HOME | DD

quartervirus-archive In reply to GuoBia [2012-09-22 14:17:01 +0000 UTC]

I wonder if it has something to do with me having been there and living a mere one hour flight away ... oh, well. My mistake. Obviously I was visiting the wrong Bangkok.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

GuoBia In reply to quartervirus-archive [2012-09-22 21:45:51 +0000 UTC]

Maybe not so much the wrong Bangkok- just the wrong and very minority part. I've lived here since I was born (except for education) and I'm not sure which part of Bangkok you're visiting, but I'm wondering if it's very representative of Bangkok.

I think your view of Bangkok is a little bit at odds of the experience of living as a queer in this city, but that's just from my perspective. It's one thing to be a tourist, it's another to be a resident. I don't know if you can speak Thai fluently or not, but in the case you can't, I

Sure, there are nice little accepting groups here and there like in any big city, but that's like visiting RIS in its heydey and saying that the people of Thailand speak English very well.

There is truth to your views though- Bangkok is certainly a haven for foreign LGBT people. It's completely okay to be white and openly gay. That's 100% fine and no one will think you any less for it, because they're farang. It's like being an exchange student- I got in trouble for "backtalk" but exchange students don't- it's excusable because they're foreign and white.

Any way it goes, let's put it this way: I'm closeted, I'm going to STAY closeted, and when the time comes, I'm going to marry a man, no question about it. This is the situation for many of us, in the 'haven.'

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

quartervirus-archive In reply to GuoBia [2012-09-23 03:44:12 +0000 UTC]

It seems to be a lot more open than other parts of the world, which I thought was strange at first because I understand Asia as being a lot more conservative than the west in most respects. I live in Singapore and have visited, and know plenty of people who go to Bangkok often (been here 7 years) but nowhere is perfect. That said, this pseudo-modern Tortuga is supposed to be a radical exaggeration; I use Bangkok as a point of reference only.

👍: 0 ⏩: 2

GuoBia In reply to quartervirus-archive [2012-09-23 18:04:25 +0000 UTC]

Goodness, I'm sorry about the post under this one- I think it's mutually beneficial to ignore everything in English in it! I don't know what's gotten into me. That's uncalled for of me, drabbling on and on about society like that.

I definitely see how Bangkok can appear that way to a tourist and foreigner, and in a time like this, it's not right for me to be saying anything that hurts our image.

Bangkok is very open and embraces diversity and tolerance in visitors, and is very progressive compared to China and Malaysia.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

quartervirus-archive In reply to GuoBia [2012-09-29 02:14:20 +0000 UTC]

No, it's alright, it's interesting to hear about the "other" side of Thailand, which in the end is just like every other country in the world. The difference is when someone steps on your toes because of how you think in the west you're not as likely to get thrown into jail for it; I live in Singapore and have to watch what I say about the government here; my teacher is concerned about my animation because it addresses homosexuality in a country that likes to pretend it doesn't exist, or regards it as immoral or wrong.

But again, Bangkok was just a reference point from an aesthetics point of view. On the front Tortuga is meant to be fun, bright, vivacious, which is what Bangkok is to an outsider that's never been there before. It has its clubs and its lights, but it's also a pirate port, which means there are shootouts and violent disagreements all the time. It's not just Bangkok I'm referencing, Las Vegas and other cities like that as well, but Bangkok is the only one I've been to so I associate more with it (also to a western/European audience Asia is much more exotic and "spicy" than, say, Las Vegas. Tortuga having an Asian edge immediately makes it more of a rarity in the Colonial Caribbean).

Thanks for the insight nonetheless. It's a shame to hear that this close-mindedness really does permeate around the globe, and that it has to affect so many people as a result.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

GuoBia In reply to quartervirus-archive [2012-09-23 08:22:19 +0000 UTC]

คุณไม่ได้อยู่เมืองไทยนานพอท่ีจะเข้าใจเมืองไทยได้อย่างลึกซึ้งตามท่ีคุณอวดอ้าง คุณคงได้แต่อ่าน น.ส.พ. ภาษาอังกฤษ และเชื่อทุกอย่างตามนั้นโดยไม่ได้วิเคราะห์ด้วยตัวคุณเอง.

Well, diversity and tolerance doesn't come to mind when I think of living in Bangkok. I definitely understand how it seems that way, and I also think that that is a view we encourage as our world image- "Doesn't matter who you are, come visit Thailand." It's a mask, and it works for us. But Bangkok is only the pinnacle of progressiveness when you compare it to Malaysia. We love our homogeneity. Everyone wants to fit in with their group, not break out alone. Media tells a lot about a society, and look at ours. A lot of music reviews in the US are about "refreshingly new style" or "groundbreaking, novel use of sound," or how the musician is doing something different from the rest. You don't really see that lauded here. We don't actually like people being totally different than the mainstream...

Plenty of people go to Bangkok often. They come here to let loose steam, to party hard and have fun- not to work, fit in, or have a family. They're outside of our society and not held by it. They dip in, experience our "exotic carefree culture," and then go back. Half my condo's filled with rich people from somewhere else who come here sometimes to have fun. Their experiences are a great deal different than ours- we work here, live here, have families here- our everything is here, and this is our society. They have nothing but praise for Thai people, saying we're so welcoming, generous, and friendly, (they clearly have not met my extended family,) and they'd love to go back next vacation. But we're not Danny Boyle's 'The Beach,' and we're not Murray Head's song "Night in Bangkok" or something.

You're right that Asia is a lot more conservative than the West, and beyond the the government, the society as whole, it's all quite conservative. I mean, imagine if They had tried half this stuff on America. There'd be bloody murder, but in Thailand? No, we figured that we don't really need our freedom of speech because fighting for it could get you into an uncomfortable situation. IE jail. Even my classmates didn't care beyond an academic argument here and there. You have to be careful what you say. And Thai people don't really like changing things... The status quo is nice and tidy, after all. I read in an etiquette book that if everyone else likes something, you'd better pretend to like it too. I can't say how true it is for here.

I'm really sorry for disagreeing with you. I like your art a lot and I think your characters are so vivid, lively, and hilarious. But Bangkok is my home and even if I'm not always proud of it, imagine if you were German, and someone describes your country as the birthplace of Harry Potter and known for its Vienna sausages and World War I. You are right that Bangkok is a great place for white LGBT tourists with strong currency. I think that Bangkok (not the tourist Bangkok- the one where Thai people live and work), as a reference point, might have a great deal more in common with the Commodore than the pirates.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

quartervirus-archive In reply to EsenEcho [2012-09-17 17:19:49 +0000 UTC]

Observation.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

quartervirus-archive In reply to jewlogic [2012-08-27 16:02:48 +0000 UTC]

SETTING COURSE, CAPTAIN.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

jewlogic In reply to quartervirus-archive [2012-08-29 11:13:57 +0000 UTC]

YUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSss

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

quartervirus-archive In reply to Herebellama [2012-08-26 13:55:20 +0000 UTC]

That story has since been scrapped, so I don't need to worry about the endings to much. I couldn't help you much on buildings though, sorry. For the pirate setting I took a lot of my influence from Pirates of the Burning Sea, a game that I played for a while, but I tried to keep it historically accurate as well. The idea to mosh it with Bangkok was because of music, which is where most of my inspiration comes from. One Night In Bangkok by Vynlshakerz was on my mp3 player and it stuck, since Louis is a bit of a party animal.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Herebellama In reply to quartervirus-archive [2012-08-26 17:40:03 +0000 UTC]

Hmm music is a pretty good starting point. I'll try that next time I'm faced with designing buildings - it may inspire me to look in the right direction. Thank you for the help.

*looks up song out of simple curiousity*

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

quartervirus-archive In reply to CsNsAi [2012-08-25 03:09:27 +0000 UTC]

I think there is. If you consider the level of abuse people will exact upon gay people having them killed is exactly what's going on today. Gay people have been beaten, tortured, and even murdered because of their sexuality. In Uganda they have witch-hunts for gays and lesbians, fired on by the fanatical church.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

CsNsAi In reply to quartervirus-archive [2012-08-25 03:28:12 +0000 UTC]

I know that "showing" (even thou this would be a fictional case) such reality is a way to spread awareness, having in your hands the chance to control the development of such a story gives you the opportunity to crate and show a different kind of solution, as an artist and story teller.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

quartervirus-archive In reply to CsNsAi [2012-08-25 03:58:36 +0000 UTC]

Which is exactly the route this train of thought took me. As the comments state, this was one of the earlier concepts. The options for where the animation could go have since changed.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0