The Effect – Drama Review

Oh god, I really was not in the mood to watch something as depressing as The Effect. It's my fault for choosing dramas randomly without any research, but I thought I was tuning in for a short, sweet BL romance to cap off the evening. Instead, I was shocked, confused, and then mortified over an intense story that felt excruciatingly distressing.

Let's be clear that The Effect is not a BL drama, although the series is certainly set up like one to lull you into a false sense of security. The first episode plays out like many love stories in the genre, relying on familiar tropes that we have seen many times before. If you watch more closely, you may recognize a few red flags that are there as ominous foreshadowing. The veil drops by the end of the second episode, where the story takes a dark and sinister turn with deeply horrific consequences.

The main character in The Effect gets raped by the man who is perceived to be his love interest. You will be disturbed watching his helpless body literally dragged across the floor, as he fails to escape his assailant's violent wrath. He is beaten, bruised, and brutalized by his rapist, who performs this senseless act while justifying it as "love". The victim is so badly hurt that he has to be hospitalized, and his subsequent trauma runs so deep that he tries to commit suicide. Both his rape and his suicide attempt are shown in graphic details, fully highlighting the ugliness of the events.

I believe stories that explore rape, sexual assault, and abusive trauma are extremely important. The voices of victims and survivors need to be promoted instead of diminished. However, I also believe their stories must be handled responsibly and sensitively, which didn't seem evident in this series. The Effect goes overboard in sensationalizing the trauma. The rape, the suicide attempt, and the emotional turmoil felt like gruesome spectacles instead of critical social commentary. Its intention is to shock and provoke rather than educate and inform.

The Effect offers an extremely negative portrayal of their gay characters. Keng is a predatory rapist who attacks straight men because he can't control his deranged sexual impulses. Man is a jealous, emotionally manipulative schemer obsessed over his crush. These toxic tropes have been used by homophobes for many decades, meant to dehumanize gay men as evil, mentally unstable villains. The Effect gives credibility to this messaging with its lopsided portrayal of LGBT characters. We needed more than a three-second moment of a same-sex couple holding hands to offset the three-hour narrative of homophobic stereotypes.

With such a sensitive subject matter, The Effect is bound to be polarizing. Other viewers might respond better to this series than me, taking away more powerful interpretations from the narrative. Personally, I am quite conflicted over how I feel about The Effect, unsure of its true intentions due to the ambiguous storytelling. My gut tells me that it was sensationalizing mental trauma and perpetuating homophobia. Maybe I misread it terribly, but this drama is too triggering for me and I have no desire to rewatch it for closer analysis.