Gap is the upcoming Thai language Girls’ Love series directed by Nuttapong Wongkaveepairoj. It is popularly said to be the first mainstream Thai GL series. The trailer of Gap the Series just got released; it’s colorful, exciting and has a really good production scale. This is a review of the trailer of the series.
Thailand is famous for its BL series and the country has got a huge BL industry which produces contents about Gay romance on a commercial scale. But the role of women and other sexual minorities within the LGBTQIA+ community are very limited in these series. They are often stereotypes or stock characters. So, it is very important to have narratives which are more inclusive, with more representation.
The Lack of an Original Lesbian Experience
Gap the Series is completely about lesbian love. The trailer gives out a very pleasant, warm vibe and it is a romantic comedy. But there is nothing unique or new in the series. It is the same old love story that we usually see in BL or same sex love stories – a love story between the boss and the employee.
The characterization, the way the protagonists are introduced and the storyline can be said as an imitation of BL series. Nothing in the trailer talks about the female or the lesbian experience. This could also have easily been a BL series. It’s true that not all boys’ love series talk about the problems of the people in the community and that they rather ignore it. But it is also true that the feminine and masculine experiences are so different. This aspect of the lesbian experience is completely ignored, at least as can be derived from the trailer.
An Attempt in the Right Direction
But, the most important thing is that a brave attempt has been made in the direction of making GL content. It has been more than a decade since the world has been watching gay narratives, yet, the love stories between girls are countable in number. So, we can happily say that we finally have a series which talks about Girls’ Love. The release of this series could positively trigger many more GL content and hopefully many more original LGBTQIA+ narratives.
Channel 3 is the original network which airs Gap the series. It will air internationally on November 19, 2022.
Arya is a curious soul and nerd who loves books and cinema. You can read her articles on Medium. You can also follow her on Instagram where she talks about her favourite books and movies.