Being Kind

I watched 2gether a few months ago, read the critiques here, then re-watched it as I was surprised by some of the ratings. Since then I have watched Still 2gether and loved it. But I'm mainly posting this to defend Bright who is in danger of being victimised. To my mind he is a lad of immense all-round talent and it would be cruel if he gave up acting or had his life's course and happiness changed by what seems to be becoming a bandwagon of snipers. Fortunately there are many positive compensating comments on his profile in MDL and in the general appraisals of the films.

Bright is not a newbie and the fact that he has been chosen and re-chosen as an actor, when there is a huge pool of possibles suggests that producers and directors rate him highly. This cannot just be for his looks and his smile.

In appraising a film or a book, the starting assumption needs to be that the author or producer or actor knows what he or she is doing and that the director is satisfied with the result, however many takes were needed to get there. I think that rather than impose ones own expectations and values on a person, book or movie, one should try to understand what we are being shown. In that way we can be drawn out of our own echo-chamber with mirrors.

To me this is a very fine series.. The storyline may be familiar but the quality of the production and of the acting and direction, to my mind make it exceptional. That a fake relationship becomes real is bound to involve strong emotions, incredibly well portrayed here, where Sarawat has always been ready to abandon all pretence while Tine simply wants to walk away when the need for the fakery (the unwanted attentions of Green) has passed. Above all, the falling in love cannot be a sudden reversal, or an off-on switch but both actors have to sustain a 13 episode (+5) evolution in their relationship. I do not find these series sugary or superficial, rather they are the study of a slow-growing relationship with all its twists and turns. Yes, there is no skinship, only a few late kisses, but one cannot deduce from that that Bright is a reluctant BL actor. This film does not need to be pornographic and naked: for one thing Thai laws would not allow it, for another there is plenty of porn elsewhere (often with one-dimensional characters) and thirdly, this series is about what is going on below the surface.

Win and Bright are exceptional in sustaining a long arc. Win is a natural and I guess that his sunny disposition was easier to adapt to this role as Tine than Bright's depth and inwardness was to that of Sarawat. I really cannot see how Bright's acting can be criticised or patronisingly said to have improved through the series. If the casting is right, then the actor needs to rebalance his personality, to emphasise or reduce qualities that he already possesses. In this case the casting seems perfect. In real life Win has a ready smile, an optimistic approach to life and emotions on the sleeve, as well as having a serious and hard-working side. Shaking his kaleidoscope downgrades the seriousness, expands his range from joy to misery, suppresses his shyness, and perhaps he has to create a sort of dumb failure to understand for so long Bright's words and body language. In real life Bright seems shy, pensive, serious, but highly intelligent and quick-witted, with a lovely smile and whiplash repartee. This part with a bit of tinkering for Bright to become Sarawat, is actually a perfect fit, though it does not allow him to be as showy or theatrical as Tine. Whereas there is a certain frivolity needed in Tine's character, Sarawat has to capture Tine and maintain and deepen that love he felt at first sight, while never pushing it, for fear of frightening Tine off and losing him. He has to suffer deeply when rebuffed and misunderstood, with his eyes, expression and body showing this wordless hurt when Tine persists in thinking it is all a game, and even afterwards, when Win has become his boyfriend, but still doesn't know how to love without being selfish. Bright's is not a flamboyant part, so the viewer needs to watch every grimace and gesture in order to read him and see how much his deep love for Tine is costing Sarawat. Sarawat is also a model of hidden determination and deep devotion; a lesser lover would have given up. I think that he has created a totally believable character and nothing he does seems to be just going through the motions, reading out the words; there is nothing routine or mechanical or inept. even in close-up. As to his improving through the series, the script demands that they become ever more interlaced and their feelings more overt. A certain stiffness, awkwardness and coldness is entirely natural at the beginning of a relationship, even if both partners (unlike here at the beginning) want to develop it. This is not a series with a "non-existent plot", except for those who want to impose their own simpler story-line, with more rivalries and skin-ship. For me this is an intense and nuanced charting of a complicated relationship, not just another trivial and titillating BL.

There are accusations that the quality of writing deteriorates and that the first series looses impetus in its latter half. Such criticisms are hurtful and need to be supported, as does the notion that series one ends chaotically or messily, and that Series 2 was shot to tidy up. Once Sarawat and Tine are dating in Series 1, they have in theory moved into a phase that is less exciting for the watcher. But the detail is not like that at all. There are reversals, misunderstandings and Pear, Sarawat's first flame, but not more, comes on the scene. But the real interest is in Tine, who is still not ready to love fully and unreservedly. He shies away from Bright's desire for touching, kissing and sex and that creates a tension which is really only resolved at the end of Part two (without the need of a tearing-off-the-clothes bed scene. But the second half of 2gether also allows more time to focus on the other couples, though Tine and Sarawat remain the centre of attention.

I do not think that there is a weak link in the cast. Unfair, perhaps, to single out Green, whose over-the-top campness lets us smile and relax between the intenser moments, and Fong ("the philosopher"), Tine's friend, who is such a loyal one, always there for him with a quantity of understanding and perception that make him stand out as wiser among so many lads.

But I would also say that the direction is superb. Comparing these lads as they appear informally in the Behind the Scene clips with how they appear on screen, you can see what the director has found within them and brought to the forefront. Especially with Bright he has taught him the power of silence, reflection and stillness. This and the quality of the production make this an exceptional series.


I have no intention of shipping Win and Bright, as that is a possibly hurtful conjecture until they choose to reveal any relationship themselves. They seem a bit disengaged from fan-service, but not because they are awkward with each other –they obviously have a really close relationship- but because I can read a seriousness in them that rather dislikes the razzmatazz. Close and deeply satisfying male bonding (brotherhood plus) is common, but we don't need to fantasize that it is always sexual, even if they pass nights together.

Also I do want to defend them as fine people who are having to pick their way through a minefield of politics, political correctness, trolling and flamers. It is easy to make minor mistakes as a youngster surrounded by the pressures of fame, especially when they are inevitably the target of people whose own jealousy and unhappiness causes them hate others' success and to try to humiliate them. Everything that we know from good sources, including their own appearances on TV suggests that they are talented high-achievers, intelligent, warm, caring, dedicated and honourable. They love their families, they look out for others, and fame has not made them arrogant.

Damoetas.

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