Saturday, November 10, 2007
Beautiful Boxer (Part 3)
Parinya Charoenphol and Asanee Suwan,
the actor who played her character in the movie
I read up an article that covered the true story of Parinya Charoenphol and thought it would be interesting to post it up.
"Charoenphol was born into a family of nomads that eventually settled down in Chiang Mai province, and - taking the traditional route for children of poor parents - became a novice monk. He played truant to make money for the family and was expelled from his monastery. At the age of 12, he visited a temple fair at where a kickboxing match offered 500 baht to the winner; goaded by insults about being a sissy, Charoenphol entered and won. Intense training at a muay thai (traditional kickboxing) camp followed, then wins in 20 out of 22 regional matches, and finally nationwide fame. All the while Charoenphol was making visits to the village transvestite, experimenting with makeup, and saving up the money for the sex change he had been planning since childhood."
This is only a short excerpt from the article written by Will Hodgskin, on 19th August 2005 in The Guardian. To read up more you may visit the website at: http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,1551894,00.html
The articles is very interesting as it describes the sweet personality of Nong Toom, how she differs from other transsexuals. It also talks about how her life has changed after the sex reassignment operation. Most importantly, it covers the controversy that sparked out of her presences as a transvestite in the world of Muay Thai dominated by masculine males.
Her transformation from her 12-year old self, to her 21-old self.
Credits:
Pictures from:
Yahoo Movies, http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808607923/photo/stills, viewed on 10th November 2007
The Guardian, 2005, http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,1551894,00.html, viewed on 10th November 2005
Izzah(:* my stories -
6:42 AM
