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Christian Darnel David, RMIT Vietnam, VietnamAbstract
This study investigates the soft power influence of Thai Boys' Love (BL) movies on Filipino viewers, which are Water Boyy: The Movie (2015), Dew the Movie (2019), and 2gether: The Movie (2021). Boys’ Love (BL), a genre that originated in Japan, highlights sexual and romantic relationships between men; Thailand is currently a prominent global producer of BL series and films. Soft power, defined as a country's ability to subtly shape other nations' preferences through its culture, requires further exploration. The study specifically examines the influences of literary elements (plot, characters, themes, symbolism), cinematic elements (lighting, costume and makeup, props, official soundtracks), and sociocultural implications (fashion, music, food, LGBTQIA+ empowerment, and product consumption). Supported by Meyer Howard Abrams’ Reader-response Theory, Rudolf Arnheim’s Formalist Film Theory, and Joseph Nye’s Soft Power Theory, this qualitative research used content analysis for the literary portion and thematic analysis for interviews with Filipino BL viewers. The findings of the study reveal that the literary and cinematic elements of these films influence viewers on empowerment, gender roles, inclusivity, LGBTQIA+ relationships, safe spaces, self-expression, stereotypes, validation, and values. Moreover, literary elements also have an additional influence on the viewer’s perspectives. For sociocultural implications, all three films contribute to LGBTQIA+ empowerment, but only 2gether: The Movie influenced Filipino viewers in all five facets: fashion, music, food, LGBTQIA+ empowerment, and product consumption. The study concludes that these three Thai BL movies have soft power influences on Filipino viewers, embedded within their literary elements, cinematic elements, and sociocultural implications.
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