It just... fascinates me, to compare the two. And it really hits home to me why I've become so obsessed with c-dramas as a narrative form.
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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.
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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.
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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 -
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- 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!
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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*.
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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.
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End of conversation
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V much enjoyed this thread. As a tangent though, have you seen Gentleman Jack? Yes historical gay, but also yes lead character and driven by her desire to have a partner.
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