Tony Jaa

Lately, we've been thinking about birth culture.  I've been trying to imagine if I were an international adoptee and America were my birth culture.  What if I knew who Betsy Ross was but I had never heard of Sesame Street, Bruce Springsteen,  Seinfeld, or Boy Scouts?  If this pop-culture divide were deep and wide enough, how much would I be able to enjoy the company of other Americans? Incorporating birth culture into a family seems to be about a lot more than just tradition and national holidays.  For us, birth culture is also about trying to stay aware of Thailand's modern trends as they develop.

Our kids at the girls' rescue home in Chiang Rai (where I've worked or volunteered for almost ten years now) are our biggest help in this pursuit!  The 60 plus teenagers in our care are always happy to explain who is cute, what music is good, what fashion is awesome or who is stupid.  Fortunately for me, I love teenagers and find their reasoning skills completely enchanting.  Brian struggles slightly more with this. ;-)

So this brings me to Tony Jaa (pictured above) who is all the rage in Thailand.  Especially among his teen followers.  Apparently, girls want to date him and boys want to be him.  His Thai name is Panom Yeerum but he goes by Tony Jaa in his film career.  He has enjoyed moderate but growing success in Thailand since the 90's but his film "Ong Bak: Thai Warrior" made him an international success.  Jaa does all his own stunts and uses no wires or CGI.  He is considered one of the best Muay Thai fighters in the world and certainly one of the most handsome!

The plot of this fantastic Muay Thai kickboxing movie really is indicative of how unusual Thai culture is.  Almost all of these low budget action films begin with an insult or a loved one in danger.  The hero then spends the length of the film either regaining their honor or trying to protect their family.  In "Ong Bak" the film begins with the bad guy stealing Jaa's village buddha.  Jaa must then spend the film searching for it so that he may return it to it's rightful place protecting his village.  Interesting twist and very reflective of Thai culture.  Of course, romance, adventure and kickboxing ensue!!  

In my opinion, it's not a movie for children, but Brian and I enjoyed it a lot and depending on your household rules teenagers will probably get a kick out of it - especially if they are Thai. The DVD that Brian and I purchased had a setting where we could watch it in English or Thai so that's cool too.  "Ong Bak 2" is in production now and is slated for theater release in the US - Tony's star continues to rise!  

- Rosemary