How viewers react when a TV soap overlaps reality
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After 10pm last Saturday night, my Twitter feed was flooded with comments about "Hormones Wai Wawun the Series" - a soap opera that focuses on the problems faced by teenage school children.
In fact, the comments were so plentiful that many social-media users could follow what was happening in the story without having to watch the series themselves. Also, every time there was a development in the story, the tension between the fans was almost palpable.
At one point, the only comments visible on my Tweet feed was speculation about the boy and girl – whether the boy would return to the girl after taking her virginity and whether the girl would get pregnant. Many fans sympathised with the female protagonist and the many problems she was facing.
Many Facebook users are also hailing the series, with many saying they are absolutely addicted to it.
Apart from being available on GMM One Channel, the series can be watched for free on the GMMone.tv website and YouTube. Also, from last week, iOS users were allowed to download the show for Bt30 per episode. The series will wrap up for good after its 13th episode.
This weekly show has become a resounding hit and seems to be winning fans not just in Thailand, but also in other countries like Indonesia, where fans are setting up Twitter accounts and Facebook fanpages and sharing links of the show with English subtitles.
@touchthesky_625 told @yongsongyos (the show’s director Songyos Sugmakanan) on Thursday that the series’ fanpage in Vietnam had already won 10,000 likes.
Other than making the actors popular, “Hormones” has been very successful in bringing the problems faced by teenagers out in the open for real-time discussion.
Though some said the series was far too explicit to be shown on free TV, @ton_khao complimented Songyos for creating a show that directly and articulately poses questions to society on all dimensions.
As @ton_khao says, this will help build “the future of the nation”.
As expected, the show’s popularity also led to rumours that the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission had warned the producers about the show being too explicit. But obviously this was untrue as commissioner @Supinya denied any such thing.
In relation to this, marketing guru Thunyawat Chaitrakulchai (@mktmag) posted: “Problems in real life are worse than the ones shown in #HormonesTheSeries, where the characters are children in the middle-class B segment and above.”
He also advised parents to watch the series together with their children and exchange opinions instead of just issuing warnings.
@Tarn_zeikyo has joined some doctors and pharmacists in using this as an opportunity to educate people about safe sex and contraception.
@epinephrinerx said the most recent episode stirred up a discussion among pharmacists, as a pharmacy owner in the show breaches the code of conduct by blaming the girl for failing to take precautions. @epinephrinerx said a pharmacist needs to be sensitive, not critical of patients especially in the case of teenage pregnancy or illness.
Songyos responded to this by saying that not all characters in a drama need to have the same standards as those in real life, though he did say he would try to be more careful.
The ninth episode of the series is titled “Cortisol”. Perhaps, it will show what part this stress hormone will play when one of the characters – a perfect girl – learns about her father’s secret.
So, what will you be doing at around 10pm tonight?
