Boys Love Series “Semantic Error” Redefines LGBTQIA+ Media In South Korea
The 2022 series Semantic Error is the Boys Love drama from South Korea that is working to enact social change in the media. SJ “Sinxity” Shin, the creator of the show, believes that this tender drama starring Park Seo-ham and Park Jae-chan will help rectify anti-LGBTQIA+ attitudes in the country, reports Forbes.
WHAT IS BOYS LOVE DRAMA (AKA BL DRAMA)
South Korea’s known for its cultural exports in music and entertainment. For the greater part of the last decade, K-pop and K-dramas have saturated East Asian media. With the rise in popularity of groups such as BTS and the Netflix show Squid Game, South Korea is fast-becoming mainstream in the West.
It would be surprising, then, for many with little understanding of the culture to learn that Korea, despite being a force in entertainment, is not a progressive country socially. According to a report from the Human Rights Watch, LGBTQIA+ folks often find they are isolated and harassed with a severe lack of medical, educational or legislative guidances.
Boys Love (or BL) drama is a genre that explores tender, same-sex romance on-screen. These dramas exist in an alternative world where queerness is not taboo or uncommon. In Semantic Error, the plot follows Chu Sang Woo (Jae Chan) and Jang Jae Young (Park Seo Ham) in an academic rivals trope. Sang Woo strives to be hard-working while his peer Jae Young prefers a lax approach. The two clash heads and soon begin to feel romantic attraction forming between them.
The BL genre is not new to Asian media, but it is less popular in South Korea than it is in Thailand or Taiwan. Semantic Error began as a novel and became a long-running webtoon that Sinxity Shin believes will offer new perspectives outside of traditional heterosexual romances. He says, “We already have so many hetero romance movies and dramas. I believe audiences need new content – a new point of view and new stories. I believe these dramas about boys’ relationships are really fresh to them,” reports Forbes.
