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ranchthoughts · 30 days

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thinking thoughts about Wai, Pa, and the themes of Bad Buddy

I think one of the things that really gets me about waipa is how perfectly it encapsulates the themes of Bad Buddy. I picked a couple of the main ones that stand out to me, because otherwise I would be rambling for far too long:

Photography

In her great meta on photography in Aof shows, @chickenstrangers points out the prevalence of photography/photographers all of Aof's shows and the themes of visibility and invisibility they explore. Characters like Pat and Pran, Pete and Kao, Heart and Li Ming, among others, are seen for who they truly are (and for the love they have for each other) through the lens of a camera wielded by someone they care for and trust.

We see this same theme in Wai and Pa - Wai offers to be Pa's model and she takes photos of him, and Pa sees Wai for who he really is (and Wai doesn't hesitate to show Pa his true self: the soft, smiley side of him). In fact, it's also during the scene where Pa takes Wai's photo that their feelings for each other become visible - they experience each of Pa's Patented Four Ways to tell if someone likes you (see @airenyah's beautiful edit here). Pa and Wai see each other clearly and become aware of their own feelings for the other all through a moment of photography.

Rivalries and Healing

The premise of Bad Buddy rests on the familial feud between Pran's family and Pat's family, which echoes the stories of Romeo and Juliet (from Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet) and Kwam and Riam (from the Thai book Plae Kao). Many people have written at length about these stories and how they have been woven into Bad Buddy (see @chickenstrangers excellent meta on tragedies and queer futurities, for example).

We see these same themes of rivalries tearing people apart in Wai and Pa's relationship too. Wai wants to pursue Pa but when he learns she is the little sister of Pat, Wai's enemy, he gives up on his dreams of a relationship with her because he knows Pat will never accept them as a couple. The rivalry between the architecture and the engineering students (which predates Wai and his friends) keeps Wai and Pa apart, just like the long-standing rivalries between Pat and Pran, Romeo and Juliet, and Kwam and Riam's families keep them apart. Wai and Pa's relationship is only possible if their friend groups can heal and move past their destructive rivalry.

Bittersweet Endings

I've written about the bittersweet ending of Bad Buddy (and another Aof show, He's Coming to Me) before. This is another theme Aof likes to explore: endings that are melancholic, that are not neatly solved, that feel more true to life than perhaps an easy happy ending would be. The family feud between Pat and Pran's families is not resolved at the end of Bad Buddy, just as the relationship between Wai and Pa is not resolved either. Some hurts are too large to get over quickly or completely.

Over the course of Bad Buddy, especially after Wai meets Pa in episode 7, Wai works to dispel his animosity with Pat and the others in the engineering squad (e.g., providing the proof that cleared Pat of his gun possession charges, welcoming Pat into the architecture fold, hanging out with Pat and Korn). However, despite all the changes he's made and the growth he has exhibited, by the end of the show Pa doesn't feel ready to accept his change of heart. Wai might have made some atonement for his actions but he was still so antagonistic to Pat and Pat's friends (and honestly, often not a good friend to Pran either, though I don't know how much of that Pa would have known). Pa needs some time to learn to trust the changes he's made, the work he's put in, before her head will let her heart love freely like it wants to.

We don't get the resolution we wanted during the show's run: Wai and Pa are not officially together. Aof is so good at leaning into those bittersweet endings - the family feud between Pat's dad and Pran's mom persists at the end of Bad Buddy though we see some improvements and softening, Wai and Pa are not together at the end of Bad Buddy despite the character development he's had, we don't know how long Med is going to be able to stick around in HCTM, Li Ming, Jim and Jam have made great strides in their relationships but there is still more healing to do, etc. @waitmyturtles writes here about the prevalence of suffering in Asian narratives and cautions against a Western instinct to "close loops" at the end of a show. She argues that Asian filmmakers do not feel the same pressure to resolve "emotionally questionable loose ends," which further reflects and deepens other themes like intergenerational trauma present in shows like Bad Buddy (also explored in this meta by @waitmyturtles). Intergenerational trauma is not quickly and easily solved but continues to resonate and complicate the lives of those coming after, like their parents' feud affects Pat and Pran or the enduring architecture and engineering faculties' feud at their university affects Wai and Pa.

I know Wai and Pa are a side couple and sometimes you don't get resolution with side couples or characters, but the open ended-ness of their relationship felt intentional, like purposefully representation of that recurring Aof and Asian theme of intergenerational trauma, of learning to heal, of the complexities of life.

#waipa #bb #bb meta #only waipa can get me out of my meta slump #april fools

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