ICYMI: Namthaa Kammathep (2015)

In case you missed it, Namthaa Kammathep (also known as Cupid's Tears or Stupid Cupid) is a lakorn about lakorns. How meta is that? This is a parody of everything we love (and tolerate) about lakorns and other stuff in-between: arranged marriages, slap-kiss, love, hate, jealousy, revenge, sexual undertones, gender bender, unknown legitimate heir, a wedding and a funeral.

The Amaraporn family is a big and wealthy family. On the 80th birthday of the grandmother, who is the head of the family, she announced that she wants to hold an arranged marriage between her only grandson Chawee (Sunny Suwanmethanont) and Araya (Pattie Ungsumalynn). Orphan si Araya nga gin adopt ni grandmother kag Chawee likes to bully her halin pa kang bata sanda. Yingmae (Chawee's shady aunt) and daughter Chonlee want to eliminate Araya because she will soon become the daughter-in-law and receive the inheritance instead of them. Typical. Pati ang mother-daughter hairstyle nanda, typical nang rai but waay lang ko nag expect ka character twist kay Chonlee. Then there's Deedee, Chawee's former (?) lover who came back from the UK to aid the plans of cancelling the wedding. Deedee is pheromones on high heels and nalingaw ako sa banter nanda ni lola.

Meanwhile, Philin, a woman who disguises herself as a man named Piroj, applies to be the new gardener. And by disguise I mean nagbutang lang bigote and everybody is convinced nga laki tana despite the hint of cleavage peaking out of her blouse! Ang Amaraporn family doctor who secretly loves Araya for a long time, suddenly nagka crisis when he finds himself falling for the gardener. Furthermore, there's Pisan, the mysterious man living on a desert island, who is planning to avenge somebody in the Amaraporn family.

Obviously, you don't watch this for the plot or the romance, or the skinship (ha!). You watch this for the comedy and the pure entertainment of lakorn being lakorn. Kun raku ka run nalantawan sa lakornverse, familiar gid dya tanan nga tropes, pati ang over-the-top acting. And yet, this drama manage to subvert some expectations of the drama conventions and somehow came up with a philosophical ending. May mga drama man ako nga nalantaw that makes fun of drama tropes, mga passing commentaries lang garing sanda... or may Kim Ju-Meok character (Crash Landing on You: ang staff sergeant nga mahilig sa kdrama) sanda nga mag orient sa iban nga characters (and the viewers in a way) on how drama logic works. So far, daw waay pa ako may nalantawan nga iban nga drama that is so committed in parody other than this lakorn. Basi may naman-an ka pa nga dugang nga drama parodies, paki share lang...

There's Dramaworld (2016) of course, a short comedy-drama production, where the main character is transported into K-drama world. So we get to "experience" how it is to be a character in a kdrama, main lead or supporting role and how essential ang videoke scene sa narrative. It was fun, quirky and entertaining and ended in a way that was expected... Pay ang Stupid Cupid, just when you think man-an mo run ang paadtunan na, may mga biglang-liko tanda. What I especially like most about this drama is that it does not take itself too seriously. And if you can't laugh at your self, how the hell are you going to laugh at somebody else (without being rude)?

image from https://mydramalist.com/13529-stupid-cupid & https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/eb/Dramaworld_%28poster%29.jpg