Switch Hitters
Iron Ladies is the second highest grossing film
in Thailand's history, sandwiched between the
bewildering ghost story/romantic melodrama Nang
Nak and the global behemoth of Titanic. And
yet, it seems an unlikely hit, given that it's based
on the true story of the Lampang Province men's
volleyball team, which won Thailand's National Games
in 1996 with a squad that was almost entirely made up
of queer, transvestite, and transsexual players.
At the same time, given that most of us are not often
exposed to feel good tranny sports films from Asia,
it's easy to want to like Iron Ladies, because
1) it's such an extraordinary story; and 2) you're not
likely to see too many more feel good tranny spots
films from Asia this -- or any other -- year. But once
you get past its uniqueness, some difficult problems
plague the film, especially in its representations of
homosexuality and transgendered individuals. In the
end, Iron Ladies is still likable, but while
you might be inclined to champion it on principle, you
end up enjoying it more as a guilty pleasure.
Thai or not, Iron Ladies's narrative is
straight out of Hollywood Screenwriting 101. Like
almost every sports film made about a team of
underdogs, it introduces us to the motley crew of
players that will stock the Lampang team, among them,
the hot-tempered Mon (Sahaphap Tor); the gorgeous
femme Pia (Ekachai Benjathikoon, the only actual queer
actor employed in the film); Jung (Chaicharn
Nimpulsawasdi), the flaming drama queen; and of
course, token het Chai (Jesdaporn Pholdee), the team's
best player whose mild homophobia goes into overdrive
when his teammates start to paddle each other's
behinds after scoring a point.
As the team starts to play competitively, they're
derided by nearly everyone -- opposing teams, the
press, sports officials -- yet, as they start to win,
they attract a massive fan following that elevates
them into divas on and off the court. And the plot
follows the rules of all feel good sports films: the
team is always one crisis from a meltdown, they appear
to lose their edge midway through, etc., etc. But in
the end, when the score is tied and one last point
will win or lose the game, there's no real threat that
the Iron Ladies, as they're called, are going to be
defeated.
You can get past the sports cliches -- Iron
Ladies isn't out to redefine that genre -- but
it's harder to wholeheartedly embrace the pool of
queer/TG stereotypes in which all the characters are
immersed. Perhaps it's a cultural difference -- the
U.S. managed to mainstream queerness in film and
television at least 20 years back and maybe Thailand
is just now coming to terms with folding queerness
into their popular culture. Regardless, Iron
Ladies is rife with portrayals that seem
incredibly dated, at least by American standards. Most
of the members of the Iron Ladies are so squealingly
effeminate, so coyly flirtatious, so garishly made up
that you'd think the screenwriters (Visuthichai
Bunyakamjana, Jira Malikul, Yongyooth Thongkonthun)
and director Youngyooth Thongkonthun scripted them
after watching To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything,
Julie Newmar and a season's worth of Will &
Grace. And let's not even talk about Coach Bee
(Shiriohana Hongsopan) who never declares that she's a
lesbian, but is made so stereotypically "butch" that
to out herself would be redundant.
Beyond the underdog narrative, the sugar-coated
message of the story is tolerance. Just because the
Iron Ladies might wear a pound of foundation caked
beneath their fake eyelashes doesn't mean they can't
play ball or be proud of who they are. With its safely
"liberal" politics, the film acknowledges and attacks
homophobia (no bigot is left unscathed for his or her
remarks), and some of the characters deal with
"realistic" issues, such as coming out to their
unsuspecting parents or dealing with ex-lovers.
Though it preaches tolerance of all sexual
preferences, Iron Ladies is lacking any actual
sexuality. There are tons of huggy hugs and kissy
kisses to go around, even some saucy dialogue, but
there's actually no sex anywhere in the film, not even
a wet kiss on the lips. The movie serves up the
surface layer of gay style, with none of the
substance, suggesting that while it's acceptable to
viewers to watch a team of queer volleyball players
trounce around, god forbid if the team members ever
took that physical energy off the court and into bed.
In this respect, the Thai film industry isn't much
different from Hollywood at all.
Iron Ladies succeeds to the extent that it
presents a team of likable characters whom you'll want
to cheer. And it's easy to see why the film's been an
audience favorite at various gay/lesbian film
festivals: it's a fun, entertaining movie with an
impressive ensemble cast. But its outdated images of
queers and drag queens make it hard to critically laud
without feeling a twinge of regret that as authentic
as this wants to represent its based-on-a-true-story
characters, the full truth is still in the closet.
