2024-01-10
From Screen to Reality: How Fans Give Meaning to Thai Boys Love Couples
Publication
Publication
A Study of How Fans of Thai Boys Love Media Give Meaning to the Celebrity Couples and How This Impacts Engagement With the Series They Star in
Boys Love (BL) is a genre of original works portraying relationships between gay men usually targeted towards women, which was popularized in Asia over the recent decades. In the recent years Thailand became the centre of BL, releasing more BL series with each year that passes. What separates Thailand’s approach from other countries’ approach to BL is that the actors who perform in the series are made into celebrity couples. These couples, most of whom are heterosexual, perform homoerotic acts off-screen during fan events and promotions, while using their own names instead of the names of their characters. If successful enough they go on to star in multiple series together. Since the first series from which such a couple was created came out it 2016, there has not been much research focusing on Thai BL couples. Therefore, present research aimed to answer the research questions How do fans of Thai Boys Love series give meaning to the celebrity couples of Thai BL? And how does this influence their engagement with the series? The data was obtained through 11 semi- structured interviews with fans of the couples BrightWin, TayNew, ZeeNunew, OffGun and JoongDunk. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. Three themes emerged. Impressions of couples and actors, Fan service, and Parasocial relationships. The study found that participants interpreted the relationships between couples as authentic through determinants such as care, comfort and friendship. Less often the relationships were perceived as romantic. Participants preferred friendship dynamic over romantic ones, as they felt that couples with romantic dynamics tend to blur the lines between reality and fiction too much, which often leads to toxicity in the fandom. Most fans were emotionally invested in couples, which was expressed through feelings of happiness, pride or fear for the couples. Furthermore, fans expressed being more involved in Thai couples’ lives than those of other celebrities. Queerbaiting was not seen as an issue by most participants, which was attributed to the culture Thai BL media originates from. When it came to the series the couples starred in, fans expressed that they would watch a series if it did not star their favourite couples, however having an established rapport with the couples added to their enjoyment of the series. Behind the scenes disputes made the series more difficult to watch. Theoretical and practical implications, as well as limitations and implications for future research are discussed.
Additional Metadata | |
---|---|
dr. Argyrios Emmanouloudis | |
hdl.handle.net/2105/74940 | |
Media & Creative Industries | |
Organisation | Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication |
Marić, Lena. (2024, January 10). From Screen to Reality: How Fans Give Meaning to Thai Boys Love Couples. Media & Creative Industries. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2105/74940
|