BL: Fantasia Quebrada (2020)

This is an interesting enough documentary but for longtime BL fans it's unlikely to hold any surprising revelations.

I think we're still waiting for the documentary that shows such things as how a BL series comes together, how its impact and popularity are tracked and leveraged, and the whole concept of shipping, including how the shipping of BL actors in real life can impact those real lives.

I'm also curious how the actors who are part of a BL pairing are paired in the first place, how they're instructed to behave off camera, and whether the production companies go so far as to put stipulations in their contracts about it. For me this would show whether the people in charge wish to exploit the blurred perception of on-screen couples with the belief that they're actually dating.

This becomes an even bigger concern with underage actors. What do their parents have to say about how and why they got their boys involved in BL, and once production starts how are the interests of these young actors protected?

So, in short, given the documentary's provocative title I was hoping for a deeper dive that took some risks and spoke truth to power. What we got instead is a wade through the shallow end of the pool that will be more rewarding for beginner fans of BL.

If you'd already heard of this documentary then you probably know that Bright and Win are featured in one of the segments. For me they seem like an odd choice of actors to interview regarding how they approached their roles, since their '2gether' franchise is the subject of some debate over whether it's truly BL or actually a bromance. As actors they haven't (yet) been asked to kiss romantically on screen or even be shown cuddling shirtless in bed -- something that the documentary director's own films haven't shied away from. Why not talk to actors who actually *have* had to do such things on camera, and ask what their experiences were like? (And tell us what went on behind the scenes at '2gether' that resulted in all the guard rails being put up ....)

It makes me wonder if Bright and Win were the only actors available or were selected due to '2gether's' current popularity. (One thing for sure: their presence is being used to promote the film.) So many other BL couples would have been a better pick due to their longtime experience in the business: OffGun, KristSingto, TayNew, PeakBoom, or even the cast of '2 Moons 2', a series that the documentary director himself directed.

(I'm sure that Ohm Pawat and Toey Sittiwat would also have had some interesting things to say.)

So, this film is good enough for what it does but isn't quite the documentary the title promises it to be. I hope the director will consider making a 'Part 2'.

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Too shallow

First of all a big applause to the director for even opening the themes about the problems of BL industry. That definitely needed courage. Sadly the documentary stays too shallow, not really addressing the problems, not really going into any depth at all. I have no idea why are here Bright and Win, their answers are definitely scripted, so their contribution is actually zero. But there are probably not many active BL actors willing to talk about their industry and its problems. I would pay a lot of money to hear the real answers of such legends as Max and Tul, or Mew (who can definitely tell a lot of nasty stories) or Saint etc.. But of course that is just wishful thinking. But the director could talk about other problems - fanservice, stereotypes in bl works etc etc, but he did not.

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