A dark, symbolic look at the harm of social ostracizing

I wrote a full analysis of the short, because I found it very fascinating. It was initially jarring, but I felt like everything was very intentional.

As far as non-spoilers, the acting was great for the brief amount of time that the actors had. It felt very gritty and authentic, and the setting was intentionally and successfully disturbing. I think the concept was interesting and heartbreaking, but highly effective. As for the music, I don't recall if there even was any, so I can't say much there. It's heavy and not exactly a light watch, so I can't say the rewatch value is high. But it did inspire a lot of thought in me, hence the veritable essay.

I only wish it could be longer, because there was a lot to unpack here. For what it was, and for such a short length, it was impressive. I'm just sad I couldn't see the theme explored more thoroughly, with time for us to love the characters.

It's worth a watch and is very short, so don't read the spoilers below until you've seen it!


SPOILERS:


The entire short is an allegory for the way society rejects gay youth, which leads to them ending up in dangerous situations because they're unable to find love in healthy, safe places. Elijah is a protected, middle class boy with parents who worry about him, entering a dank, dirty area to have sex with a stranger because he's not in a position to court and date the boys at his school, etc. He has to hide who he is, which leads him down a deadly path.

Kokoy plays two roles in this short, which is very significant to the story's climax. Elijah sees four prostitutes, the REAL Kokoy among them. They all die in highly symbolic ways throughout the evening, and the killer is very likely the final, fake Kokoy that Elijah sees in the last shot. Although the killer himself may be more of a metaphor for the way the streets (bad people included) are what kill a lot of these young men, as far as a narrative device, this is a wolf in sheep's clothing scenario for Elijah's character.

In the beginning, it's clear Elijah has only ever spoken to this person online and on the phone, so he has no way of verifying that he is who he says he is. This is reflected again in the bathroom scene, when Elijah hears the phone ring but can't be sure where it's coming from. He's being catfished, but he doesn't know it yet.

All of the boys Elijah sees are already dead, victims of the man who is now using Kokoy's phone and photos to lure Elijah out. This is why in the end there's an exchange where Kokoy clearly doesn't know who Elijah is, and when he turns back to him, Kokoy is also dying.

The final shot is Elijah nervously approaching a person wearing Kokoy's face. The audience still sees the catfish identity, but Elijah is seeing the actual man, the killer. This is why he hesitantly walks toward him before the screen fades to white, as if overpowering the viewer. Elijah's own uncertainty and naivete are his undoing. We can assume he meets the same fate as the other boys this man has trapped.

The fact that the bodies of each victim are out in plain sight is reflective of the same society that cast them out now expressing indifference at their loss. These young people are treated like trash rotting in the street, undesirables, purely because they're males who love other males. The purpose of bringing Elijah in was to show how even sheltered children are exposed to these risks because of how society treats LGBT people.

I can see why people didn't like this, but honestly, I really enjoyed it. I think it's initially confusing, but when you stop and think about it, the pieces are all there. It had a clear and powerful message once you decipher all of the hints and implications.

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Are you freaking kidding me?

WTF. This show is so messed up! It was deeply mediocre until the last twenty minutes, then it did something so incredibly bizarre and tacky that I can't fully wrap my head around it.

But before I get into that, the show itself was a waste of time overall. I watched it on double speed the whole way through and it still felt slow.


Minus half a point each for:

* evil female love obstacle
* weird character actions that never go anywhere
* plot points and potential conflicts introduced but never followed through, including one that came in the last 25 minutes of the show
* behavior between characters that doesn't make sense with previously established scenes
* "Sorry to keep you waiting. I have diarrhea." and all the other poop references/jokes
* slow as hell, awful pacing, lots of repetition
* weird dialogue, though it could just be a poor translation
* for no clear reason, they shoved in like fourteen random het relationship dramas in the last three episodes
* the lack of chemistry between any of the couples that actually got together
* intense music indicating something sketchy or scary is going to happen! then literally nothing happens


Positives:

* Both guys are gay from the start
* Emphasis on friendship, though I would have liked to have seen way more of it
* The whole ex-boyfriend thing. I like that it showed it made an impact in his life, and I appreciate it wrapping up without the guy just being cut out completely. It was far from perfect, but it was interesting. Plus I'm a fan of second love stories.
* Talk of mental health, though they didn't handle it as well as they could have
* Though I'm not big on 2.5 kid endings, it's so rare to see that sort of thing with BL, so I really liked that we go to see the future with their child. However, that doesn't end up mattering because of the ridiculous direction they take it


It was just a weird, boring, awkward show where nothing felt natural, and even the parts I liked were skewed. Plus there was some sort of reveal in episode 11 that made no sense because they didn't bother translating it. This is the official translation. I'm paying to watch this stupid show. The music was dull but inoffensive, and I actually liked the music choice for one cute little part, so I was generous in that rating.

The acting was so-so, and the story was basically non-existent. The rewatch value is -15, but I couldn't put that, so I had to give it a 1 since you can't go any lower.

However, I was still going to give the show a 5 for trying, until they decided to have the sister casually come and take their child from them, while the show acted like it's a mild inconvenience that they'll get over. The sister is a selfish cow, and the writing is SO bad to make it seem like this is okay in the slightest. It wasn't like they were babysitting for her. She gave up her child, then she just says, you know, I should start raising him now that you guys put in the hard work.

You can't just take a kid back like they were borrowing him. He's not a vacuum cleaner.

Since the narrative seems to think this is an okay thing to do, like parental bonds mean nothing and you can just trade kids like baseball cards, I'm giving it a 2, and I wish I'd never watched it.

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