Long before any young person comes out of the closet, there is a process of self-acceptance. This process can be long, difficult and terrifying as the person carries a mixture of fear and shame, and explores their feelings and emotions, while trying to keep them hidden from public view. Straight kids never go through this, and many straight adults don't understand how difficult it can be to find yourself and your sexuality in a world that assumes you are "normal".
For its part, hearing loss causes communication problems that can have significant effects on daily life and generate a feeling of loneliness, isolation and frustration.
In deaf people there are both chronic complications and physical consequences of deafness, and above all social complications. Among the latter, the most common are: shame, guilt and anger, grief, concentration problems, worry and frustration, anxiety and mistrust, insecurity and self-criticism and low self-esteem/self-confidence.
How does a deaf person deal with their shame and fears, if on top of this they have to deal with other difficulties, if they are experiencing a process of self-acceptance of their homosexuality?
The possible answers to this question lead me to ask another question: How do you express your love to someone you love? I hope to find the solution to these unknowns in 'See You Love', the series by Taiwanese director Chiang Ping Chen. I started watching it without any expectations, but surprisingly it turns into a fascinating series.
The trick of the series that allows it to transcend the usual boy love stories filled with an attractive cast is, without a doubt, the use of the non-verbal medium of sign language.
The truth is that with 'See You Love', its director once again explores the LGBT+ theme, after triumphing with 'Plus & Minus', 'Be Loved in House', 'Craving You' and 'Be Loved in House Special', and it does so by betting on insurance, having as allies the screenwriters and producers Lin Pei Yu and Anita Sung, members of the team that has produced successful BL, such as 'Kiseki: Dear To Me', 'My Tooth Your Love', See You After Quarantine ?', 'HIStory3: Trapped', 'HIStory2: Crossing the Line', 'HIStory2: Right or Wrong' and 'HIStory: Obsessed', among other series.
This time, Brains Entertainment Production, in association with an inclusive theater production, Shinehouse Theatre, produces 'See Your Love', a joint investment project between Taiwan's BIGART and Japanese streaming platforms Video Market and Rakuten TV. According to the director in interviews and on his social networks, to create the series he was inspired by his childhood experiences with his deaf uncle, to convey the belief that love remains firm despite the gradual loss of hearing or the absence of it from the cradle. On the other hand, he stated that the selection process involved actors who used sign language to convey emotions, with the aim of showing various expressions of love.
Will 'See You Love' achieve its goal of presenting love in various forms and languages ​​while contributing to awareness of deaf culture? This question will be answered at the end of this romantic and emotional journey that is just beginning.
Everything indicates that it finally feels as if people in the deaf community are being recognized in the film and television industry, as 'See You Love' joins a group of dramatized shows, including several with LGBT+ themes, in which the characters the main characters use sign language or lip reading and body gestures for most of the story, making the audience rely heavily on subtitles to help us, such as the Thai series 'Moonlight Chicken' by Aof Noppharnach. Chaiyahwimhon, and the Japanese film 'Hidamari ga Kikoeru', by Yaegashi Fuga, Makino Masaru, Harashima Takanobu, or the also Japanese film 'Hidamari ga Kikoeru', by Daisuke Kamijo, but it introduces a novel factor: voice to text and text translators to speech that can be installed on our mobile phone.
And both sign language and the aforementioned novelty work, while helping to generate interest in the public by seeing the former as a symbol of identity and cultural heritage of deaf people because it allows them to communicate without restrictions, in addition to promoting their development. linguistic and cognitive, and the other as a demonstration of how technology offers us tools to build bridges and make our lives easier.
I don't know the Taiwanese version of sign language, but the cast members seem to know it. As a result, there are numerous thoughtful, moving and emotional scenes between the characters, especially between the two leads, which are very well done.
'See You Love' confronts this disability without seeking the viewer's sensitivity or compassion or easy tears. On the contrary, it is presented completely naturally, which is appreciated and exalts it.
The story, which is about how love can transcend language and all external barriers, tells the initiation journey of discovery and acceptance of Jiang Xiao Peng, played by Jin Yun, a simple and honest young man, and Yang Ji Xiang or Sean, a role assumed by Lin Yu, a romantic and wealthy second-generation heir of Taiwanese origin living abroad, who tries to escape taking over the family business.
On the other hand, Yang Ji Xiang lives an unwanted courtship with Zheng Yu Nong/Jessica (Amy 'Plus & Minus' and 'Be Loved in House') imposed by her father, a businessman who believes that in a relationship they should not feelings take precedence, but rather family interests. Forced for economic reasons, the young woman will become a barrier in the incipient romantic relationship of the protagonist couple, while the rich heir will try to keep Jiang Xiao Peng away to protect him when danger looms over him.
With this character, Jin Yun begins his struggle in the world of entertainment, while Lin Yu demonstrates a meteoric rise, after playing a supporting role in the successful BL series 'Unknown', from this same year. Both provide good performances that are close to the realities of many young people in Taiwan and the entire world, since their characters address stories in which those who have recently left adolescence and who, despite disabilities and economic limitations or, on the contrary, having been born in a cradle of gold, they seek family independence in a risky act on which they bet everything, without knowing if it will work out or not.
The lives of these two young people intersect when the first, after graduating, and while looking for a job that no one offers him due to his deafness, runs into the spirited Yang Ji Xiang, who has just arrived in Taiwan from abroad to negotiate the merger of the family business with another from the Asian island, and this one, because of his kindness and good character, ends up offering him a job as his caretaker. And this will be the trigger for two hearts to beat for each other. The moment they meet, and thanks to unexpected help, misunderstandings and funny situations, a beautiful bond is established between them, and their evolution and development will be what the series tells us.
Most of the time, the scenes are filled with silent dialogues and silence or reading on the phone screen or lips and body gestures. I am amazed every time I see this unique couple speaking to each other with their sign language, how their hand movements and facial expressions interact more effectively than our everyday language. And this is just the beginning, but from the progress everything seems to indicate that Yang Ji Xiang will learn the most effective way to communicate with her lover.
'See You Love' is definitely not a superficial love drama: it is an empowering and inspiring story about dreams and aspirations. There are some melancholic and moving scenes, particularly those in which the deaf boy feels that he is marginalized by society because of his disability, but they have the power to remind us that dreams, hope, the desire to help others, and the search for of economic independence, must always be there to illuminate our lives.
All the time the director plays with sound and its absence, causing an interesting sensation in the viewer who, after the initial confusion, learns to empathize with the condition of his protagonist.
The rest of the story is quite simple, without ignoring the action, crime and mystery plot, and follows a formula, although it remains extremely interesting thanks to the cheerful story, with a good dose of humor, and its extremely actors. attractive, who have obviously greatly polished their skills to communicate non-verbally in an effective effort to achieve organicity and credibility on screen.
Although some may shudder at the most dramatic moments, my old sentimental self somehow sees it as something capable of bringing something extra to the table, with the fight against mafia organizations, often led by someone close to us who tries to take away our dreams and inheritances, and the relationship between two very close brothers, one deaf and the other the assistant of the company to merge with the company that Yang Ji Xiang would inherit, which makes you appreciate the nature of that innate feeling of brotherhood.
The role of Song Shu He, the "sister", is assumed by Lee Yu, an actress known for playing supporting roles in the series 'My Best Friend's Breakfast' (2022) and 'Adventures of The Ring' (2021).
The love between two friends of different genders who consider themselves brothers (although she was in love with him in the past) and the love between the family, also made up of two loving and supportive parents with their children, parents who play key roles here, emphasizes the sensitivity of how parents can care for their offspring, regardless of the disability they may have. Not to mention also that they almost always steal the show due to their quirkiness and comedic timing whenever they appear on screen, plus some slapstick humor that director Chiang Ping Chen introduces from time to time. The simplicity of the characters makes everything believable.
Here we don't see parents locking up their disabled children rather than face the shame associated with it. However, they will not avoid blaming themselves for their child's disability.
Also attractive and fun is the relationship between Yang Ji Xiang and Cheng Feng Jie, which is not sexual, but is overly friendly. The role of Jonathan, as the assistant and friend of the handsome businessman co-protagonist is also known, is played with rigor by Lin Chia Yo, who had previously worked under the direction of the director of the series, when he took part in a supporting role in 'Be Loved in House'.
Since Yang Ji Xiang is not interested in inheriting the family business, he will ask Jonathan to take his place as negotiator with the Taiwanese side in the merger of the companies. Jonathan then being confused with the young heir, Wang A romance arises between the two.
I am waiting for the appearance of the character Wang Xin Jia, played by Lin Yung Chieh, since everything seems to indicate there will be more than one romantic relationship.
'See You Love' reminds us that no matter what medium are used to express love: as long as it comes straight from the heart, honestly and sincerely, that emotion will be heard loud and clear.
I am struck by the way in which the main characters build the intimacy and chemistry they have, especially when the communication between them is not "normal", which shows that there is no single way to conceive them on screen. The actors create a relationship based on attraction, complicity, flirtation, romance, friendship, even a certain brotherly connection. The viewers witness the spark, the humor, the tenderness and the chemistry that makes it clear from their first meet cute that we don't know how or when, but those two will end up together.
It is evident the work that goes on behind the camera so that we perceive that they are in love. And the two characters have such a good time that they create this kind of reality in which the rest of the world seems not to exist when they are together in a room or any other meeting place.
The costumes and locations provide a material dimension to the veracity of the dialogues that rock, caress, make you laugh and scratch at times, like reality itself, while the music reinforces the meaning of the ideas that, by themselves, the images are not capable of expressing, and establishes a continuous narrative link in the cinematographic discourse, contributing to giving credibility to the action.
Speaking of tenderness, I have to say that Jiang Xiao Peng, without being perfect, is without a doubt one of the sweetest and most tender male characters, best constructed that I have come across in recent times, with that sense of kindness towards others and the search for independence, to stand up for oneself.
Unlike other characters who suffer from deafness, the one played by Jin Yun is rich in nuances. We do not know how he went through the stages of denial to acceptance that every deaf person goes through, he is aware of his weaknesses, and turns them into strengths. In everyday life, being hard of hearing is a kind of balancing act in which you have to walk a tightrope between what is perceived and what is not perceived.
Becoming aware of her hearing disability, Jiang Xiao Peng realizes that he must drag and lift her along with him to find his place in the world. And the series also tells the story of the search for that place. There we see him not being content with his sister throwing him a lifeline in the form of a job in her company. He wants to be independent for his efforts, on his own merits, although he thanks her for her concern and solidarity. There we have him helping other disabled people like him to overcome architectural barriers that prevent his passage, or with his phone or his eyes trying to capture all the sounds and signals so that none escapes him and he can dominate the reality that surrounds him. He understands that the world is beautiful to listen to, even if it often plunges him into chaos. He is not one to easily withdraw into himself and avoid the company of humans.
The series reminds us that love and dreams are miraculous. It is not necessary to hear them or transform them into words.
You can call me romantic if you want, but I love this series despite its simple story. It is a beautiful story of love, improvement and sacrifice that I have surely overrated by rating it more with my heart than with my head.