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Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham
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Bend it like Beckham is a 2002 British movie by the director Gurinder Chadha starring Anupam
Kher as Jessminder “Jess” Bhamra, an 18-year-old daughter of a Punjab Sikh living in London.
She is obsessed with soccer, she finds a friend in Juliette “Jules” Paxton who is a native English
girl played by Keira Knightley. The English soccer superstar and midfielder maestro David
Beckham is well known for his technique, inspire the movies’ name passing and exemplary free-
kick abilities. While this is a sporting film, it is very rich in the culture and conservatism of
Indians and it tackles some social issues like religion, marriage, and homosexual. The film’s
theatrical release was by Redbus Film Distribution, and on DVD and VHS by Warner Home
Video on November 18, 2002. The film was a critical and commercial success that came as a
complete surprise. It is the highest-grossing sports film to focus on association football, which
The story begins by depicting Jess’s love for football, but her family won’t let her play because
she is a woman. She does, however, frequent the park regularly where she plays with the boys
from time to time, including her best friend, Tony (Ameet Chana), who is a closet homosexual.
Whilst jogging through the park, Jules observes Jess’ talent, befriends her, and invites her to try
out for the Hounslow Harriers, a local women’s football team coached by Joe (Jonathan Rhys
Meyers). Even though Joe is wary about a new player joining the squad, Jess is thrilled and
enthusiastic about trying out. Joe welcomes Jess into the team after seeing her abilities, although
Jess lies about her parent’s approval. Soon after, Jess develops feelings for Joe, who goes clubbing
together when the team visited Hamburg, and is caught kissing by Jules, who also has feelings
for Joe severing their friendship because Jules insists she told Jess about her crush. Jess tries to
mend their friendship by visiting her at their home, but this had Jules’ mother (Juliet Stevenson)
misled and believes they are concealing a lesbian relationship. Thanks to Jess and Jules’s input,
skills, and prowess in the team they reach the finals of the local tournament. Meanwhile, Jess is
forbidden from ever playing by her strict parents upon discovering that she went behind her back
plus the racism that met the father when tried out for cricket. The final match date coincided with
Jess’s elder sister’s wedding, who had ascribed to the traditional path common to women in their
culture. The finals begin without Jess on the pitch and her team concedes a goal and trail.
Halfway through her sister’s wedding, Tony convinces Mr. Bhamra to allow her daughter to play
the finals, which he accepts. Tony drives Jess to the game where she arrived her team down by a
goal with 30 minutes to spare. Upon her being substituted, Jess and Jules combined and leveled
up the score line. The Hounslow Harriers then win a free kick which is assigned for Jess to take.
She bent the ball around the wall into the net, resulting in the Harriers being victorious. They
awarded Jess and Jules scholarships to Santa Clara University; Jules being excited she
immediately tells her parents whereas Jess is implacable. Jules and her mother, Mrs. Paxton,
storm the wedding where she accused Jess of being a hypocrite and a lesbian. Jules embarrassed
grabs her mother and they leave. Tony rushes to aid Jess by lying they are engaged to allow Jess
to attend the college she wishes. Jess comes clean with her mother, who blames Jess’s father for
allowing her to play and refuses Tony’s proposal. Jess’s father convinces her mother to accept
Tony after telling her he doesn’t want Jess suffering as he did. Jess flees to the football field to
tell Joe of her parent’s decision. The two almost kiss, but Jess pulls away, saying her parents
would object, and that although they had come far enough to let her go to America to play, she
doesn’t think they would be able to handle another cultural rebellion from her. Mrs. Paxton gives
her daughter a football jersey and wishes her as Jules and Jess took their plight. Joe confesses his
love for Jess as she is about to board the plane and Jess assures him that she’ll give them their
parents which were also in line with the Indian tradition. Here the sexism theme is explored
when parents preferred the protagonist’s sister’s path which included getting a suitable mate to
marry and have children. The protagonists had to use deceit rather than face the parents who
were strict in the religion and culture. Another source of the conflict was that despite the
Bhamra’s residing in London they had disregarded integrating with the society putting their
daughter at a crossroad because her friends were more open-minded. The parents show signs of
ethnocentrism when they remarked that it would be disgraceful if one of their children didn’t
marry an Indian. This put the protagonist’s life’s two worlds; that of her family and that of her
friends at odds and the movie’s plot drives to the resolution of the conflict.
Racism is another theme that the film highlights and it could be the reason the Bhamras were
very adamant about letting their daughter Jess pursue her dream of playing soccer. This could be
viewed as a form of protection, even parental love of shielding their daughter from the harsh
reality that the parents had perceived of that society. Jess’s father was a victim of racism during
his tenure in the cricket team which saw him sidelined and denied an opportunity to display his
prowess despite being the batsman in his former cricket team in Nairobi. Jess also experiences a
mild form of racism when an opponent called her a Paki after tugging her shirt in a match.
The movie also explores the intercultural friendship between the protagonist and Jules, her best
friend. Their bond undergoes several struggles from their families, Jules’s mother accusing Jess
of lesbianism. Jess and Jules also tussle over love as they both are in love with Joe but in the end,
The theme of sexuality is touched but not satisfactorily explored in this movie as Tony, Jess’s
childhood friend is reported to be a closet homosexual. His role is minimal in the movie and his
story is always seen as orbiting around Jess being a supportive friend. Mrs. Paxton is also seen as
being strict at adhering to conservative values condemning Jess for being lesbianism with
unfounded allegations.
Another theme that is rarely explored in this film is the lack of ethics and professionalism from
Joe the coach of the Harriers. He falls in love with a player who can often be nuanced, confusing,
and contentious since professional and private worlds collide and position distinctions blur.
These kinds of relationships are inextricably linked to power dynamics, and they often result in
A common motif that is recurrent in the movie is the linguacultural dimensions of the
conversations. It is possible to conclude the various attitudes and behaviors that are triggered by
the different types of participants and communicative circumstances by using language. When
people of various generations meet, the language becomes recognizant of the person’s position in
the society.
This movie is filled with humor, twists, and intercultural social dynamics that affect how
individuals of different races, religions, and cultures interact in their day-to-day lives. Having
scored 85% on rottentomatoes.com, this movie will be a pleasant watch for people of all age
groups who are looking for a good laugh and an interesting storyline.
REFERENCES
Summary on Bend It Like Beckham. (2018, Oct 24). Retrieved from
http://studymoose.com/summary-on-bend-it-like-beckham-essay
Summary on Bend It Like Beckham. (2018, Feb 05). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/paper-
on-bend-like-beckham/