king naresuan, part II.

Last night we went to Major Cineplex Pinklao and watched the second of the King Naresuan trilogy. I was actually kind of excited because I’m a geek that likes history and political upheavals.

So as usual, after 30 minutes of previews, the king’s song came on and we had to stand up and watch the ultra patriotic video of all the good things the king has done. As corny as it sounds, I guess it makes me feel kinda happy and proud that I’m in Thailand. Which is really strange I guess because Thailand wasn’t exactly a wonderful place my parents lived in.

Anyway, I enjoyed the movie and was happy that Jimmy did too. Something I found really interesting was how Bunthing’s love interest was portrayed. Bunthing was the beggar boy that Prince Naresuna saved when he was kid and ended up growing up with him. Anyway. Apparently, Bunthing fell in love with the Princess of the Khang Kingdom. A kingdom from the north where women like the princess wore outfits that looked like a “hill tribe”… from the head wraps down to the leggings. There were pros and cons with how the princess was portrayed.

Pro: she was a kick ass fighter that killed a shit ton of people with her bow and arrow.
Con: she was sometimes in more revealing clothing AND she kept making out with Bunthing…

AKA: portraying people from the northern hill tribes as more promiscuous than the women from central thai… because OF COURSE central Thai people are more “proper” or “civilized” and ethnic minorities aren’t as good. BLAH BLAH.

Or maybe I’m just looking too into it. It reminds me of how every time Kevin and I go watch some musical, we’ll walk out and bitch about how the Asian person was portrayed. Like when we saw the Nut Cracker, it was interesting to see the “Siamese” dressed in Chinese clothing and have the actor be white. Eh.