TV dramas must stop justifying rape

mokka

sarNie Adult
SO I WAS TAKING A BREAK FROM STUDYING AND GOOGLE SAWAN BIENG AND YEAH CAME UPON THIS ARTICLE... THOUGHT I SHARE IT WITH EVERYONE

Rape is a war crime, according to the Geneva Convention. It cannot be used as a weapon during war. Moreover, using rape as conduct to dilute the purity of an opposing nation or ethnic group during wartime is considered a crime against humanity.


Further - if it needs to be mentioned again - rape is a crime punishable with lengthy prison sentences in a court of law in this country.


Yet this criminal act seems to be legal and accepted in the country's most popular night-time TV soap operas. This perpetuation of an inhumane act must end and only the main television networks have the power to do it.


Here the author makes a specific call to Channel 3 and Channel 7 to terminate any future soap dramas containing plot lines that justify rape. The script writers of our television dramas are better than this. They can do more than recycle old storylines written in a backward time when apparently, and unfortunately, men were seen as superior to women and invincible to the application of the law.


I am not going to lie and tell you that I don't enjoy the verbal spat between Teeradej Wongpuapan (Ken) and Ann Thongprasom (Ann) on screen. The exchanges are dramatic and the scenes are excitingly heated every Wednesday and Thursday evening on Channel 3. The lead character is the troubled son of a rich businessman who apparently has not been brought up properly. The father's role is especially craftily acted by veteran actor Dilok Tongwattana. The self-obsessed son attempts to gain the attention of his multi-time married father while trying his best, for the major part of the series, to make his father's new wife jealous of his increasingly intense relationship with the lead female character played by Ann. The plot of Sawan Bieng (Heaven Unwilling) is an old one. It is normal practice among TV drama production companies to recycle famous though perennially used screenplays, with a bit of adaptation.


All that is fine and these soaps draw huge ratings. The drama of Sawan Bieng, however, in the end becomes based on a love that is spawned by the sexual violence between the lead male and female characters. Ken vengefully rapes Ann to get back at her sister who happens to be his dad's new wife. Still, as time passes, Ann falls in love with Ken. He is not prosecuted for his criminal invasion of another person's sexual inviolateness. Worse, soon afterwards he gets away with the act by having the victim come to terms, to "appreciate" what has been done to her. She effectively falls for him as a ridiculous "logical consequence" of the sexual violence perpetrated on her. Such is the storyline of the country's most popular TV drama series at the moment.


The other one, on Channel 7, is about slavery during the latter years of King Rama V's reign. And, guess what, a slave girl's falling in love with her master is the central premise of this very popular remake. It is great that Nang Thas (Female Slave) does not necessarily justify rape; it however posits the possibility of a slave being able to come to "appreciate" her being owned and then being impregnated.


Reflecting on other popular soaps where rape was central to the plot, one would of the top of his head mention Jamleuy Rak (Prisoner of Love). The title already implies that the female lead is so in love with the male lead that she is willing to be treated like a slave by the guy. If you have ever seen this long-time favourite of Thai audiences, the female lead actually, over time, falls in love with the male lead even though he repeatedly rapes her.


Jamleuy Rak not only condones rape; it rationalises the Stockholm Syndrome by arguing that it is appropriate for a victim to fall in love with her captor.


For these to be the highest-rated and most talked-about evening series in this country is for us to accept that our culture enjoys sexual violence and hierarchical dominance over women. This is something I don't think I or the people of this country should accept.


Enough is enough. It is time for a change. Change in this sense does not have to be time-requiring. The entertainment industry is packed with talented writers who can put together some of the most socially-adaptive, humanely-appropriate, as well as mass audience-acceptable screenplays. Why rehash ancient scripts from recycled plots which have all been used before? Why not have storylines that move along with a culture that presumably progresses?


Some say art imitates life, but what if - just what if - life in practice actually imitates art? We, as people working in the media and entertainment industry, owe it to our culturally advancing society to influence the Thai nation in the best ways possible.


There is no conceivable way to comprehend a boy growing up watching his favourite soap and all the while learning from that drama that the best way to get a girl is to hold her captive and rape her. If these soaps don't change, boys will grow up to become men who think and act like the lead characters in Sawan Bieng and Jamleuy Rak.


Moreover, what is a young girl supposed to learn from seeing the female lead in these soaps getting victimised and not taking action to defend herself?


We cannot make rape justifiable by saying that as long as he "loves" her or is willing to "take care" of her everything will come to a fine, agreeable ending.


This is not, as they say, a matter of ruang len len, things that aren't serious. This certainly is not about being overzealous. This is about pre-setting socially relevant values for future generations. If rape is allowed to be justifiable on screen, over the course of time it will become justifiable in real life - if that is not the case already.


The writer is a news analyst.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/240408_News/24Apr2008_news20.php
 

rukmos

sarNie Adult
We all know that Rape is wrong, I guess that there are people out there who can't identify the difference between acting and reality.
 

cecilia

Staff member
wow. but i do somewhat agree with her. I was fine with r lakorn and that mean, just one r, but SB had ruin it and disgust me in so many way with the repeatly r.
I was always a fan of R lakorn for it intense actions but to witness it multiple time gross me out. now come to think of it, writer can so do much better than this.
Better to come up with better lakorn then to remake and add in more r -- JLR is no exception either but i have my reason for it. can't argue on this one. By all means,
i'm just disgust having to witness and see what happen in SB .. it's very disturbing .. poor NARIN . i would never take KAWEE back after what he did.
He have no reason in doing so. the crime was not even that offensive too :(

i guess by the end of the day, ppl just need to snap themselves out of this and realize that lakorn are lakorn, they're for entertainment only but again, one can argue one way out of prosecution by using these kind of act as an excuse too .,. any ppl in their right mind shouldn't mimics these acts in reality .. but i don't' know. there are so many way to justify this too.
 

sarN

sarNie Granny
humm...some of the stuff he said about the lakorn isn't true .

Reflecting on other popular soaps where rape was central to the plot, one would of the top of his head mention Jamleuy Rak (Prisoner of Love). The title already implies that the female lead is so in love with the male lead that she is willing to be treated like a slave by the guy. If you have ever seen this long-time favourite of Thai audiences, the female lead actually, over time, falls in love with the male lead even though he repeatedly rapes her.

#1 - the tittle doesn't implies that . the title mean the female was accuse ( the defender ) of a love that cause his brother to kill himself . I wonder if the writer lisent to the theme song ?

#2- he did not repeatedly rape her ...just attempt lmao...
 

mintwix

MMの弁護士。
This is bound to come up one day or another. Eventually, as people become less conservative. Say more progressive. Lakorns w/ R scenes will be a thing of the past. Maybe it won't happen overnight. But eventually. Or it'll it at least be more censored. The serious critics will even parallel it w/ pornograpgy. Even if ppl like is in SW see it as entertainment. ... We have to keep in mind... it's only because we've been socialized to think it's okay.
 

sarN

sarNie Granny
.....producer know what they doing because surprisingly those type of lakorn pull in rating ! Its like supply and demand . The viewer love it that why producer keep throwing in it but not EVERYone will enjoy it but according to the rating ...it seen to tell a differ story
 

cecilia

Staff member
humm...some of the stuff he said about the lakorn isn't true .

Reflecting on other popular soaps where rape was central to the plot, one would of the top of his head mention Jamleuy Rak (Prisoner of Love). The title already implies that the female lead is so in love with the male lead that she is willing to be treated like a slave by the guy. If you have ever seen this long-time favourite of Thai audiences, the female lead actually, over time, falls in love with the male lead even though he repeatedly rapes her.

#1 - the tittle doesn't implies that . the title mean the female was accuse ( the defender ) of a love that cause his brother to kill himself . I wonder if the writer lisent to the theme song ?

#2- he did not repeatedly rape her ...just attempt lmao...
i laughed at this part as well. that's why i agree on some of what the writer said. the title doesn't really imply that .. if in any case, the ORIGINAL plot contain no r either. It was a mutual understanding for both of them. It was the new one that have the r but that i can not blame either. She did seem to have a little bit of feeling for him before the R happen. It was empathy that she feel. Pity turn to love, of course who am i to claim that that's love. It's what i see being portray and it's what lead me to believe she feel love for him, not much but a little. also we all know that he attempts many many times to drive us girl crazy but none succeed and if the man really want to r her repeatedly, he could b/c it's his island house or he can't b/c they're not alone in the most part. LOL *well, there was BONTAI, BAI and GAYU to intrude* but thank goodness, it only have one r.

but aside from that, he did it b/c of his anger that someone kill his brother. of course, no excuses can justify it but if put in perspective, it can still be excusable in a way. BUT for SB. the exception is -- none, his reason are just dumb. first one is understanding but using it to threaten/blackmail her and repeatedly r her just b/c she refuse to follow his rules. NOW THAT'S JUST DISTURBING/CONTROLLING and DISGUSTING ..

If you have ever seen this long-time favourite of Thai audiences, the female lead actually, over time, falls in love with the male lead even though he repeatedly rapes her.
AH, i also misunderstood that line too '' HE REPEATLY RAPES HER'' at first, i thought the writer meant JLR but re-read it. -- It didn't finger point at JLR, p'ek in general.

what's funny is that 2008 is the year of remake and controversies :loool:
 

iluvnumandoil

sarNie OldFart
it a soap, im not saying it right but what about murder crimes that show audience how to get away with big time crimes isnt it the same thing.... you have to distinguish with reality and dream.... or what about the violent cartoons our kids watch, spongebob is not all that innocent ....wht dont they just banned tv shows and only have the news ch. but the news ch, is always bad news anyways
 

sarN

sarNie Granny
AH, i also misunderstood that line too '' HE REPEATLY RAPES HER'' at first, i thought the writer meant JLR but re-read it. -- It didn't finger point at JLR, p'ek in general.

what's funny is that 2008 is the year of remake and controversies :loool:

acutally , in MOST lakorn there only 1 R ' scene not '' HE REPEATLY RAPES HER'' the writer is taking SB to represent all the fruit in the basket .
 

Sera

sarNie Egg
SO I WAS TAKING A BREAK FROM STUDYING AND GOOGLE SAWAN BIENG AND YEAH CAME UPON THIS ARTICLE... THOUGHT I SHARE IT WITH EVERYONE

Rape is a war crime, according to the Geneva Convention. It cannot be used as a weapon during war. Moreover, using rape as conduct to dilute the purity of an opposing nation or ethnic group during wartime is considered a crime against humanity.
Further - if it needs to be mentioned again - rape is a crime punishable with lengthy prison sentences in a court of law in this country.
Yet this criminal act seems to be legal and accepted in the country's most popular night-time TV soap operas. This perpetuation of an inhumane act must end and only the main television networks have the power to do it.
Here the author makes a specific call to Channel 3 and Channel 7 to terminate any future soap dramas containing plot lines that justify rape. The script writers of our television dramas are better than this. They can do more than recycle old storylines written in a backward time when apparently, and unfortunately, men were seen as superior to women and invincible to the application of the law.
I am not going to lie and tell you that I don't enjoy the verbal spat between Teeradej Wongpuapan (Ken) and Ann Thongprasom (Ann) on screen. The exchanges are dramatic and the scenes are excitingly heated every Wednesday and Thursday evening on Channel 3. The lead character is the troubled son of a rich businessman who apparently has not been brought up properly. The father's role is especially craftily acted by veteran actor Dilok Tongwattana. The self-obsessed son attempts to gain the attention of his multi-time married father while trying his best, for the major part of the series, to make his father's new wife jealous of his increasingly intense relationship with the lead female character played by Ann. The plot of Sawan Bieng (Heaven Unwilling) is an old one. It is normal practice among TV drama production companies to recycle famous though perennially used screenplays, with a bit of adaptation.
All that is fine and these soaps draw huge ratings. The drama of Sawan Bieng, however, in the end becomes based on a love that is spawned by the sexual violence between the lead male and female characters. Ken vengefully rapes Ann to get back at her sister who happens to be his dad's new wife. Still, as time passes, Ann falls in love with Ken. He is not prosecuted for his criminal invasion of another person's sexual inviolateness. Worse, soon afterwards he gets away with the act by having the victim come to terms, to "appreciate" what has been done to her. She effectively falls for him as a ridiculous "logical consequence" of the sexual violence perpetrated on her. Such is the storyline of the country's most popular TV drama series at the moment.
The other one, on Channel 7, is about slavery during the latter years of King Rama V's reign. And, guess what, a slave girl's falling in love with her master is the central premise of this very popular remake. It is great that Nang Thas (Female Slave) does not necessarily justify rape; it however posits the possibility of a slave being able to come to "appreciate" her being owned and then being impregnated.
Reflecting on other popular soaps where rape was central to the plot, one would of the top of his head mention Jamleuy Rak (Prisoner of Love). The title already implies that the female lead is so in love with the male lead that she is willing to be treated like a slave by the guy. If you have ever seen this long-time favourite of Thai audiences, the female lead actually, over time, falls in love with the male lead even though he repeatedly rapes her.
Jamleuy Rak not only condones rape; it rationalises the Stockholm Syndrome by arguing that it is appropriate for a victim to fall in love with her captor.
For these to be the highest-rated and most talked-about evening series in this country is for us to accept that our culture enjoys sexual violence and hierarchical dominance over women. This is something I don't think I or the people of this country should accept.
Enough is enough. It is time for a change. Change in this sense does not have to be time-requiring. The entertainment industry is packed with talented writers who can put together some of the most socially-adaptive, humanely-appropriate, as well as mass audience-acceptable screenplays. Why rehash ancient scripts from recycled plots which have all been used before? Why not have storylines that move along with a culture that presumably progresses?
Some say art imitates life, but what if - just what if - life in practice actually imitates art? We, as people working in the media and entertainment industry, owe it to our culturally advancing society to influence the Thai nation in the best ways possible.
There is no conceivable way to comprehend a boy growing up watching his favourite soap and all the while learning from that drama that the best way to get a girl is to hold her captive and rape her. If these soaps don't change, boys will grow up to become men who think and act like the lead characters in Sawan Bieng and Jamleuy Rak.
Moreover, what is a young girl supposed to learn from seeing the female lead in these soaps getting victimised and not taking action to defend herself?
We cannot make rape justifiable by saying that as long as he "loves" her or is willing to "take care" of her everything will come to a fine, agreeable ending.
This is not, as they say, a matter of ruang len len, things that aren't serious. This certainly is not about being overzealous. This is about pre-setting socially relevant values for future generations. If rape is allowed to be justifiable on screen, over the course of time it will become justifiable in real life - if that is not the case already.
The writer is a news analyst.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/240408_News/24Apr2008_news20.php

Yes, I am definitely agree with this author. This is worst case to feel romantizm over raping scenes. There are few alternatives to get audiance attractions but I will say no to rape. I am realy curious why Thailand audiances so overwhelming with these. Look other countries, Koea, Turkey, Japan, Taiwan......

Those slap and kiss is abuse in other meaning..... To make that in the soap opera, show that how the hardness of hero get soft after the raping, bad slap, what he did to heroin, cannot be replace a good kiss, pampering......

I really hope that Thai writers could come up with new revolution script that stop portrait hero rape heroin scene. The raper cant be a heroes, it is worst case.

Do you guys read about Austria, Fritzel that continously raped his own daughter and fathering her 7 children?

So I guess we have to live in reality that drama and real life is different.
 

Binyas_

sarNie Egg
i agree with the journalist, somewhat.

i think everyone knows that rape is bad and it is no justification for any conflicts by any means. but i believe that the thai dramas' audience is already accustomed and sensitized to the rape scenes. it's been incorporated in the scenes of thai dramas from way back when...and obviously the audience enjoys it because it staples the two pra-nangs together and in result, the rating sky rockets. And I really think that it's part of the thai drama tradition --"slap, kiss"--which usually leads to attempt rape/rape. sensible people will watch and KNOW that these storylines are fiction and are mainly for entertainment.

If you don't like it just skip it or don't watch it? I personally enjoy it if both of the pra-nangs are hawt :lol: .
 

NiteStarrz

sarNie Egg
i agree w/the article

but at the same time - like the article states - these are remakes from very very very old books. the time in which the og storyline was written is different from 2008 n the story editors can't rewrite the entire story or else it'd be an entirely different story n that's not their purpose their purpose is to bring to the small screen what the og author wrote.

i admit that there has never been a time where rape was ok but i think that we live in a day n age where every1 knows that rape is a crime and it's a crime that has severe consequences i don't think that the lakorns are advocating rape at all the underlining theme is a love story

(1) JLR - in the book it illustrates that soriya's character starts to develop feelings for harit b/c she sympathizes w/his loss n plus she used to love harin so her love grew from a sharing of harin's death not from stockholm syndrome

(2) SB - narin's character is one who empathizes and connects with those around her she falls for kawee b/c she understands why he is the way he is she empathizes with him n his situation and that's how she grows to love him not b/c he "r" her n is mean to her her character isn't weak it's solitary

furthermore both of theses dramas had warnings that were shown prior to each epi to help prevent or deter younger viewers from forming the wrong ideas (ie: rape is ok i won't go to jail n plus i get the girl!!!) but it's ultimately up to the parent's to instill such values in their own children

i agree w/the article but come on man it's 2008 n thailand isn't all that backward where rape is not only condoned but advocated. thailand is like everyother country it has problems!!!!!

juz my 2 cents ;p
 

cecilia

Staff member
the willing better be good than cheesy, or have some point to it. but how are we getting that in revenge lakorn? manipulation? :lol:

wait. i have a better idea. since i read noiki's post in SPICY that ch3 have no writer that's why there are lots of remake,
they can have sarN do the writing b/c of all the ingredients she provide. drop the r and more willing .. no s3x addict either :loool:

i could already see FALLEN RATING when it come to willing :p
 

cecilia

Staff member
^Muahah. indeed, they needs that to boost up their wrong doing .. no more p'ek should r-ing n'ek. Definitely will be a good seller too.

:loool: this remind me of the korean movie ''ART OF SEDUCTION'' it was a pretty good movie as well. very manipulating
 
Top