The Leaked (2020)

"Just go to the police," it's easier when you're just saying it

"The Leaked" is not a drama and as such, I will not be criticizing it the same way as I would a drama since the acting, plot, and cinematography are not what should be the main concern. It's a three-episode PSA produced by Thailand Internet Crime Against Children (TICAC), an initiative by the Thai government and police specialized in dealing with child abuse, prostitution, and trafficking.

The core message of this PSA is, of course, commendable. It's targeted at young girls and women who are or were victims of sexual abuse and encourages them to reach out for help. The PSA follows two girls from the same high school to illustrate different ways teenagers might end up in abusive situations. The first girl got catfished by someone posing as her crush online and said person collected compromising clips of her to later blackmail her with them to receive more sexually explicit content. The second girl at first voluntarily took up a shady hostess job to afford her lavish lifestyle and keep up with the latest trends as to not get left behind by her friends but later gets forced into prostitution by her employer. The story also addresses how victims of sexual abuse often get typecast as "whores" or "sluts," which is particularly relevant in the cultural context this PSA is set in as the stigma surrounding SA victims in Thailand is still more pronounced than in some other countries.

I can understand why the producers decided to overly simplify and exaggerate certain aspects of the story. However, I feel like it was still lacking in certain areas, especially considering that this was released in 2020. The amount of depth it goes into and the cautionary, yet very lightweight and easy-to-digest narrative this PSA follows is more something I would've expected to see in the 2010s when conversations about sexual abuse were just slowly starting to enter the public's consciousness more and more. As such, this PSA brings very little new to the table and just very shallowly discusses the topic.

I would've appreciated this more if it went more into depth with the process victims have to go through to file a police report to hold their predators accountable, which questions they should expect to be asked, which evidence or information they might need to provide, and what they should mentally prepare for during and after the legal proceedings. They also could've shown where and how to find local police stations and child protective services and how to approach staff there and what options victims have, such as whether they can request a female police officer to talk to if desired.

Furthermore, it is shown that the second girl, Daw, relies on her friend Tor for emotional support so she has an easier time opening up to the police about her abuse. I would have liked it if they focused more on her thoughts when choosing Tor as a confidant over, let's say, her female friends who were shown earlier in the episode as well or her family. I believe it's also important to show young girls that might be watching that boys are not the enemy and an equally viable option to seek support from as long as you trust them and feel comfortable around them. It would have been nice for them to contrast Daw's story, where she confides in Tor, with the first girl, Linlin, maybe choosing a woman to confide in, might that be a friend, teacher, or family member, to show just how many choices there are for emotional support in your social circle.

I was also personally not quite convinced with the ending, where everything suddenly turns out well and people all around the country suddenly change their stance on SA victims after hearing Daw speak. The overall framing of the situation was too simplified for me and neglected important parts of aftercare for victims, such as maybe citing resources for trauma counseling, therapy, or support groups, especially if you have to deal with the after-effects of your abuse story being publicly shared. It is important to show victims take back their voice and regain control of their life but the work they have to put into it to heal should not be glossed over.

That being said, I did like how it showed how vile people can be towards victims of sexual assault and appealed to the common sense of the viewers to think before they share their opinion on such a sensitive topic on social media and that they should always take the victim's emotions into account. I also liked how they showed that sometimes predators might even be people close to you with Linlin's abuser being, for example, her fellow classmate. The fact that they showed that even if you're completely confident in yourself at first like Daw was, predators will still find ways to harm you if they so choose to, was also important and I am happy they included that.

All in all, this was a very basic PSA but still one with a message that should always be repeated over and over again to always stay in people's minds. To be honest, I think they only cast Nanon so they could put him on the thumbnail and bait his fans into watching it because they are primarily exactly the target audience this PSA is directed at (young and female), which is a very smart move to be fair and as long as it did its job and got people watching it, I support that. It's also always refreshing to see male celebrities lend their faces to such projects to spread awareness. Still, if you have ever been exposed to any sexual assault and cyber crime PSAs in your lifetime, this will be nothing new to you but it's definitely something that you can show your friends and family if they aren't well-versed in the topic at all and need a good starting point. It's also not too explicit, so it would also be appropriate to show to older kids and young teens for a first exposure to the topic.

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