Miles Bennett is thrilled to start his medical internship at Everett Industries. When he goes to tell his girlfriend, he learns she’s cheating on him. He boasts he’s cheating too and kisses the person next to him… his new boss, Hunter Everett! It’s all a misunderstanding. Both men insist they’re straight. But are they?
Straight Until He Kissed Me is a Vertical BL series produced by GoodShort. The Singapore based company produces low budget serials released in short clips on their phone app. Select clips also appear on their YouTube and TikTok channels. Most of their shows are heterosexual romances. But there’s a range of m/m stories including Sneak Me in Your Closet My Prince, Objection! I’m Not Gay! and the vampire/mortal romance Obsessed with Being His Prey.
Straight Until He Kissed Me is the most overtly comic of these. A live action cartoon. After the farcical set-up a pattern is established. Miles (anxious uke Evan Gambardella) makes a mistake. Hunter (stoic seme Greg Duffy) threatens to fire him. Hunter rescues Miles from danger (bullies, muggers, mafioso). Hunter finds an excuse to take off his shirt. Then Miles stares up at him with enormous Bambi eyes. It’s camp.
The Boys Love genre gained popularity in Japan in the 1970’s. China’s similar Danmei genre kicked off in the 1990’s, despite censorship laws. Writers and readers enjoyed protagonists who were free of the social restrictions placed upon female characters. Sadly, Straight Until He Kissed Me has a strain of misogyny. The ex-girlfriend is followed by a series of jealous female antagonists. They plot against Miles while screaming homophobic slurs. (“Shut up Twinker Bell! You f-ing Twink-a-link!”) Hunter is not spared. The women spread a rumor that he suffers erectile dysfunction. A gag that gets beaten into the ground over the course of 70 episodes.
The BL formula has its critics. Some complain the uke/seme dynamic reduces gay men to predators and victims. Or accuse the writers of mirroring heterosexual romance tropes while ignoring honest gay experiences. The Guardian’s Tim Byrne accused Canada’s hockey BL, Heated Rivalry, of reducing its queer leads to “pets for young women.” The critic was accused of misogyny in turn.
I resisted Heated Rivalry’s charms at first. The YA dialogue felt silly spoken by adults. But the actors have made it work. Most importantly, the show is introducing m/m sex to an audience that didn’t watch Looking, Fellow Travelers or Queer as Folk. My respect for Heated Rivalry’s intimacy coordinators has risen after watching the love scenes in GoodShort dramas. Their men express affection by aggressively kissing each other’s shoulders. “I’ve never done this with a guy.” “Me neither.” What exactly are they doing?
I’ll post my official Heated Rivalry review after the season finale airs. You can find more of my reviews on The Avocado, Letterboxd and Serializd. My podcast, Rainbow Colored Glasses, can be found here.