Game of Thrones: 8 seasons, 73 eps, roughly 1hr each The Untamed: 1 season, 50 eps, roughly 45mins each Both adapted from epic novels. One had to fight government censorship every step of the way; the other had free reign. One is a cultural juggernaut; the other duffed itself.
-
-
Very occasionally, we get a historical miniseries about a specific historical gay who may or may not have a romantic happy ending, but the focus is still on them Existing While Queer; and we do get queer couples & characters within genre shows, but they're not the lead romances.
Show this thread -
As of very, very recently, we're starting to get queer romance *movies*, on account of how film, rather than TV, has been the preferred mode of showing romance-on-screen in western tradition, but there's still this terrible hesitance about it - and again, it's always real-world.
Show this thread -
Whereas The Untamed, to take the example I started with, is gay xianxia. Yes, there's an epic romance between two men (who can't kiss on screen because literal government censorship), but there's also flying on swords and zombies and murder and politics - it's a genre FEAST.
Show this thread -
Which isn't to say that BL adaptations are ten a penny throughout Asia - they're still a niche market, and especially in China, they're still subject to a great deal of censorship. But they represent a type of queer content that is utterly absent from western TV -
Show this thread -
- but which many of us queer genre fans absolutely LOVE. It's the kind of thing we go feral for in novels, but which never gets put on screen here. So if you've been wondering why so many of your queer geek friends are suddenly yelling about c-dramas: this is why!
Show this thread -
Even where censorship takes kissing and sex off the table, the idea of an epic, long-form show with a queer romance at the center of a complex, chewy, often fantastical or otherwise genre-heavy story? It's catnip. Utterly irresistible. And the west *isn't doing anything like it*.
Show this thread -
In conclusion: I have fallen into the abyss of Guardian, The Untamed, Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty and Word of Honor. I can't get up but that's fine, I'm very happy in my new habitat. Please slip food under the door at appropriate intervals.
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.