Stigma (2020)

get the point of this drama was to educate people, about being prejudice towards other people or issues without really knowing what's involved - let along judging and condemning them - but this is where things fall short - lack of information or the conclusions people jump too, can be cleared up - but why not talk about how not to do whack sh*t to begin with? and for sure everyone needs to get that actions have consequences - its not about freakin Stigma, but logic!

we have Lei the main character who is by far the best of the bunch, not cause he is flawless - but cause he is a caring, loving, big hearted, individual that is capable off putting his friends before himself. even when he has a load of personal sh*t to deal with... yet he can be selfless and considerate, just cause they r his friends and they need him at that sec. not a lot of people r capable of that. so yeah great guy - but for a person who can't keep going on and on, about the lack of privacy and how fans and the public at large, tend to butt-into his personal affairs - not respecting his privacy - this whole drama starts off with our main lead airing pretty personal sh*t about his 3 best friends, (and himself) on his Vlog - talk about hypocrisy !? this whole plot line is one big contradiction -

all of the friends and their problems, r things they caused with their own hands - actions and now they have to deal with the consequence's - as u do in life. but we r getting lectured not to judge - Harry is a tease and a conman that gets money out of gay guys while flirting with them online, or meeting up and allowing them to pleasure him - where and if he draws a line, is unknown. Kian is in need of money and loves sex, so presto why not offer his service's as an escort, as u do - pleasure and income all in one - the fact that sexual workers r treated like garbage - is news to whom? that they get abused and used, news to whom? u need to work in the industry to know how vile it is?!??? so that's what happens, only "cherry on top" he gets infected with HIV - and last we got Nick (who have to say, still don't get what his beef with his dad was) but he an addict - so these 3 guys walking on the road of life, see an open pothole, kept walking on and now that they r deep in sh*t - they r astounded that they can't levitate???

i personally don't get the point of this drama - u can't stop people from coming to conclusions or wagging their tongues - but if this drama was about finding out who ur true friend was, and that they would be there in a time of need and stand-by-u no matter what, then yeah great cause they all had each other, or basically they all had Lei. i won't re-watch this or a second season - well maybe if i'm hella bored - they didn't enlighten me in anyway - it was whatever...

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Stigma

"Stigma" BL series
An essay about being a responsible BL series
By Miguel Sebastian/FB

"Stigma" only had four episodes. With four strong messages. Played by four young, handsome, and tall actors. Starring Migs Villasis Gio Ramos AJ Buslon Ivan Chan ?

The short series had strong themes and relevant messages to tell. It was brief, direct to the point and clear. The show didn't waste time and focused in bringing four important and big stigma-creating issues that could happen to young men. The show tells of how difficult situations for young men can be corrected and turned around and then underscored the importance of forgiveness. Happily, the cringy moments were reduced to a tolerable few.

I have much respect for this BL show for few important reasons. One, it was very respectful in handling the LGBTQIA issues. Two, there were no kissing nor sex scenes that prevailed in other new BL series just because sex sells. Three, Stigma focused on the story and the lessons it could give and that was awesome.

Don't get me wrong. I love men. I love sex. I love sexy and borta bodies. That's very obvious in my posts. I celebrate sex in BL shows when handled with sensitivity, class and taste. And I write about them. So when a BL show that provides a strong message without selling obvious sex, I laud them and I give the stage to them. This is so for Stigma.

See, the BL genre in the PH is new and it struggles for mainstream recognition. Stigma the BL series unwittingly sent a message that where stigma plagues people that make it difficult for them to be accepted, BL shows can be a good medium for showing how to correct some of what ails our society.

Stigma is unlike other New BLs that portray gays as sex starved animals or predators just for their series to sell. These bad shows bring down whatever little recognition BLs have in the country. This is where BL self-censorship should be greatly enforced lest BL shows in the PH become highly regulated and censored before we know it.

There should be more art and better BL shows that carry good values, that follow the laws and civil and legal obligations of the land, with strong social relevance that educate the viewers.

Whatever good the BL shows have made so far should be preserved and sustained and stop the proliferation of BLs that put sex and smut at its center that would lead to the perdition of the BL genre.

So for Stigma, kudos to the writer, director, producers, and actors, for being brave enough to bring this show to us. May their minds flourish and may their tribe whose ideals to produce good BL shows increase.
❤️❤️???

#StigmaBLseries #BLRebyuSeryePH

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I didn't really believe in this smaller Filipino series at first, because I was blown away by such Pinoy cheap processing with chatter and less refined semi-amateur acting. I was even more surprised by the story itself and how everything turned out in the end.

The central character is the well-known Filipino vlogger Lei (absolutely attractive actor Miguel Villasis, he played, for example, in the series Oh, Mando, also a karate artist, singer and model), an accomplished actor, who leaves with his three friends for a weekend outside Manila. There will be no meringue or any kind of eroticism, before the trip they are four heterosexual friends who have known each other for a long time and during the stay they are often exposed to half their bodies or only in shorts, which pleases the eye of more than one viewer.

But something strange happens during the night. Harry's mother is rushed to the hospital in Manila with a heart attack and he reveals that he has an online relationship with a gay man who pays him for raunchy pictures and this gay man goes to his mother at the hospital to handle the payment formalities. Kian comes out as gay and has been selling his body to men for money, plus he is now HIV+. Leia, the head of the expedition, confesses that even though he has a ton of internet admirers (which I'm not surprised by), his girlfriend is now a transgender girl, and Nick is currently a junkie and at odds with his father. Additionally, at the bungalow, a drunken Nick demands sex from CO Kiana. You will find out how it all turns out and whether the friends can manage their relationships with each other in this series.

The point of this piece is, and that's what I appreciate about it, to erase people's prejudices against other people who are not the same as the regular crowd.


Této menší filipínské sérii jsem zpočátku moc nevěřil, neboť na mě dýchlo takovéto pinoy levné zpracování s kecáním a méně vytříbené poloamatérské herectví. O to více jsem byl překvapen příběhem samotným a jak se vše nakonec vyvinulo.

Ústřední postavou je známý filipínský vloger Lei (naprosto přitažlivý herec Miguel Villasis, hrál např. v seriálu Oh, Mando, též karatista, zpěvák a model), herecky na výši, který odjíždí se svými třemi kamarády na víkend mimo Manilu. Nepadnou žádné pusinky, ani jakákoliv erotika, před cestou jsou to čtyři heteráčtí kamarádi, co se znají už dlouho a v průběhu pobytu jsou často odhaleni do půl těla nebo jen do kraťasů, což lahodí oku nejednoho diváka či divačky.

V průběhu noci se ale udá něco zvláštního. Harryho matku odváží v Manile s infarktem do nemocnice a on prozradí, že udržuje online vztah s jedním gayem, který mu platí za hambaté obrázky a tento gay jede za jeho matkou do nemocnice vyřídit platební formality. Z Kiana vypadne, že je gay a prodával své tělo mužům za peníze, navíc je nyní HIV+. Šéf výpravy Lei se přizná, že i když má mraky obdivovatelek z internetu (což se nedivím), tak jeho přítelkyní je nyní transgender dívka a z Nicka je v současné době feťák a je rozhádaný s otcem. V bungalovu navíc opilý Nick po CO Kiana po něm vyžaduje sex. Jak to všechno dopadne a zda kamarádi zvládnou vztahy mezi sebou dál, se dozvíte v tomto seriálku.

Smyslem tohoto dílka je, a to si na něm cením, aby smazával předsudky lidí vůči jiným lidem, kteří nejsou stejní, jako běžný dav.

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A Real Work of Art

This is an amazingly brave, thoughtful, and moralistically driven series. If you are looking for love in the BL sense of the word, move on. You will not find it here. It is not a BL series in that sense, but it does deal with very real issues facing the gay community. It deals with ethical and moral issues and conveys values that should be instilled into societal standards, no matter what country. It is both enlightening to watch yet painful to observe.
From the onset, the acting in this series is simply first rate and excellent. Kudos to all the actors who portrayed characters that were deeply flawed with issues that unfortunately is rarely if ever dealt with effectively either in real life or in BL series. These guys were given meaty roles to sink their acting teeth into and did not have to rely on their bodies to tell the stories. This series presents each of these characters in unflattering terms and all are blemished and tainted and thus have stigmas. If you want to read my full review of this brilliant series, please go to my (free) blog at ppbongi.medium.com.

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Excelentes temas

Vamos lá... Acabo de rever essa série, e senti necessidade de falar algumas coisas. Primeiro, não se trata de uma série BL, não só pelo fato de não terem casais homossexuais, mas pelo fato de que as temáticas tratadas são reais, não são do mundo imaginário e fantástico do BL, mesmo com a presença de um ator que já estava fazendo sucesso em BL's (Migs Villasis), a série não faz parte do gênero. Os outros 3 protagonistas, até onde sei estavam fazendo seu primeiro trabalho, e depois não fizeram outros trabalhos do tipo.

Apesar da história ser uma ficção, trata de histórias que acontecem diariamente com centenas de pessoas. O personagem central é Lei, que também narra a história, sua história é a mais comum do show bizz. Ele é uma celebridade, e como celebridade não pode viver como quer e gosta, sendo submetido a capricho de fãs tóxicas em alguns momentos, e sem poder assumir seu relacionamento pois sua namorada é uma mulher trans, e tanto ele como sua agência sabem que o preconceito vai impactar em sua carreira. Essa parte da história é uma crítica dura, tanto à indústria quanto aos fãs que se acham donos de seus ídolos. Outro ponto abordado, é o fato de pessoas se aproximarem com o único intuito de pegar carreira na fama deles, o que pode acarretar diversos problemas de confiança e auto estima.

O caso de Kian, também não é incomum... pelo que venho estudado sobre a Ásia, existe uma cultura dos filhos terem que manter os pais quando entram na vida adulta, quando esses pais não tem dinheiro para se manterem sozinhos. Kian é só mais um, que em meio ao desespero de conseguir dinheiro para sua mãe, já que seu pai é irresponsável, aceita fazer programas, e num certo ponto aceita receber mais para transar sem camisinha e contrai HIV.

O próximo é Harry, que não tem respeito por ninguém e se relaciona por interesse com outros homens, até a vida lhe dar uma dura lição. E em seguida temos Nick, que apesar de ser filho de um policial, não aguenta a pressão imposta sobre ele e se envolve com drogas, e por isso perde sua carreira de atleta, sendo expulso do time. Em um determinado momento, depois que Kian confessa sua homossexualidade, Nick, drogado, tenta abusar dele, e isso traz à tona outra temática, que é a objetificação de pessoas LGBT, que são estigmatizadas como promíscuas.

No quesito técnico, como já falei, com exceção de Migs Villasis, todos os atores são iniciantes, mas contudo fizeram um bom trabalho. A cinematografia não é boa, a fotografia não foi bem explorada e também não tinha uma ost decente, mas a história é boa e traz lições valiosas, além do que já foi posto, sobre auto confiança e amizade. vale a pena assistir.

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