zleighz

Pffft!

Hahaha, I've mercifully only made him watch clips from the adaptations available on Netflix.

Even in the Chinese version, instead of forcing a kiss on her, he slams his fist into the wall beside her head and bloodies his knuckles.

I'm showing snippets of MG (2018) and BOF to my parter so he can see some of the contrast with F4 and he was flabbergasted during that scene because of how awful it is.

omg. "I doubt he even needs those golden glasses…" that cracked me up.

But then I remembered baby Kavin and how he wore big ol' glasses too

YES!

Ugh the scene was so well done that it kind of hurts my stomach when I think about it lol

From Fea's response to my post, I don't think they actually have cause to say the show is preachy - it seems more like they are just projecting and the negative feelings for the show are coming from that perspective.

But I do want to discuss the idea of whether the show is preachy or not. Above, you mentioned thinking that the show would necessarily have to come across a bit preachy, and I wonder if you really think that it is preachy, or if you are just recognizing that other people may see it that way?

For me, something has to be heavy-handed to be preachy. It has to have moments where something is stated out of context for the sake of the moral, without any through-line or development in the story.

If, on the other hand, the show leads the characters and the audience into deeper understanding, then no way would I call it preachy. I'd say it has meaning and a purpose. So far, for me, F4 is doing exactly that. Any thoughts?

My absolute favorite show is Sense8, if that clues you in to me liking shows that put their whole heart on their sleeve lol.

Jumping in to discuss the concept of what makes something "preachy" in regards to your example: "Teaching the value of money by giving example on how other ppl strugle with money"

The way I see it, the connecting thread of "500 baht can feed my family" was beautifully played out in the episode-

1. Gorya pulls Thyme into the stairwell (setting up the trapped overnight plot point) because her sensibilities won't let her go into a restaurant where one entree is the same cost as a meal for her family. This is a hella relatable character moment for anyone who has ever lived on a tight budget.

2. Thyme doesn't believe her. He assumes she's making an excuse and dismisses her comment entirely. But, alas, they're now trapped.

3. Thyme asks about it. While Thyme is being taken care of by Gorya, for the first time in all the episodes, he asks her personal questions. The first question he asks is if 500 baht could really feed her whole family. For the first time, he is thinking about her life. It's a quiet moment of reflection, but Thyme takes the first step of thinking outside of himself and realizing he can't apply his lived experiences to hers.

4. Thyme goes to dinner and meets Gorya's family. The cost is revealed to be, truly, only 500 baht. It isn't heavy handed. No one at the dinner table makes him feel bad for having money. When he talks about having abundant food, no one tells him off for it. They're just interested in whether or not he likes the dinner, and they're excited to share the meal with him.

Your post above mentioned wanting a drama to "show" rather than "tell", but the thing is... the drama didn't preach to us (or to Thyme) about "the value of money" like you seemed to think. Rather, it set up moment after moment where we could watch Thyme reflect on his own worldview, and take steps towards his deeper understanding of Gorya's perspective. It nicely showed us that Thyme is starting to get to know Gorya for real.

My drama watching friends are all from a group text I was added to lol. I've never met them irl.

Lol, I think he forced the idea that it was a date, rather than forcing her to go on a date. There was some wheedling to make it happen (cuz she never replied to his texts) but it was absolutely within her power to go or not go. No more kidnapping for Thyme... such growth lol

I only have a few drama-watching friends and I can't stop bombaring them with messages about how good F4 is. They'll watch it.... but not till it has finished airing. 😩

Except with the mom and ML, which is obviously a destructive, negative relationship.

P' before a name means the person is older.

Anyone with more insight into Thai know if it has any feeling of intimacy attached, like oppa/noona or gege/jia often does?

So far, I'd call the show healthy rather than toxic.

All of the other versions show romance through jealousy, abuse, and control. But that is nowhere to be found in F4.

Hm I disagree.

The bar scene was great imo. These aren't nice, advice giving uncles, so the setup that gave us that lovely moment of reflection for Gorya needed something to completely change tone. And having the old creeps swan dive like they did was so much better than them actually assaulting Gorya or the other girl.

Wowowow good catch. I heard it at the dinner table, but didn't connect it to her polo and nondescript/oversized tees

Just me nodding along as I check the forum while waiting for a client to show up at work...

I am SO CURIOUS how the Ren storyline is going to play out.

The way I think of Ren, he loves Mira, but it isn't necessarily romantic love, it's ambiguous love. There's room there for him to have genuine feelings for Gorya (especially curiosity, interest, attraction, etc) and for a slightly broken Ren to act on those confused feelings in a way that makes sense for a young man who is pushing his own boundaries, without it simply coming across like he's using the FL to wallow in his feelings for Mira (as it has felt in previous versions).

And for Gorya, of course, it also makes sense that she would have a blurred line between her feelings for Ren and Thyme, so for her to act on any moves Ren makes would make sense for her character as well.

Then again, maybe the show will go full-on "Ren sucks", which will be okay too.... I just don't know which way it's going to go! Will I feel like Ren is a tragic figure, or will I feel like he's simply a jerk? Show me show!

Fun! You're probably picking up a lot of spoilers in the comments though lol.

I'm making my partner watch with me and I keep asking him what he thinks is going to happen (since he has no prior knowledge) and it's a fun game for me lol.

In a lesser version of this drama, he'd have said, "or my daughter".

2. In other dramas, the "I'll wipe you down" scene is always over the top imo. The music and the actors make it seem like some ridiculously sexy moment (fever and sweat... not so sexy), but in F4, Gorya does it as a matter of course. Just like how her brother brings water for her to wipe herself down. It's just what you do when you have a fever, so there's nothing weird about it, so the scene didn't seemed forced. She acts very chill, but Thyme has the sparkling eyes when he looks at her. She's taking care of him and it moves him. It's in that moment too, that he asks about her ("can 500 baht really feed your family?" "Do you have siblings?") I don't remember him asking her any personal questions before now.

They're all so attractive, its true... but as soon as MJ smiles, I'm a goner.