Jang Eui Soo. Kang Gook’s character suits him well.

PRACTICAL PLOT= I do understand this though, Korean BL just barely started tho. I do hope they could incorporate their A-class plot in their dramas to their BL drama.

Overall, it’s good to explore more series. I can recommend this when you want to explore something away from the usual Thai BL stuff (Engineer stuffs).

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