For those who have been following the drama “The Gadis” directed by Liyana Jasmay, you’d know that the series just aired its finale last week.
Besides the themes of friendship and sisterhood as portrayed heavily portrayed in the series, “The Gadis” also featured a love story between the character Lisa (played by Yuna Rahim) who is an SPM candidate and her ‘sugar daddy’ Datuk Jefri (Zain Ruffedge).
The latter point has in turn sparked tons of anger and discomfort among viewers of the series. If you’ve watched the last episode, Lisa who just finished high school admits to having feelings to the much older Datuk Jefri. The couple ended up together at the end of the drama, hinting at their budding romance.
Local netizens felt that series was giving the impression that it’s normal for a teenage schoolgirl to date a guy old enough to be her dad. To quote @shashajamal on Twitter, the series “encouraged pedophilia” in some way.
Not only that, some also criticised Liyana by arguing that the storyline was too messy. The actress was also frowned upon for promoting bad influence in the 7-episode drama. Check out some of their reactions here:
Despite the backlash, a few fans came to the “Papadom” actress’ defence by pointing that the story shown actually happened in real life.
