Harit is not so bad after all (in comparison anyway)

I’ve been thinking of how best to phrase this because after all I don’t want to give anyone the impression that I condone any of Harit’s actions.

I don’t.

However in light of what I’ve been seeing on Sawan Biang I decided to go back and re-watch some episodes of Jam Loey Rak. What I’ve discovered is that Harit is pretty much a sweetheart compared to Kawee thus far. Episode 8 in particular, in which he discovers that Soraya is not Sansanee, is particularly telling. I’m including a clip here so you can see what I refer to (much thanks to Wishboniko for taking the time to subtitle and upload the lakorns).

If you noticed at about minute 4:05 when she tells him to stay back they make a point of showing him stepping away from her. We at least see that he is trying to respect her space in the face of her distress. And the actor does a good job of appearing sorry at least. He actually seems hurt that she tells him she hates him (I love that by the way, that is exactly what you should be screaming at someone who did what he did).

Rape is wrong obviously. However in the mythical world of drama, Harit did this one time. What is up with Kawee in Sawan Biang? You can’t even really blame it on Leela because except for the slap most of her dangerous personality had not even come out until after the rapes had occurred. Now let us say Kawee suffered some intense rage etc. after the slapping incident and thats why he essentially kidnapped Narin and forced himself on her. Well he still continues the behavior after they get back to the house!

They just appeared to go so way overboard with the amount of times Narin was assaulted and the “reasons” behind each assault. I guess it is to show the contrast when his personality softens later in the drama. In real life I don’t think there is forgiveness for Kawee. His turn around could happen again and he could go back to being an asshole who decides to rape someone because they don’t want to eat their dinner or whatever.

It almost pains me to write this but I guess Harit is better in that way because judging by his remorse and actions etc. I don’t think this is something he would ever do again whereas Kawee just seems really mentally unstable and does not have any healthy outlet for his anger.

What mental disorder is this?

It’s funny how you can watch something and see certain behavior that either doesn’t bother you or that you create excuses for. I find myself doing with this dramas. I’ve mentioned before here, the drama 30000 Miles in Search of My Son. As I watched I found it sort of amusing that he claimed a baby as his son in order to get out of an arranged marriage. In real life it is pretty obvious that you need to turn this child in to social services.

I find the reactions to certain characters in lakorns just as interesting. I don’t speak thai so if I happen to be looking at something raw on YouTube I will usually look at comments just to get a general idea of what is going on in that segment of an episode. I took a glance at Wimarn Sai comments where people were talking about how hot the lead was etc. Imagine my surprise when there was a rape scene in that ep. No one even mentioned it! This was only episode 2 mind you who knows what he’ll engage in, in later episodes.

I find the same sort of thing in Sawan Bieng. I’ve seen a lot of discussion around blogs and stuff excusing Kawee’s behavior. This guy is engaging in mental torture and already several rapes. Saying that he doesn’t have his father’s love is not quite enough to excuse this kind of behavior. It wouldn’t be a lakorn without the craziness I guess. It’s not so much the behavior that I find interesting but the reaction to it. In real life I say this kind of person needs to be jailed or committed.

What disorder is it that Kawee is displaying exactly? Is he a sociopath? Is he a danger to society in that he can’t seem to engage in a healthy outlet for his anger? One that doesn’t involve hurting someone. Maybe it would be a less acceptable character if it were not for the fact that Ken is playing him.

I guess thats the point of watching dramas. It’s real escapism from what is (or is not) acceptable in society.

Btw, Kawee’s craziness aside its good to see Ken playing this kind of character and stretching his acting skills beyond the adorably good natured characters I’ve seen him play.

Irritating characters in dramas

It’s only one character in particular I am thinking of and that is the mom in Sawan Biang. Kawee is going around harassing her daughter in her new marriage. You can see the obvious animosity he holds towards everyone. Now in episode three in a fit of pique he hurt his dad to the point that he had to be hospitalized. It wasn’t intentional on his part but never-the-less it did happen. Yet through it all she’s telling her other kids that they shouldn’t speak badly of Kawee.

Huh? Is he your child, that you are defending him so much?

I understand wanting to give someone the benefit of the doubt but he’s pretty much beyond that point now and it’s annoying to see her reprimanding her own kids in his favor. I wonder if in the original the mom was like this?