An archive of transcripts of James Somerton's videos. If you'd like to help, feel free to submit an issue with any found sources, or PR for code changes.
Home Page: https://tustin2121.github.io/James_Somerton_Transcripts/
Especially towards the end of the second arc, discourse around growing up takes a a central role as a driving theme. (😏) And then suddenly we get the third season and everyone is in cars and their shirts are flying off and... Is Akio fucking Touga?! Not that Akio doesn't have these chaotic Bi vibes but... what does a casual approach to sexuality have to do with cars?
I think this should be marked as a "yikes" take because Touga is a highschooler and Akio is an adult, so painting this as "chaotic Bi vibes" and "a casual approach to sexuality" is super gross
LVence: Okay here is the Queer Privacy script. He plagiarized, but the more striking thing is how bad he is at numbers
The film Victim was released the same year. Melville Farr, played by Dirk Bogard, appears to be a successful London attorney in a loving marriage, but he conceals his sexual orientation from everyone. When his ex-lover Barrett contacts him for assistance in paying off some blackmailers, he disregards his requests. Barrett has stolen money from his employers and has been apprehended by law enforcement. Knowing that his sexual orientation would soon be revealed... he commits suicide in his jail cell.
Farr, now plagued with remorse, resolves to take on the blackmailing organization, but each of the victims he approaches refuses to assist, preferring to pay the money to keep their private lives hidden. Knowing that Dirk Bogart himself lived his life as a closeted gay man makes Victim all the more poignant from a retrospective standpoint. Those who were familiar with the industry at the time claimed that his refusal to enter into a marriage of convenience hindered his prospects at a successful career in Hollywood.
When James talks about Victim (25:08), He seems to be pulling from this article by Joe Hyland Deeson, specifically the second paragraph.
"Cinema of China" wikipedia page
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cinema_of_China&oldid=1055246644
James:
But After the communist revolution of 1949, domestic films that were already released and a selection of foreign films were banned. Despite this though, movie attendance increased sharply.
But then during the Cultural Revolution, the film industry was severely restricted, coming almost to a standstill from 1967 to 1972.
Wikipedia:
After the communist revolution in 1949, domestic films that were already released and a selection of foreign films were banned in 1951, marking a tirade of film censorship in China. Despite this, movie attendance increased sharply. During the Cultural Revolution, the film industry was severely restricted, coming almost to a standstill from 1967 to 1972.
[note: is the capital letter on "After" in the transcript because that's where his copy-paste starts? lol]
James:
But in the years immediately following the Cultural Revolution, the film industry flourished as a medium of popular entertainment. Production rose steadily, from 19 movies in 1977 to 125 movies in 1986.
Wikipedia:
In the years immediately following the Cultural Revolution, the film industry again flourished as a medium of popular entertainment. Production rose steadily, from 19 features in 1977 to 125 in 1986.
James:
Following the international commercial success of films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero ...
Wikipedia:
Following the international commercial success of films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and Hero (2002) ...
James:
In November of 2016, China passed a law banning content deemed harmful to the “dignity, honor, and interests” of the People's Republic and encouraging the promotion of “socialist core values," approved by the National People's Congress Standing Committee.
Wikipedia:
In November 2016, China passed a film law banning content deemed harmful to the “dignity, honor and interests” of the People's Republic and encouraging the promotion of “socialist core values", approved by the National People's Congress Standing Committee.
"Boys Keep Flirting with Each Other on Chinese TV but Never Fall in Love"
Vice article by Viola Zhou and Koh Ewe (this is what James's credits obliquely refer to, though he spells Koh Ewe's name wrong. he copies or paraphrases the article throughout this section of the video)
https://www.vice.com/en/article/7k95mg/boys-love-drama-china-tv-untamed-lgbtq
James:
Subtle gay dramas and love stories, adapted from boys’ love webnovels, have become a very lucrative business in China. But even with the censorship laws, the appetite for queer content is just too big to ignore. A demand that comes mostly not from gay men, mind you, but straight women.
At least eight shows adapted from novels with boys’ love romances premiered in 2021 across China’s major streaming platforms. The stories range from historical-fantasy action flicks to modern mystery thrillers and teenage melodramas.
Zhou/Ewe:
Subtle gay dramas, adapted from boys’ love webnovels, has become a lucrative business in China, where censorship of anything LGBTQ-related is tight. But the appetite for queer content is just too big to ignore, a demand that comes not from gay men, but mostly straight women.
At least eight shows adapted from novels with boys’ love romances are expected to premiere this year across China’s major streaming platforms, including Alibaba’s Youku, Tencent Video, Mango TV, and iQIYI. The stories range from historical-fantasy action flicks to modern mystery thrillers and teenage melodramas.
James:
Making and showing BL dramas in China is a tightly wound tight rope act between the profit-driven entertainment industry and the homophobic censorship of the Xi Jinping regime.
Zhou/Ewe:
Making and showing boys’ love dramas in China is a cat-and-mouse game between the profit-driven entertainment industry and the homophobic censorship regime.
James:
In 2016, the hit teen series Addicted (also known as Heroin), a drama with explicit gay scenes premiered.
Zhou/Ewe:
In 2016, the hit teen series Addicted (also known as Heroin), a drama with explicit gay scenes, was pulled from online streaming platform iQIYI before it could release its last three episodes.
interlude: the "Addicted (web series)" Wikipedia page
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Addicted_(web_series)&oldid=1050398215
James:
The first episode garnered 10 million views in the span of 24 hours setting the record of the highest number of views on the first day in China's streaming television history. In less than a month, the series reached over 100 million views. It became a massive trending topic on Weibo, basically Chinese Twitter, with the show’s hashtag being viewed 849 million times.
Wikipedia:
On January 29, 2016, the series' first episode premiered on Tencent Video, and other video sites and garnered 10 million views in the span of 24 hours after its initial online release, setting the record of the highest number of views on the first day in China's streaming television history. In less than a month, the series reached over 100 million views, and it became the second most-watched show on iQiyi and the most-watched show on other video sites.
The series became a viral topic on Weibo and other social platforms. The word 上瘾 (Shàngyǐn) was mentioned more than 3.9 million times on Weibo in the week of 21 – 27 February 2016, and the hashtag #上阴网络剧# (Shàngyǐn web drama) has been viewed over 840 million times.
James:
But then on February 23, all episodes of the show were removed from all Chinese video streaming websites three episodes before the season finale. This was by the order of the NRTA, or National Radio and Television Administration, due to "the gay and explicit content".
The show is now impossible to view or access via mainland China’s internet. The last three episodes of the first season were uploaded to YouTube a few days later to make them accessible to viewers outside of mainland China.
Wikipedia:
Despite the groundbreaking success, on February 23, 2016, all episodes of the drama were abruptly removed from all Chinese video streaming websites (three episodes before the season finale) by the order of SAPPRFT (now NRTA) due to "the gay and explicit content" and are no longer accessible to Chinese viewers, much to the series viewers outrage. The last three episodes of the first season were uploaded a few days later to the official YouTube channel of Huace Film & TV, accessible to viewers outside of mainland China.
James:
The censorship of the series sparked rampant criticism. Online discussions on Weibo with the hashtag "removal of Addiction" received more than 110 million views within a day of its cancellation. The Wall Street Journal and Time Magazine even published articles about it.
Wikipedia:
The censorship of the series sparked criticisms, questions, and discussions about the taboo topic of homosexuality and the acceptance of LGBT community in authoritarian mainland China. Online discussions on Weibo with the hashtag "removal of Addiction" received more than 110 million views within a day of its cancellation. American news media The Wall Street Journal and Time also published articles about the censorship.
Back to "Boys Keep Flirting"
https://www.vice.com/en/article/7k95mg/boys-love-drama-china-tv-untamed-lgbtq
James:
In 2018, the sci-fi drama Guardian went offline two months after its release, even though the original gay romance storyline was re-written as a friendship to try to appeal to the censors. They didn’t care about the rewrite though because Chinese viewers were shipping the characters whether they were written gay or not.
Before it was banned, Guardian had already pulled in over a billion views.
Zhou/Ewe:
In 2018, the sci-fi drama Guardian went offline on video hosting site Youku two months after its release, even though the original gay romance storyline was rewritten as friendship. But the demand for boys’ love was clearly insatiable — before it was banned from Youku, Guardian had already racked up over a billion views.
James:
The potential for some serious money encouraged companies to continue with the BL genre in China, but with a more understated tone that could possibly bypass the government censors.
The 2019 fantasy series The Untamed, featuring an unlikely bond between a man with magic powers and a stoic prince, started an online craze over the pair’s implicit romance. But the show’s promotion focused on its portrayal of Chinese traditional culture — a push consistent with Chinese Communist Party propaganda.
Zhou/Ewe:
The potential for serious profits encourages companies to continue queerbaiting while trying to please censors by incorporating elements from official state ideology. The 2019 fantasy series The Untamed, featuring an unlikely bond between a cheeky magic-wielder and a stoic ice prince, started an online craze over the pair’s implicit romance. But the show’s promotion focused on its portrayal of Chinese traditional culture — a push consistent with Chinese Communist Party propaganda.
another interlude: "The Untamed (TV series)" Wikipedia page
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Untamed_(TV_series)&oldid=1054287551
James:
The show was queer baity, but the novel on which it was based certainly was not. That featured a very explicit love story between the two main characters, but was self-censored when adapted to meet the censorship guidelines of the Xi Jinping government.
Wikipedia:
While the original web novel depicted an explicit romance between the two main male characters, the adaptation was censored with homoerotic subtexts instead due to China's ban of LGBT portrayals in films.
James:
The series has accumulated a total of 9.5 billion views in China, as of this summer ...
Wikipedia:
The series has accumulated a total of 9.5 billion views on Tencent Video, as of June 2021.
[then some statistics which all come from Wikipedia but direct wording isn't lifted]
James:
In January 2020, the cast members planned to embark on a multi-city worldwide fan meetings tour. Cities included Bangkok, Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Macau, Kuala Lumpur, Toronto, Los Angeles, New York, but it was cancelled due to COVID19.
Wikipedia:
Responding to the demand of sold-out fan meetings in Thailand and China, in January 2020, the cast members planned to embark on a multi-city worldwide fan meetings tour. Cities included Bangkok, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Tokyo, Seoul, Macau, Kuala Lumpur, Toronto, Los Angeles, New York, but was cancelled after the Bangkok concert due to the recent pandemic.
Back to "Boys Keep Flirting" again
https://www.vice.com/en/article/7k95mg/boys-love-drama-china-tv-untamed-lgbtq
James:
The overseas popularity of these romantic sword-wielding heroes is often highlighted in Chinese media coverage, focusing in on the massive overseas streaming numbers and its ability to build a growing appreciation for the charm of Chinese culture.
Zhou/Ewe:
The overseas popularity of these romantic sword-wielding heroes is often highlighted in Chinese media coverage of boys’ love period dramas, zooming in on epic overseas streaming numbers and the charm of Chinese culture.
James:
Meanwhile, production houses and streaming sites have snapped up the adaptation rights of other popular BL novels. Priest, author of Guardian and Word of Honor, will see at least four more of her novels adapted into live action series or movies.
Zhou/Ewe:
Meanwhile, production houses and streaming sites have snapped up the adaptation rights of other popular boys’ love novels. Priest, author of Guardian and Word of Honor, will see at least four more of her novels adapted into dramas.
James:
Knowing viewers jokingly call the homoerotic relationships in these dramas “socialist brotherhoods,” a reference to how on-screen homosexuality has to be disguised as a bromances in line with official state ideology. I’m surprised that moniker hasn’t been taken up by some of my subscribers, to be honest.
Zhou/Ewe:
Knowing viewers jokingly call homoerotic relationships in these dramas “socialist brotherhood,” a reference to how on-screen homosexuality has to be disguised as bromances in line with official state ideology.
James:
For all its appeal to homoeroticism, the BL business in China survives by avoiding any discussion of these rights while focusing on the physical attractiveness of its male characters.
Ge Liang, a researcher at King’s College London said:
[Quote scrolling on screen]:
“By hinting at male homoerotic love, the directors and actors are appropriating the interest of… gay life, trying to turn these into cash and traffic. But instead of speaking up for the LGBTQ community, they stay in line with China’s official policy on gay people: ‘keep them silent and keep them sinful.’”
Most gay people in China still face prevalent discrimination in households, schools, and workplaces. But these struggles are invisible to the public eye, as state censors ban almost all representation of obvious homosexuality in mass media. In 2018, a writer was sentenced to more than 10 years in jail for writing and selling gay erotica.
Zhou/Ewe:
For all its appeal to homoeroticism, the boys’ love business in China survives by avoiding any discussion of LGBTQ rights while focusing on the physical attractiveness of its male characters — a combination academics say has contributed to the silencing of sexual minorities in Chinese society.
“By hinting at male homoerotic love, the directors and actors are appropriating the interest of funü and gay life, trying to turn these into cash and traffic,” said Ge Liang, a researcher at King’s College London who studies boys’ love literature in China. “But instead of speaking up for the LGBTQ community, they stay in line with China’s official policy on gay people: keep silent and keep them sinful.”
Most gay people in China still face prevalent discrimination in households, schools, and workplaces. But these struggles are invisible to the public eye, as state censors ban almost all representation of homosexuality in mass media. In 2018, a writer was sentenced to more than 10 years in jail for writing and selling a gay porn novel...
James:
However, some members of the gay community see BL dramas as a precious platform for queer stories. Where Chinese state media often portrays gay men as enemies to traditional values, and sources of social instability, subtle BL dramas have perhaps become the best form of queer representation in China’s state-sanctioned pop culture.
Zhou/Ewe:
However, some members of the gay community see boys’ love dramas as a precious platform for queer stories. Where Chinese state media often portrays gay men as victims of crime, enemies to traditional values, and sources of social instability, subtle boys’ love dramas have perhaps become the best form of queer representation in China’s state-sanctioned pop culture.
James:
But in March of this year, just as new series Word of Honor earned an impressive score of 8.6 out of 10 on review site Douban, an op-ed published via the state-run News Agency warned against the “negative influence” of BL on impressionable teenagers. Many feared this signalled an imminent crackdown on the genre.
Zhou/Ewe:
In March, just as Word of Honor earned an impressive score of 8.6 out of 10 on review site Douban, an op-ed published on state-run Xinhua News Agency warned against the “negative influence” of boys’ love dramas on impressionable teenagers. Many fear this signals an imminent crackdown on the boys’ love genre.
[funny how he didn't bother checking how to pronounce the news agency and just skipped it. puts you unsettlingly close to his thought process, checking through the script like this]
finally a quick grab from "China bans men it sees as not masculine enough from TV"
AP newswire story by Joe McDonald
https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-entertainment-business-religion-china-62dda0fc98601dd5afa3aa555a901b3f
James:
President Xi Jinping has called for a ‘national rejuvenation,’ with tighter Communist Party control of business, education, culture, and religion. Companies and the public are under increasing pressure to align with its vision for a more powerful China.
McDonald:
President Xi Jinping has called for a “national rejuvenation,” with tighter Communist Party control of business, education, culture and religion. Companies and the public are under increasing pressure to align with its vision for a more powerful China and healthier society.
I'm gonna call it there (at the end of part 2), I'm sure there's more in the rest of the video, and maybe stuff I missed in the opening section
React
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Laravel
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Bring data to life with SVG, Canvas and HTML. 📊📈🎉
JavaScript (JS) is a lightweight interpreted programming language with first-class functions.
Some thing interesting about web. New door for the world.
A server is a program made to process requests and deliver data to clients.
Machine learning is a way of modeling and interpreting data that allows a piece of software to respond intelligently.
Some thing interesting about visualization, use data art
Some thing interesting about game, make everyone happy.
Facebook
We are working to build community through open source technology. NB: members must have two-factor auth.
Microsoft
Open source projects and samples from Microsoft.
Google
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Alibaba
Alibaba Open Source for everyone
D3
Data-Driven Documents codes.
Tencent
China tencent open source team.
