Director: Yongyoot Thongkongtoon
The story plot of Iron Ladies is quite typical just like any underdog film that manages to rise up against all odds. But it addresses a taboo issue of homosexuals and transvestites especially in Thailand. It is familiar in terms of its early setbacks, the recruitment of misfit volleyball players and almost the whole team leaving because of homosexuals. It is also unfamiliar because of the transvestites. At the same time, we all know that Thailand is famous for its transvestites and homosexual community, therefore the Iron Ladies relates to us for it's country, language and changing culture. The story is based on a true volleyball team that all of them were gays and they actually fought and won the volleyball national championship.
Personally, I had to admit that gay is not a thing for me. I would find it very strange to see two gays making out and such in public or even in films (Brokeback mountain? I've not watched it before). Thanks to Iron Ladies, it sparred me this idea of gays to a point that I feel even in a life of a transvestite, some of them don't even engage in sexual relationships with another. They just love to oogle at themselves in front of the mirror, and be like a girl. There was absence of sexual connotations which made the transvestites in the film kind of pure and innocent. And together with humor elements, it makes us think that 'Hey, maybe gays aren't bad in anyway...'. Iron Ladies show the kind of fierce fight even 'ladies' have mentally. Well, of course they do have some sort of physical masculinity, but it shows how a group of feminine personalities go against their whole world and be able to prove for their whole community that they are just as good as anyone else. To that, I can consider it... GIRL POWER! YEAH!
[1] The Iron Ladies (2000) FILM REVIEW; A Thai Volleyball Team That Vives Its Différence. Retrieved from http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D02E4D81339F934A3575AC0A9679C8B63
[2] The Iron Ladies. Retrieved from http://www.polfilms.com/ironladies.html
[3] The Iron Ladies by Roger Ebert. Retrieved from http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20011019/REVIEWS/110190302/1023
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