DVD Movie: Beautiful Boxer

	Distributor:	Regent Releasing
	Release:	January 21st, 2005
	Genre:	Action/Adventure, Art/Foreign, Drama, Biopic and Sports
	MPAA Rating:	NA

I borrowed the DVD because I was curious why people were talking about it. Turns out that the movie is based on an actual person's story. The movie is made in Thailand, therefore the language is Thai, and I have to deal with English sub-titles in order to understand what is being said. A good thing that I am watching this in DVD so I can repeat the movie ... one could miss the action if pre-occupied with reading the sub-titles. The first time I played the movie, I paid attention to the sub-titles in order to understand the story. To really enjoy and appreciate the movie, I recommend watching it again, this time not paying much attention to the sub-titles as you already know the plot.

The story is about Nong Toom, a Muay Thai boxer who has captured the fancy of people because s/he was gay, and after retirement from the sport, had sex reassignment surgery.

Born Parinya Charoenphol, Nong Toom came from a poor family. As a young child, he was sent to Buddhist monastery but he did not last long and was sent home. Even then, he already thought of himself as a girl trapped in a boy's body. It seems that one of the influences in his life is a gay or transsexual person whose home he would often visit, and whose beauty he idolized and aspired for. His dream to have a sex change operation may have been born at this point in his life.

Nong Toom began working at an early age to help his family financially. When it was discovered that he had skills/potential to succeed in Muay Thai, Nong Toom took the chance to train in a boxing camp as succeeding in the sport means earning big money.

Initially, no one in the camp knew he was gay. When he was outed, instead of being turned out of the camp, his coach accepted him for what he is. Nong Toom would soon start winning matches, and slowly, he started wearing make-up in the ring. As a make-up wearing boxer is a novelty, and Nong Toom was a fierce fighter, his effeminate ways were tolerated, and even accepted. Nong Toom soon became famous.

After his retirement from Muay Thai Boxing and undergoing a sex change operation, Nong Toom became an actress and a model.

I understand now that some would be turned off at the idea of a man who had surgery to become a woman (and the same people would be turned off with women undergoing surgery to become men). This attitude in itself will prevent them from appreciating the other aspects of the movie.

Beautiful boxer is not a movie about a male boxer who was effeminate and soon had surgery to be female. This movie is about the journey of a boy, who had always thought himself different - a boy who had always admired the beauty of women enough to want to be one. No matter where his life's journey took him, this boy kept to his dream and kept true to himself, even risking ridicule, and came out victorious. The uncomfortable situations that Nong Toom found himself in were funny, yet also touching. The movie did not dwell on the character's sexual identity, rather it dug deeper and showed us the soul of the character, allowing the viwer to emphatize with Nong Toom regardless of gender.