Rhea
Malaysia
I love so much about Gaya Sa Pelikula. It’s OTP are adorable with chemistry in spades (also I see what you did there, show, naming them Karl and Vlad). The setup is a classic And They Were Roommates but so much of the show feels refreshing and insightful.
There is a moment early on where our main character, Karl, watches, mesmerized, as his neighbor Vlad dances carelessly in his living room and we wonder, does he want Vlad, or does he want to be Vlad? And as the show unfolds it becomes evident that the answer is both. He wants Vlad but coming to terms with that means coming to understand elements of himself that Karl would perhaps rather leave unexamined. And so this is a story about romance, but also about coming of age, because life will push him, force him to grow into himself.
Unfortunately, neither issue is fully resolved in our 8 episodes. That isn’t a bad thing because both of these issues are as much about the journey as the destination. Being able to actually ask the questions the show poses is enough of a step itself, as unresolved as it feels.
The things that hit most for me are the details that clarified the queer lens of the show. The emergence of Karl’s internalized homophobia as small, ignorant micro-agressions that aren’t left to stand unexamined, the value the story gives to older queers in gaining a sense of self-understanding (which is rarely actually represented), the well-intentioned allyship that often becomes self-centering in straight characters, etc all lift this show from the general BL milieu into a delightfully queer story.
I love that the relationship between our leads is shown thru an exploration of their intimacy with one another, instead of hinging on the fact that they’re both attractive humans cast as the leads in a television show. I love that the conflict feels real and is not hand-waved to try to force a resolution in 8 episodes. There are no easy answers to growing up and the show doesn’t try to patronizingly give any. And I actually love that because of all that the show doesn’t quite end as much as feel like its paused. Though the knowledge that a season 2 is a question of when not if, apparently, helps a lot with that but even if it never happens I feel the story as it stands is beautiful enough on its own.
There is a moment early on where our main character, Karl, watches, mesmerized, as his neighbor Vlad dances carelessly in his living room and we wonder, does he want Vlad, or does he want to be Vlad? And as the show unfolds it becomes evident that the answer is both. He wants Vlad but coming to terms with that means coming to understand elements of himself that Karl would perhaps rather leave unexamined. And so this is a story about romance, but also about coming of age, because life will push him, force him to grow into himself.
Unfortunately, neither issue is fully resolved in our 8 episodes. That isn’t a bad thing because both of these issues are as much about the journey as the destination. Being able to actually ask the questions the show poses is enough of a step itself, as unresolved as it feels.
The things that hit most for me are the details that clarified the queer lens of the show. The emergence of Karl’s internalized homophobia as small, ignorant micro-agressions that aren’t left to stand unexamined, the value the story gives to older queers in gaining a sense of self-understanding (which is rarely actually represented), the well-intentioned allyship that often becomes self-centering in straight characters, etc all lift this show from the general BL milieu into a delightfully queer story.
I love that the relationship between our leads is shown thru an exploration of their intimacy with one another, instead of hinging on the fact that they’re both attractive humans cast as the leads in a television show. I love that the conflict feels real and is not hand-waved to try to force a resolution in 8 episodes. There are no easy answers to growing up and the show doesn’t try to patronizingly give any. And I actually love that because of all that the show doesn’t quite end as much as feel like its paused. Though the knowledge that a season 2 is a question of when not if, apparently, helps a lot with that but even if it never happens I feel the story as it stands is beautiful enough on its own.
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