tuc32475 The Beautiful Boxer is a Thai drama based on the real life of Nong Thoom, a transgender Muay Thai boxer. It follows his struggles as a transgender and his problems he faces with family, as a Muay Thai boxer, and the Media's sensational focus on his identity. This film is full of insightful human drama and with sometimes comedic element that really captures the innocence of Nong Thoom to follows his destiny and finds his place in society. The gender of Nong Thoom is clearly portrayed throughout his life and his passion for the beauty of Muay Thai boxing. The two seem to not go together and creates his struggles with the industry and the prejudice that attacks with his character. As he becomes more comfortable in his own skin, he realizes through the media's attention that he is not truly accepted by society. The film succeeds in portraying the balance Nong Thoom's mentality as a woman and his physical need to be a woman. Stereotypes towards transgenders and transsexuals in Thai are also shown. Although their identities are quite known in mainstream culture, they are not "accepted" or respected as other "standard genders". The film also focuses on the childhood of Nong Thoom, and sends a particularly strong element to understand the motif and psychology behind his "decision" to be a woman, merely to show that it is what he is destined to be.

bballk11-269-111138 I had not heard of this movie before I saw it, so I didn't really have any expectations, however I was very pleasantly surprised. Most movies that portray transgendered people or transvestites lean heavily on the use of stereotypes to portray characters. While the movie does little to show the difference between these types of people and doesn't really even It is also nice to see a movie which from a non-western culture take on these types of issues.The film is about a Thai boy Parinya Charoenphol, also known as Nong Toom who, from a very young age knew that he was not truly a boy. The very gentle Toom had, for most of his life knew that his sex and his gender are very different, but had no real way of affording an operation to make himself feel like a complete person. When he first winds up in a Muay Thai match, Toom is very afraid of getting injured, however a lucky hit makes him win.With the cash prize in hand and with a new found confidence gained by his ability to defend himself Toom decides to join a Muay Thai training camp. He has several initial troubles as he feels like the only women in a group surrounded by men. However he is able to get some help in secretly expressing his feminism from the wife of the camps coach. The coach Pi Chart eventually finds out Toom's secret after he has begun to win a few fights. To his surprise Toom is encouraged to keep wearing makeup, even during matches.Toom had begun fighting to free his family from financial burdens and to earn enough money to get a sex change operation. He's transvistism gave him an advantage with the audience, they may have laughed at him at first, but once he won so many matches, many of which ended in knock outs, the crowds loved him and his antics. Some accused Toom of not being a real transgendered person, but it appears that she was accepted on mass, before and after her surgery.This movie boldly speaks out on gender issues, and it is treated very differently than it would be in the West. Yes, there is some comedy in the actions and dressing of Toom when he cross dresses. However, his sexuality and gender isn't part of the comedy of the movie as it would probably be in an American movie. It is addressed more as a fact and in a more mature way.

Alice Wakefield This movie was aired on channel SBS in Australia, and their current catch-phrase is "The most amazing stories are true". The value of this movie is that it is a more interesting, and less sentimental story than could ever have been imagined. I don't mean to detract from the lead acting with this statement, which is also fantastic.*Beautiful Boxer* marries the two strongly Thai elements of kick-boxing and transvestitism. I know nothing about kick-boxing and it seems I know less about transvestitism than I thought, as IMDb tells me there is no such word. Therefore it's kind of like making an Australian movie about beer and kangaroos, but somehow without clichés. Hard to imagine and I imagine, hard to do.Toom leaves his farming family to become a monk (fair enough - at least he'll probably not starve at the monastery). But he struggles with what is considered the easiest of the ten tenets of being a junior monk. He then turns to kick-boxing, which he excels at because he's always had to defend himself from bullies. This then becomes a source of income for his family, and for hopefully, one day, his sex change operation. Meanwhile, he has a relationship with his mother which again, could not have been invented. Nor could the trajectory of his boxing career or the fate of his coach, Chart. I probably should be saying *her* at this point, as it is obvious that Toom is male in biology only.Which is where I struggle with this movie. I always thought that your body helped inform who you are. Sometimes I think your body is all of it. After all, isn't whether you feel like a man or a woman determined by chemicals in your brain, or neurons, or something physical like that?Anyway, Toom's message is to be true to yourself; to your heart, however you want to figure that out.

cpdeek The movie gives a sad outlook on that of the Thai culture. It shows how difficult it is for a lower class family to escape from poverty. Very few means are introduced but the one that pays off is kick boxing. Toom, the main character, is initially disturbed by how violent the sport is but is forced into it in trying to save his family, as well as fulfill his wish of becoming a woman. Also, the movie shows a stark difference between that of the Thai countryside and the rapid life of Bangkok. He eventually helps his family and helps shed light to the country about transvestites. The film takes on a lot and tries to put it all in there, but would have been better in leaving some of the corny laughs out of it and sticking to the pace. Also, it tries to introduce to many subplots. All in all, it was a good story, but poorly done.