In Ready, Set, Love, The Farm is depicted as a place of luxury, but very few know about the dark secrets it hides.
In 1974, a pandemic affected the male population, causing the male birth rate to plummet to 1%, and this decline continued annually.
For the past four years, there have been no male births, resulting in Thailand’s current male population standing at 314.
In this world, where 99.99% of all babies are female, men are an invaluable resource that needs to be protected, which is where The Farm and The Family come into the picture.
A gilded cage
After the pandemic, the government passed legislation to protect the male population. As soon as a male child is born, it is brought to a secure facility called The Farm.
The Farm is a beautiful and luxurious place where all boys are raised. They are not allowed to step out of The Farm, so they never get to see the outside world.
Once they reach a suitable age, their marriage is arranged through a game show called Ready, Set, Love.
Men are considered the ultimate prize, and every season, the contestants compete for five men known as The Gentlemen. The top five contestants get to marry them.
While the winner chooses the husband of her choice, The Gentlemen do not have a say in it; they must marry the woman who chooses them.
The winners and their husbands are then welcomed into The Family, which comprises all the couples formed on the show and their families.
Much like those on The Farm, the members of The Family live a comfortable life. They get to enjoy various luxuries, including the rarity of a traditional family unit in this world.
However, as they lack the freedom to choose their own lives, there have been instances when men have tried to run away from The Farm.
Son’s father tried to free him and reunite him with his mother, but his efforts were in vain; eventually, Son was found and returned to The Farm.
A corrupt system
The truth is that this system favors only the rich. The ordinary people, who believe that every contestant has a fair chance of finding a husband, are unaware that the show is rigged.
Wealthy families pay bribes to ensure their daughters’ victory. The Gentlemen, then, are nothing but commodities to be acquired by the rich.
The show serves as propaganda for The Farm, masking its ugly reality with the allure of love and beauty.
Apart from that, the system also forces mothers to give up their sons as soon as they are born.
While the masses believe that all mothers willingly send their sons to The Farm, many resist, unwilling to part with their children.
The ones who resist, such as Almond’s mother, are kept imprisoned under The Farm and subjected to sedation.
They are deceived into thinking that their sons have died, and any memories of forced separation are dismissed as hallucinations induced by stress.
The general populace is led to believe that all men live on The Farm or with The Family. However, in reality, some rebels manage to keep their sons away from The Farm.
These rebels and their sons have to live in hiding. Despite that, it is better than living on The Farm, where men are deprived of freedom or the love of their families.
Also Read: Darika “Day” Chokwithee: Ready, Set, Love character explained