Stalker (2022)

lol

Before I get into it I will talk about one, and probably my only true one, PRO: the subtitles are great. Even though it was wasted on this show, it wasn't actually wasted because this should be the standard! Every show should put this level of dedication and care into subtitling/translating if they want to reach a wider audience. Even if they hadn't included the extra information to help us understand the cultural elements, the grammar, syntax, ordering, and timing were all correct.It was really amazing. So seriously good for them. Subtitles and good translations are extremely important, so thank you!

That being said...

It's about an “ugly” duckling (Toh) who’s in love with this popular dude (Nuea). Their respective (sort of adorable) friend groups are the supporting cast. He and his pals have rules regarding hidden crushes and like to cry about it a lot. That’s the bare bones; however, the unpopular one is not so much in love as he is…a fan who collects his idol’s things. Except no that’s not right either…oh right he’s a stalker–like one of the alternative titles for the show suggests. A passive aggressive one at that.

When I first wrote my review I saw it a lot less of a detriment to the show and, although I do not believe this dummy to be a threat, thinking back on the difficulties that built up during the course of me watching makes it seem as bad as it is. It isn’t so much that he does what he does but how it plays out (or doesn’t, really) within the show and Toh’s skewed approach to life.

Anyway, everything works out for him and his friends. You know, cause they’re fucking ugly I guess and rules don’t apply when you’re ugly (?) and weird (?).

Probably because of the very human need to defend the things we like without it seeming like we ourselves exhibit this behavior there seems to be a tendency, if one doesn’t acknowledge the ver weird behavior even if they still like it, to say it’s not that bad or justify it. It’s so incredibly unhealthy for Toh himself and those surrounding him and it shows that he lacks respect for the person he claims to love. Unlike in another drama with a similar underlying premise, which never ever tried to convince the viewer, and therefore no one had to jump through hoops to convince others and themselves, this show goes out of its way to essentially guarantee that.

And, because this is a mindless story parading as something different (I guess), he gets everything he wants. Wild cos he was really collecting this other boy’s food, his tissues, his photos, his literal drinks and cups. Had a whole-ass wall of photos dedicated to this jawn and a cardboard fucking cutout of him. Just absurd and at first it’s funny but it. Goes. Nowhere. Stops being funny when the try attempts (poorly) to be serious and we’re still reeling from shit that was happening before.


Seng’s acting is not that great and I don’t know if it’s him per se or the script and production. I’ve only seen him in WHY R U? (which…is a show) and he was cute there but he didn’t do much. Here? The mic packs, the fucking heavy-ass breathing, the smiling constantly. I don’t buy completely that an actor can only work with what’s given so I’m gonna say he should work on it. I don’t understand what ANY of that was and it affects the character heavily.

Everyone else was fine. Looknam and Billy were the best here but I think the older cast members are around my age and that’s a long time so they’re going to do better. Most times.

At first, I disagreed that the main couple didn’t have chemistry though I know I noticed that it’s mostly Billy, the way he looks at his co-star, the way he moves, he’s good at the natural intimacy and sensuality which same. Jk but I think he’s the reason why I did find this couple interesting.



Toh isn't really a real human and, unfortunately, neither is Jao (second lead with a love line that I do not care about and is cringe). Toh BARELY has a literal voice and I appreciate that they are artists/photographers but what else is there to him? (Nothing). Despite the actors/them both being neither ugly nor fat respectively, the show tries hard to convince us that this is the case. Jao is obviously not the ideal weight for asian beauty standards, skewing on very thin or jacked, I guess but it’s still just ridiculous and who the fuck wants to relate to that? Especially a fat person. Toh /was/ ugly but that’s because I hated his fucking face because he made those dumb fuckin’ faces but he’s not actually ugly OBVIOUSLY.

At first the friendships are fun but then, when you realize no one can mind their goddamn business, it gets annoying. They do everything in public for some reason, they pressure each other into doing things they don’t want to do, and they (well Toh’s friend group) cry a lot. More importantly, because Toh consistently doesn’t change and does batshit crazy things like stealing the food Nuea touched, they don’t do aaaaanything remotely constructive when approaching Toh’s stupid habit that defines his boring life for some reason. They give sad looks (because they know it is fucking insane!) but don’t DO anything???????

Instead of being so concerned with Toh and his habits through looks and more funny comments they could explain /why/ it's a) fucking weird b) unhealthy c) sad to him (since I guess he doesn’t get it). That being said, the friendships are the best part and it made me happy to see them be able to come out of their shells. As much as I have to criticize, having that type of experience in college can really change your life and help you grow. When you have new experiences and get to expand your social circle you become more confident, mature, more content. Unfortunately it’s clouded by the fact that Toh never changes and Jao also is a whiny lil bitch (but I would be too if people didn’t leave me alone which they do not) or has no fuckin spine.

While I appreciate that they have these couples subverting certain expectations—since I know that many people get frustrated at the purported hegemony of masc4masc stuff or misreading of heteronormativity as co-opted by the genre instead of inherent to it—they actually don’t really? I think the problem is we put ourselves and these people into boxes so we expect all these relationships to turn out one way or follow a certain code.

It still gets limited and follows the same exact codes as everything else. There’s no imagination! And when there is it’s barely explored like with Daisy. Also I fail to see how this doesn’t follow the very same structure of superimposing active/passive (male/female) onto the subjects. Again, when they had an actual opening they didn’t take it.

Why are some of the gender rules so rigid? Why not show and exploit that more? Though a character like Nuea is more playful and sensitive he still takes on [x] role because of course he does.

The show is too long as well. But that’s just me. I know many don't mind since it's a soothing show and it can be cute. At first I thought I could power through but I just couldn’t do anymore; it went nowhere and got progressively more ridiculous and frustrating. There was so much dead space, filler, awkward acting. They had $ tho I guess.

Frankly, this show is not very entertaining or good and I don’t believe that a lot of people don’t like it because the characters are (SUPPOSEDLY*) ugly, effeminate, or both. Nor do I think it’s okay to justify the poor quality of the work itself or Toh’s behavior—the inciting incident—because they are part of those aforementioned groups (very loosely defined due to humans being complex). On top of that, just because other shows do worse or other people excuse things like the nasty behavior (all) dramas love because the men are supposedly hot or masculine? Doesn’t make it okay, or even palatable for whatever went on here.


The logic goes: something that is typical and visibly harmful/not socially conscious gets redressed, and, if it looks marginally different, becomes seen as a social net positive making it hard to see what could be underneath. I’m not sure it does what people thinks it does and I think there’s an assumption that BL is not, like anything involving men, following some nightmare patriarchal male imagination logic. But it does, it is, it will because it has to. Without actually putting effort into new ideas and a new story this remains the case. I have yet to see how it's a subversion, transgression, or truly different in terms of production, content, and in terms of 'commentary'.

Additionally the reviews are overwhelmingly positive, the ratings as well, and the current rating on the show is more than generous so when I see people try to give reasons why others may not like the show—subsequently projecting what they think other people's blockages are due to prejudice—I don’t get it. Who are these people? There’s so little critique or dissent here so I simply don’t understand the jump to those conclusions. It could just be a not good show; this review’s my argument for why it’s not.

*looknam is hot af

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