It might get better indeed

The movie “It Gets Better”, directed by Tanwarin Sukkhapisit, had me in tears last year. It’s about cabaret theatre owner Nam, who was born male but fought against cultural beliefs to live as a female (although his family was wonderfully accepting).
He lost that initial battle, only to resume the fight in a woman’s body. Late in life she also had to face her younger male self of the past, and all the terrible experiences he went through.
Nam sustained a complex relationship between a transformed body and social prejudice, so the final scene is especially poignant, as the three men in her life – father, son and lover – pour her ashes into the river. It shows simply that a good life requires little, apart from understanding. Love and peace are within reach if we accept people as they are instead of asking them to change, if we’re prepared to sacrifice a little comfort for the sake of harmony.
The film’s katoey were somewhat stereotyped, but there was enough strength in their character that viewers saw them as actual human beings. Nam’s story deepened and widened the cliche world of katoey in the Thai movie industry. There was still laughter at some scenes, but I believe the audience laughed with greater understanding.
The biggest strength of “It Gets Better” was its effort to tell society more about katoey, but, sad to say, the film was screened only in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Pattaya. It’s a dark spot on the profile of the local film industry that it still fears the new and the unfamiliar. Whether this movie’s limited distribution resulted from business strategy or fear of riling less urbane viewers, the result was the same – the larger audience was barred from experiencing a different world through cinema.
After the rainstorm, the rainbow: “It Gets Better” was nominated for several foreign awards and this month ended up winning a Subhanahongsa trophy and a nod from the Thai Directors Association.
I hope it wins more – and I hope Thai filmmakers change their attitude toward katoey if they want to honestly address alternate sexuality.