Last week, well-known Thai actress Laila Boonyasak said she no longer want to star in lakorns (Thai soap operas), which often depict catfights, as she says it encourages people to be brash and doesn't provide anything of value to society. She then brought up the noted Netflix Korean drama The World Of The Married Couple (which is titled A World Of Married Couple on Viu), which is getting a Thai remake with handsome Ananda Everingham (who's officially off the market) as the male lead, as examples of her preferred roles.
Laila, who is known by her old name Ploy Chermarn by people of my generation, said the official wife and the unofficial wife of the series fight for the husband without touching each other. They use words and wit to bring each other down. She said such roles make her arm hair stand more than two women catfighting over a man. She ended her statement with her wish to see progress and fresh content in Thai drama series.
Her statement has met with an overwhelming applause from her fans, who also agree that Thai lakorns need some self-reflection and reinvention. Upon first reading, I nodded along and agreed with her but something compelled me to do a bit of investigation.
In the name of journalism, I watch the said series to try to understand Laila's statement more clearly (oh, the lengths I go to for work) but I instead came away with more questions than answers. You see, The World Of The Married Couple is about a mia luang, who exacts revenge on her husband and his mia noi. A plot as old as time in Thai lakorns and I'm about to spoil juicy parts of the series so skip the next paragraph if you want to watch them.
The mia noi is deliciously exposed by the mia luang over "The World's Worst Dinner" in front of her parents and the husband. The mia luang sleeps with her husband's friend so the husband will realise how she feels. The mia luang tells her bedridden mother-in-law to stay (barely) alive to witness the demise of her beloved son after the mother-in-law blames her son's cheating on her because she's too rigid. I do enjoy the drama of it all and the thrilling soundtrack and how the mia luang goes from a whimpering mess into a conniving lady. Hell hath no fury like a mia luang's scorned!
There is a bit of physical violence, too but it's minimal. So Laila is right in saying that these two women fight with wits and cutting words but I fail to see how this behaviour adds value to society except for the revenge fantasy and entertainment. I would argue that embarrassment may leave no physical scars but the inflicted may harbour emotional ones.
I'm not sure how Laila defines violence but I guess she strictly means when someone puts their hands on another to harm them. What I've seen from the series is two women gut-punching each other psychologically and at times it's not the most healthy thing to see women being pitched against each other. It has been done too many times before. I'm not coming for Laila by any means (I own several DVDs of the movies she starred in and she still haunts me as "Ghost Buppha"). Her statement simply gets me thinking about what exactly the word "violence" means in Thai society and how should Thai lakorns move forward.
I think it's great if Thai lakorns aspire to produce something more constructive for society but the same old plot of two women fighting over a man is hardly new. Sure lakorns producers can try to minimise violence or unbecoming behaviour but a lakorn where no one fights would be quite boring, won't it?
Personally, I turn my brain off whenever I watch any fictional series and never expect them to be anything but entertainment. Nothing more, nothing less.