Episode 004: GameBoys
“Cairo is raring for a rematch after his sudden defeat in a popular mobile game. But his opponent Gavreel wants something in return.”
Starring Kokoy De Santos and Elijah Canlas, it's been so popular that so far it has also had its own movie and is currently producing a season 2! I will admit I haven’t seen the film yet, probably saving it to ease me into season two, so all thoughts today are solely around series one.
This week we are reviewing GameBoys, a Filipino series set during the covid pandemic and Luzon island community quarantine and how a live-stream gamer and his fan connect. I have decided to go with this piece of media since I have actually just recently binged watched it on Netflix and thought it might be good to start taking us away from always having English being the main language of the media we review. It’s gonna happen as we seek to look at stories of queer people from all over the world, so we may as well get used to subtitles now!
You can either listen to the podcast above, or you can read below for a majority of the transcript of the podcast! Now as always, our discussion will begin with a brief summary of the show followed by spoiler free thoughts and feelings. This will be followed by an in-depth discussion of some of the key plot points that occurred and we will then finish off with my overall rating of the tv show and a heads up about what we are looking at next time. If you have not had a chance to watch GameBoys and don’t want to hear any spoilers, then please feel free to skip the detailed section and listen to it afterwards if you so wish.
Now the version I have watched was what is considered the Level-Up Edition, which is on Netflix and changes the original run of 14 episodes into 13 episodes, having merged the original episodes 1 and 2 into a single episode, and having re-shot some of the scenes with additional footage. The episodes range from 20 - 30 minutes, with the series finale being super generous at 40 minutes, so overall it is quite quick and easy to binge this show in a weekend.
If you're not used to watching Asian style dramas, then I think it is fair to be aware that at times the acting can feel different to what you expect from most Western styled media. At times it might feel like the actors involved are being super dramatic, but the key focus from Asian based dramas is more around the development of the characters and their relationships, which means at times the drama from the series comes from the acting of the characters.
The show itself is set during the coronavirus pandemic, which is something we all have some experience of, but this time we get to focus on the Philippines and how the pandemic affected life there in terms of lockdowns and restrictions. It also means we get plenty of the classics that we have gotten used to over the last two years, such as being on mute when trying to talk, doing some online Zumba and Yoga classes together, and Zoom calls with all the awkward dancing that they entailed. I don’t know if enough time has passed for us all to have gotten over some of the cringe related to these things, but it is nice to see the real touch of what people have been doing to stay social with others over the last two years. Also, nothing is more real to me than someone having to admit they pressed the stupid facebook thumb up button as a mistake! Ahh, so many bloody times!
Because of coronavirus, the first nine episodes were actually all filmed online due to quarantine restrictions, which means Elijah Canlas, Kokoy de Santos, Adrianna So, and Kyle Velino all had to do their own makeup and setting up of frames. I think it's incredible the team pulled together on this and a massive achievement that despite the virus and restrictions to what could be done, everyone came together to still make an amazing online series. I say everyone as Elijah even had some of his own family members, specifically his brother and father in real life, take on those roles within the show too!
The narrative is a fairly simple one, of two gamer boys falling for each other over the course of the series, with a few challenges coming up along the way. So it is a nice simple slice of life series rather than something that is more fantastical or overly-complex, but this does also mean that at times we have some very cheesy moments taking place or situations that make you slightly raise your eyebrow if they are that realistic.
The pacing of the narrative is set up to keep you coming more, as for most episodes we do see them end on cliffhangers leaving you wondering how the situation is going to develop or who this new character is and what are they up to. I will say that at times the cliffhangers did feel a bit superfluous, but overall they do fit into the narrative of the show and keep things interesting, so maybe that was another reason why I binged this show within 2 nights of insomnia!
In terms of language in the show, I actually really enjoyed how the speaking would jump naturally between Tagalog, officially known as Filipino, and English. Not only did it show the easy use of the two official languages of the Philippines, but it was actually the first time I have seen this done in such an effortless way in any media I have watched. And for all of the writing that we get on screen from the DM’s, Facebook posts, and everything else, instead of just being left to read it, the show is made more accessible as the characters will read aloud the words we are seeing. I really appreciated this detail since it meant that it was open to people watching, regardless of what their reading capabilities are.
Finally, in terms of representation I think it feels pretty good, as we get several different queer characters to help show different ways on how to be queer. Over the course of the show we get five male presenting characters that all have or have had attractions to or relationships with other men, but all representing different angles of this experience. Going from Cairo who is still figuring out who he is and how to be gay to Gavreel who is sure in his sexual attraction to people and can be quite headstrong and blunt about it too, as well as having people showing the unrequited crush, the jealous ex who stayed in the closet, to the out and proud effeminate queer.
We even at some point have the casual mention from Pearl that of course she has kissed a girl, and it is just left at that, leaving it open to be bisexual or pansexual rep depending how some people may read it. And I think overall the show leaves a lot of its characters without labels like this, rather it just allows characters attractions to be what they are and not worrying so much on trying to fit people into a specific section of the queer community.
Final Feelings and Recommendation
Who am I gonna recommend this to? Well, I want to recommend this to everyone as I just loved the show! But I suppose it will depend on your tastes, as this is definitely more for someone that wants a simple slice of life story that has a good number of twists and moments of drama and suspense, rather than lots of hard action or fantasy scenes. Plus I would say you also have to be willing to give it the time and attention of reading the subtitles, as I know from one of my partners that this isn’t something everyone is happy to do.
Overall, I am going to give this tv show a rating of 10 out of 10 ‘Babys’. It was such a fun and easy going show to watch, with some tense moments of drama but an overall lighthearted piece of BL work.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Now, just a reminder that at this point, I will be going into a more detailed analysis of the show which means there will be spoilers! If you haven’t managed to watch GameBoys yet and you don’t want anything spoiled, then this is your last chance to avoid the discussion. Or you can go ahead and close the page, go watch the show and then come back afterwards to finish reading. I promise I won’t mind. Still here? Well then, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
The way we get to know more about each of our main characters is quite interesting. Rather than having the usual exposition dump where they would talk to each other or have clunky dialogue which gives us snippets into their lives, we see who they are based on their social media posts. So we see that Gavreel is being that awkward teenager on social media who is cocky for an audience he can't see while Cairo seems to have other responsibilities to take care of. It's a technique that is used throughout the show to give us insights into how the boys are feeling and what is going on in their lives. This is one of the facts of life now that we live in a digital age, we all have that footprint where people can find and see who we are at the click of a button.
The development of the relationship feels quite realistic and goes through several stages. When we are first introduced to them, we have Cairo, known online as Caimazing, an online streamer who is challenged and beaten by Gavreel, known online as Angel2000. When Gavreel is first introduced to us he comes across as a bit of a dick, flexing like a bro to Cairo and saying he has a crush on him. Cairo is only interested in a rematch to beat him, so writes him off as being a weirdo, which does seem the sensible thing to do since randoms online telling you they like you isn’t always the thing you want to encourage in your life.
Eventually a rematch is agreed, with the conditions of Gavreel getting to court Cairo if he wins, with Cairo not seemingly put off with this giving us our first indication that he might be queer, or at least not totally upset with another guy liking him. Of course he loses and so we get the virtual pizza date where they actually start to get to know each other as real people. And as we progress through the series, we do see Cairo slowly letting his guard down and giving hints he does like Gavreel, although he is quick to put his walls back up and claim he doesn’t or shifts the attention away from himself.
It does get frustrating at times to have Cairo being so closed off, as we can see that Gavreel is quite invested in this from conversations we see between himself and Pearl. Even making the claim he will change his only name to CairosAngel, which is super cheesy and is thankfully even called out from Cairo as being cheesy! But eventually it is so rewarding when Cairo shares his new username, GavsBaby, and they are officially an item instead of this unknown standing!
During the relationship forming between Cairo and Gavreel, we get snippets that Cairo’s family life is not the best at the time, but not necessarily getting the full picture of why. This slowly becomes clear to use as he gets messages from his dad and calls from his brother, finding out that his dad, who is in hospital with covid is not improving health wise and needs to be intubated. As we go on we realise the tension is coming from the fact that Cairo feels it’s his fault for his dad being in hospital due to him trying to run away and his dad coming out to find him after he had been outed by a close friend, although his family are more frustrated and worried at the situation rather than specifically blaming Cairo. It just shows the power that shame and guilt can have on us and our relationships with those that we love, which is one of the key reasons as Sisters we want to help banish stigmatic guilt as much as we can so it isn’t wearing people down, especially when it’s over things we should never feel guilty about, such as being queer.
I think the fact we know that Cairo’s dad had asthma and has suffered a heart attack, yet still risks going outside during the pandemic to find his son to make sure he is safe, just shows how much he loved his child, no matter who he was. He really was doing parenting right by just wanting to make sure his son was happy being who he was and loving him unconditionally like a parent should!
Cairo’s dad sending that scheduled email in case anything went wrong was so heartbreaking too. Again he gets parenting right as he lets his son know he is loved and he understands and supports him no matter what. It just goes to show again that the Western perception of Asian families always being angry and upset with their kids coming out as queer isn’t so simple, like anything there are a variety of families and how they respond. And this happens to be one of the right ways to do it!
And on doing parenting right, Cairo’s mother! The fact that at some point he is on a call with her and just breaks down and apologies for being gay and she shuts that down with letting him know there is nothing wrong with him! This is exactly the thing for kids who have this guilt or shame about coming out as gay, reminding them that there is nothing wrong with this and letting them know they are loved! She lets us know that she knew already and that if anything, she is at fault since she hand’t yet earned his trust enough that he felt he could tell her he was gay. Another example of parents getting it right!