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I’ve
been watching a lot of J dramas lately, but then took a chance with this one Thai
series, U Prince Series: The Handsome
Cowboy. It exceeded my expectations at first; the cinematography, wardrobe,
music, and setting was really good. The plot, which involved the main character
(Phrik khing/Prikkang) who is in love with her childhood friend Sibtit only to
meet him ten years later and discover that he’s become a player, was very
interesting. I was definitely hooked, but that was before the story went
downhill real quick.
The first episode raised the bar
high, but the succeeding episodes left me very disappointed with the
characters, especially with the love interest Sibtit. But let’s delve deeper
into that later. Be warned for there are spoilers ahead.
The Good: Aside from the enviable
uniforms, the drama series had a good story going for it: a campaign of male
ambassadors from different departments in their college, which feels very
nostalgic for me. And the series starts out with Sibtit, a so-called bad boy
from the Department of Agriculture. The MC has a love-hate relationship with
him, which I found amusing.
Unbeknownst to the MC’s father, she calls herself DJ PK and
is a DJ by night. She spots Sibtit and he notices her too. She immediately
knows that this guy is her childhood friend-slash-first love who she hasn’t
seen for over a decade. He, on the other hand, player that he is, only sees her
as a conquest. They talk and almost instantly, she realizes he doesn’t recall
who she is. She doesn’t give him her real name and I find it odd that in the
hi-tech world that we’re living in, he didn’t know her name for a long period
of time.
Soon enough, he discovers who she really is and in a twist of
fate, she ends up working for his family’s farm. It was all very sweet and
funny at first, as these two characters grow close. That was before he shows
his true colors in the shade of “pervy,” “creepy,” “pushy,” and “douche-y.”
The Bad: There’s the slut-shaming.
So Sibtit has a “girlfriend,” Pitta, with a focus on the
quotation marks. Because it seems like to her, his friends, the MC, and even
Sibtit at various occasions, Pitta is considered as his “girlfriend.” But Sibtit
only acknowledges her as much when he wants to make the MC jealous.
In the first episode, Prikkang and
her friends are in the club when they spot Sibtit with his “girlfriend.” The
MC’s friends comment that Pitta was kind-of “slutty.” Pitta doesn’t necessarily
have background details, but considering that she only ever has eyes for
Sibtit, I wonder why she would particularly be labeled slutty. I’m not going to
analyze her red lipstick and red car as some kind of symbolism, but from what
I’ve seen so far, she’s obviously head over heels for her “boyfriend.” That was
a bit of red flag, but not as blatant as what was to come.
Moments later, the MC happily dances
with her friends when she sort-of stumbles and falls in the arms of Jacob Black
*ehem* Key, Sibtit’s friend who likes the MC. Of course, Sibtit who was
lounging with his “girlfriend” goes to interrupt the moment. He comments on how
the MC’s clothes, which includes high-waist pants and a crop top, are revealing
and that she wears them to provoke men. He even goes as far to say that she
should mind her behavior. Excuse me, who’s the one who ditches his “girlfriend”
and gets all hands-y with a girl who is not his girlfriend? Shouldn’t he mind his behavior? Boom, another red flag.
(Source: IMGUR.COM)
Then, there’s the instance where Key
invites the MC to take some pictures before she starts working in the farm. Prikkang
agrees because he’s been very kind to her. But then, she was a bit late for
breakfast and Pitta sees the picture Key posted of Prikkang and mentions that
they’re having a “romantic moment.” The head chef furthers that Prikkang should
have been there for work and not to hang out with some guy.
When Prikkang and Key arrive, they both explain that they
took pictures for work. Sibtit then says that the work is just a cover and
pointedly tells Prikkang that she looks “excited” whenever there’s a man with
her. Insert a gif of me throwing a table. His mom then advises Prikkang to be
careful, stating that it’s inappropriate to be “with a man alone in isolated
places,” which was more than ironic considering her son was alone with the MC
in more than one occasion. What’s even more vexing was that no one berated Key
for anything. He tried to take the blame but all eyes were on Prikkang alone.
I’m like, “What is this? 1953?”
Don’t even get me started on the kitchen staff. So Prikkang
isn’t good in the kitchen, but no, the staff didn’t reprimand her on her
cooking skills. They go on telling her that she “just has connections,” that
she’s easy, and is only good at flirting with men. The slut shaming is real,
and at this point, a gif of me throwing tables is just not going to cut it.
Honestly, if I could sum my review-slash-rant, my only response is “WTF?!”
Besides these red flags, there’s another that really took the
birthday cake. And that is the use of rape to move the plot forward. I’ve read
a manga once where the MC is almost raped by her love interest’s brother, and
let me tell you that I did not expect that because I thought it was shoujo. As
soon as they achieved bringing the MC and her love interest together, they just
swept the subject matter under the table like it was nothing. The same pretty
much happened in this drama.
Sibtit was becoming infuriating to
watch. He gets jealous when his friend Key and Prikkang are together, but then
keeps reassuring his friend that they are just like a brother and a sister and
that he doesn’t think of her more than that. He even accuses Key that the last
time that he and Prikkang were alone; they caused a rumor. That’s
interesting considering that they didn’t
cause a rumor. Sibtit, the kitchen staff, and everyone else just gossiped about
them and made false assumptions. Then he goes on saying that he doesn’t want
his “sister” bashed because of his friend’s actions (like going out to take
pictures for work). But the only one doing the bashing is Sibtit himself.
So Sibtit gets a bit drunk, forces his way to Prikkang’s
room, practically assaults her as she tries to get him off her, and he tells
her to be obedient to him. See that? It’s not the Red Sea, it’s just an ocean
of red flags being raised everywhere.
(Source: invaderdoctorsherlock21.tumblr.com)
He tries to rationalize and tells her that he’s been waiting
for her for ten years and that he just couldn’t let her go. And I’m here like,
“Well, don’t you think that she’s done the same? But you don’t see her
attacking you in the middle of the night.” She says he has a girlfriend and he
tells her that she’s the only one for him, which begs the questions: why didn’t
he tell that to his friend Key and “girlfriend” Pitta? Why didn’t he set his
friend straight from the beginning and stopped leading the other girl on, using
her only to make Prikkang jealous?
So they swept the disturbing almost-rape scene and the moment
suddenly becomes romantic and dramatic. The next day, he announces in front of
everyone, “girlfriend” included, that he likes Prikkang. His “girlfriend” is
obviously shocked and confronts him about it. He goes “How come you don’t
understand?” to his girlfriend and I literally had to do a face-palm-head-bang
combo.
Sibtit has absolutely no remorse towards this girl
whatsoever. He strings her along whenever need be and then sets her aside when
he doesn’t need her anymore. He proceeds to say that “nothing is going on
between them.” Obviously, Pitta shuts down that BS before he rebuffs with the usual
“you know that was just for fun” line that seems to be going so well for
players like him.
Things became lighthearted after that, but that was the last
straw for me. I don’t even have to watch the whole series to know that Prikkang
and Sibtit are going to end up together. But I don’t think I can stick around
to see the MC fall for the easily jealous, possessive, and controlling love
interest of hers and continue knowing that this guy almost took advantage of
her. According to the clip for the next episode, he continues his womanizing
ways and I am just not down for that.
The Final Verdict: The drama series was beaming with
potential, but the red flags were just too many for me to ignore. The good news
is that this is only the first entry in the Thai series. Here’s hoping the
others won’t follow this first entry’s footsteps.
Rating:
6/10
It started out great, but the “WTF?!”
moments kept popping everywhere.
Update:
I
skimmed a bit off the later episodes just to see where the story was going, but
the downward spiral continues. Sibtit acts like talking rudely to the “love” of
his life, winning her over for a while, sexually assaulting her, and cheating
on her with another girl is like washing his hair—something you have to repeat.
This time, he even had the nerve to ask if they can get back together after
trying to force himself on her a few minutes earlier. But of course, the MC
will once again get in danger and Sibtit will somehow redeem himself when he
saves her. Harassing someone is not cute or romantic, and to use it as a plot
device is downright disgusting.
After watching two Rocky
films for the first time (better late than never), I am completely enamored
with Rocky and Adrian’s relationship, a relationship where they build each
other up and support one another. They’re basically what Celine Dion’s song
“Because You Loved Me” is all about; they are absolute #marriage goals.
(Source: BELLECS.TUMBLR.COM)
How
Sibtit treats Prikkang is the exact opposite of how Rocky treats Adrian—devoid of respect and common compassion. Rocky
hates when people are rude to his love interest; meanwhile, as evident with the
many BS Sibtit spouts to Prikkang, he has no problem being rude to her. I just
shake my head in disappointment at this character and think, “Honestly, if
Rocky can, why can’t you?”
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