#shine analysis

I see a lot of discussions prompted by Shine the Series and especially towards the conclusion of the series so I thought it might be helpful to share this extract from 'First Queer Voices in Thailand,' by Peter A Jackson.

His book focuses on the attitudes held in the 1970's and 80's but would still apply to the late 1960's when Shine is set.

I hope that sharing this might give some people a better understanding of the choices that characters like Krailert, Naran, Trin and of course Dhevi and Dao all make within the series.

The following passage is talking specifically about men like Krailert, Trin and Naran who were considered "straight passing," and actually in that time they would have been considered heterosexual, especially if they were able to take a wife and fulfil societal norms as Krailert, Naran and Trin all had the potential to do.

At that time, men who were able to penetrate other men were considered to be "proper men," or "full men," as opposed to those who were on the receiving end. (Yes, Top and Bottom discourse has been around forever 😆) and if a man looked feminine or dressed as a woman (was trans) then they were labelled kathoey and were often ridiculed and abused. And men who slept with kathoey and fulfilled the role of "Top," often weren't considered gay at all. Only those who preferred to be penetrated or who were visibly perceived as not masculine were considered "fully gay."

There are many traditional Thai ways of referring to bisexuality which shows that idea people having both same sex experiences and heterosexual ones was not unusual and in an era where same sex friendships were considered more appropriate than mixing boys and girls, it is not surprising that for many, their first sexual experiences were with friends of the same sex and this was true of both men and women.

From First Thai Queer Stories

In understanding the place of homosexuality in the lives of masculine-identifiied Thai men…it is necessary to appreciate that the Thai heterosexual male is presented with three cultural models of masculine sexuality…he can, and should, have a chief wife (mia luang) to whom he has a long term social and economic commitment.

But if he is wealthy enough, he can have one or more, long-term lovers or “minor wives (mia noi), and he can also seek sexual gratification with a prostitute (sopheni).

In Thailand extramarital relations for heterosexual males have significant social tolerance, although not always approval, and can also include sexual relations with other men.

Ok, so I’ve just watched episode 8 of Shine and I want to talk about Dhevi because I suspect that after the twist reveal, a lot of people are going to be thinking about her in a more critical light and understandably so but I just want to examine things from the context of the time period the story is set.

First off, I will say that this is not meant as some apologia, I don’t think forcing Krailert to stay with her was a particularly healthy choice and I feel sorry for Krailert and Naran having their happy ending ripped away from them. However I can see why Dhevi would think it was appropriate, when I consider the attitudes to marriage, homosexuality and the rights of women in that time.

Homosexuality has never had the moral or religious stigma associated with it in Thailand that has been prevalent in the West. Now there has been a Christian presence in Thailand for a long time but it is very much a minority religion there. But this doesn’t mean that Thailand was automatically some kind of gay paradise because while it was not looked at as something sinful, it was still not socially acceptable to be openly queer.

There has long been a belief in Thailand that whatever you do in private is your own business and there has been an understanding that same sex liaisons were not uncommon and they were largely tolerated AS LONG AS people still did what was expected of them. This usually meant marriage and children.

Sleeping with people of the same sex in Thailand has often been viewed as “a waste of your current lifetime,” or “a curse placed on you for some misdemeanor in a previous life,” so there is a clear stigma associated with same sex relations, even if it comes from a differing attitude to that of the West.

Society would turn their eyes away from a private situation but they would not tolerate an openly gay person and by person, I really mean a man as they (of course) had more sexual freedom than women.

If a woman was found to be sleeping with another woman then it would be considered a scandal and there would be the worry that if this news was public then it would damage the woman’s reputation and probably her chance of marriage (the horror!)

So it was actually very common for gay men to get married and have children while also probably having gay sex or perhaps even a gay relationship on the side, in secret. In fact, the terms we use today - gay - lesbian - bisexual etc - they didn’t really exist in that era, in Thailand, at least not in the way we understand them today. The Western term "gay," would be adopted later in the 70's along with the terms "tom" (tomboy) and Dee (laDy) to refer to lesbians.

If a man preferred to sleep with men then that would probably be considered “a waste” as I mentioned earlier but it wouldn’t make people think that he couldn’t get married and fulfill his expected duties to his family and greater society.

So, all that to say, that even if young Dhevi was told by her father that Krailert was unsuitable because he liked to sleep with men, that wouldn’t make her automatically think that they couldn’t have a workable marriage together.

To return to men’s unfair sexual freedoms, it was very common for men to have affairs outside of marriage and even whole other wives, there was even a special name for it - “mia noi.” or second wife. These women usually by the 1960’s lived outside of the family home but they were entitled to some of the protections from their “husband” that a first wife would receive, they had a semi legitimate status and their children could potentially inherit property and other assets.

So I will speculate that young Dhevi developed a crush on “sensitive artistic” Krailert, so different from most of the military men that surrounded her. She persuades her father to consider a match but her father does some digging and discovers Krailert is having an affair with a man. Perhaps he tries to change Dhevi’s mind but young and naive and willful, she is having none of it.

Maybe a part of her is even glad of the news that Krailert seems to prefer men because that means she won’t have to worry about other women trying to worm their way into his heart and she’ll likely never have to vie with a second wife for his affections.

Perhaps she was even willing to turn a blind eye to his love affair with Win, assuming that they would never be able to actually be together publicly so Win would not be able to compete with her in the traditional sense. We know she said she disagreed with her father’s decision to get rid of Win.

I think that if Krailert had been able to live with her harmoniously and give her the children that she wanted and society expected then she may well have been willing to ignore any extra marital affairs of her husband as long as they stayed private and far from her eyes.

This probably sounds very strange from a modern perspective but back then many women had to put up with their husbands constantly cheating on them and they were expected to just carry on and keep up appearances.

During this time in Thailand, there wasn’t really any kind of welfare either and it is likely that Dhevi’s father left the bulk of his wealth and assets to her brothers so for many women, especially those of an even lower status than Dhevi, divorce, although possible could easily lead to poverty and the loss of any support that they had cultivated in their married life, not to mention the scandal of it all.

Thailand is a country where great emphasis is placed on “saving face,” if Krailert left Dhevi, it would be a devastating blow to her standing in society and if it was discovered that he left her for a man it would be considered a huge disgrace and a scandal. Let’s not forget that Veera died, pleading for Pracha to “save face for Dhevi and Krailert.” He couldn’t bear the thought of them being so disgraced, that’s how serious it was considered to be.

So now, Dhevi, having saved Krailert from probable death in jail, sees it only as her right that he finally fulfills his duties to her as a husband. She is not going to let him run off with Naran and destroy her social standing and make her and her family a thing of ridicule. He owes her.

When he put her father’s ring on his finger he chose to go along with his wishes, he chose her, (as she views it,) now we can argue that he was pressured into that (i think he was,) but we do see him make the choice. He could have refused to marry her, at this point, Win was dead, he wasn’t doing it to protect Win, he was doing it to stay on the Colonel’s good side, to rise in his favour and receive promotions and higher standing. Things he probably used to help his own family, including Trin, who attended a fancy boarding school in Bangkok that his uncle likely paid for.

I think this is why the story ends that way for him, he made his bed so he has to lie in it. I think Krailert is a very tragic figure and I do have a lot of sympathy for him but I also can see Dhevi’s point of view as well.

She has spent years dealing with him cold-shouldering her despite his choice and it was both his dalliance with Naran and his idea of recording Pracha that ultimately got poor Veera killed. She runs to his rescue and manages to pull it off, getting Pracha thrown into jail in the process and murdered and the first thing Krailert plans to do is flee the country with his lover. I think the woman just snapped and said enough is enough. You don’t like my sweet side well I’m going to show you my steel!

She also brings up her three brothers several times here and you could see it as her threatening Krailert (very possible) but I think that what she means is that if Krailert chooses to run off with Naran then her brothers will seek revenge for the disgrace he would bring on them. She brings up Trin here too and when Krailert says she would never hurt him she agrees but says her brothers would feel differently. It seems to me that she is implying that they were behind Win’s death, something she did not want but she did benefit from so in this scene the threat of her brothers feels similar. She wouldn’t wish harm on Naran or Trin but she still benefits from the potential threat her brothers pose if Krailert doesn’t comply.

*Edit to add more here as i don't think i explained it as clearly as i could, like this isn't long enough- *

I see a lot of people reading it as her using her brothers to threaten him and I can see why but I see her intention as more reminding Krailert of the consequences of his actions. She won't set her brothers on him but they would come for him anyway and Naran and maybe even Trin (to punish Krailert), remember Veera already died to send him a message at military hands.

I also think she feels Krailert is being selfish for not considering the fact that the military will also be after him for shaming them if her brothers don't intervene on his behalf which they certainly won't if he leaves his wife and that could affect not only him but also Naran and Trin.

Remember that she did try to go to the military first and they refused to help and so she went to Moira and exposed the shady actions of the military to save her husband and that probably pissed off her brothers too so she'll have to sweet talk them now to make sure her family doesn’t suffer repercussions from those inevitably angry at them shaming the military. Pracha was a piece of shit but he didn't act alone, he was just made the scapegoat when shit hit the fan.

*Edit over*

She got what she wanted, she got her baby, (I wish it was Veera’s,) I only hope for both of their sakes, they are able to come to some sort of peace between them, otherwise I feel they will both end up very lonely and bitter.

I still don’t know how I feel about it actually but I like how complicated and messy they all are.

Tanwa decides to complete his mother’s unfinished novel which ends up being a way for him to process all of his unresolved grief and trauma over her death but it also functions as a confessional for him to unburden himself from the guilt he feels for how things played out with the tragedy of Victor and the loss of Trin as a result.

In many ways, the novel is a kind of love letter to Trin. The name Indigo Moon is a reference to the first time Tanwa ever saw Trin, in his black suit with that shining moon broach.

Tanwa has always seen Trin as his moon. The first origami gift he gives to Trin is a crescent moon, a nod to their first meeting and when he is in the depths of despair after the events of episode 7, he cries out “where has the moon gone?” He cannot see any hope in the darkness (depression) that has overwhelmed his mind.

However, Tanwa’s mother’s name is also Chanya ชัญญา which means “one who shines,” and the name is a poetic way of saying moonlight so for Tanwa, the moon is a symbol of both his lost loves when he writes the book.

I think the tender care that Trin shows towards him in their interactions both soothes Tanwa’s craving for the kind of affection he lost when his mother died but also unsettles him at times in the early episodes because he has not dealt with that trauma yet.

Tanwa- are you ok? No he is not 😭

We see him having dreams of his mother and waking in tears and he is also triggered by Trin speaking words that remind him of her and as a coping mechanism, he kind of drifts away a little from Trin in that scene afterwards. He loses himself in the “wake” held for The Beatles and dances around with Moira, lost in the moment (and wanting to be lost from the memories of his mother that haunt him) but he is hurting Trin a little in the process because Trin clearly feels awkward and a bit abandoned by Tanwa. They had been so close right before this scene and Tanwa was so affectionate until he suddenly wasn't.

This hot and cold treatment is what Trin complains about when Tanwa follows him to Trin’s family home. Tanwa craves to be around Trin but he also pushes him away when shit starts to get real because he can’t deal with the feelings that get stirred up in him by their intense connection.

It is only fear for Trin and the thought of losing him, that pushes Tanwa to finally confess his feelings in episode six, especially after witnessing Trin so broken from the riot. Perhaps Trin’s explanation of his feelings (clearly ptsd) sound familiar to Tanwa and he is able to overcome his personal anxieties to seize what he really wants -Trin, all day, every day, forever.

Tanwa’s pen name Rimtara (ริมธารา) means “by the edge of the river." Water has great significance for Trin and Tanwa’s relationship. It is by the sea that Tanwa is first vulnerable with Trin, resulting in Trin initiating a kiss and their subsequent romantic frolicking in the waves.

Trin also proposes to Tanwa that they go to Paris together to see the vanilla sky under the Pont Neuf, by the edge of the river Seine.

That was the last moment they had together before their love was shattered. 💔

The cover of Indigo Moon shows a brilliant full moon (Trin) shining over a riverbank (Tanwa.)

Tanwa is still ready to wait by the river for his moon 🥹

As @pandoraspearls notes in her fantastic analysis of Trin, the book itself is an invitation to Trin and while Trin could not know Tanwa was about to show up, it is not surprising that he would head to the bridge while wrestling with his emotions after learning the truth in the novel and presumably waiting for his flight to Thailand.

He knew the second he laid eyes on that book who "Rimtara" was.

He was devastated to learn the truth and the second it was over and he read of Tanwa's hopes, "I hope that someone is still waiting to hear my voice," he tried to get hold of him immediately because he never stopped loving Tanwa. 😭

Tanwa could have found out from the embassy where Trin lived, he could have gone there and found the place empty at first, we don’t know how much time is passing but it is not surprising that he would then look for Trin at the Pont Neuf either, if he didn’t go straight there like the romantic bastard he is. Perhaps he headed over with a mixture of fear and hope in his heart but then he saw Trin standing there and he knew that Trin still cared for him and they had a chance.

I would have loved a longer scene and more Trin and Tanwa on screen but Trin's decision to head to the river's edge was his gesture of both forgiveness and desire for reconciliation.

I'm sure he was thinking of his offer to bring Tanwa there as well and then, like a dream, he turns around and finds Tanwa there. That's why he turns away at first. He can't believe his eyes. He doesn’t dare to hope it's true. He is overcome and certainly feeling guilt over the way they parted too.

Devastating 💔

As if this tender scene of Dhevi sewing up Veera's shirt wasn't bad enough I knew she was NEVER letting the housekeeper do that

BOC then had the audacity, THE AUDACITY to show us Dhevi have to take in the news of his death while suppressing the true depths of her own heartache.

She can't even demand an explanation and when she tries to get information, to understand how it happened, Krailert is vague af.

The painful truth is that they are both distraught by Veera's death but still unable to comfort each other, something that should be natural for a husband and wife to do.

Dhevi is afraid to show an excess of emotion because it wouldn't be proper for her to break down over the death of her husband's assistant, no matter how long he has been in their lives. Her offer to help with his funeral is gutwrenching, it's the only thing she can do for him and even that has to be done within the confines of her role as Krailert's wife.

For a moment I thought they might actually have Krailert cry in front of Dhevi and have it be a moment where they could provide some kind of solace for one another even if temporary but alas, he pulled back and suppressed it all as usual.

He clearly doesn’t think he can confide in Dhevi about Pracha, whether that is due to his feelings about her being a woman and/or the daughter of a man who got rid of his past lover, I don't know.

Perhaps he is trying to protect her but if Pracha goes through with his threat to expose Krailert then Dhevi is going to be hurt by that news in the worst possible way.