“Bend It Like Beckham” Movie Review

People are to make constant serious and not really serious choices in their lives. Theoretically each individual is free to make his choice at any given moment of his life, still in reality each person is under pressure of circumstances and his environment. People are under the constant impact of their characters, their close people, their financial state and cultural traditions. Their world views are also formed under the impact of their culture and social norms, as well as family traditions and rules. Sometimes individuals are morally and physically strong enough to confront their life conditions in order to make their dreams come true. Bend it like Beckham is a great dramatic comedy, which is devoted to exploration of the Indian culture in the world of modern Britain, it was characterized as “Light hearted, without taking away the considerable substance in terms of values, attitudes and the love for sport, the film just goes to prove that there are ways to be convincing and honest” (Chitra 2002).  The main heroin of the story has to face various obstacles on her way towards her dream to become a good football player, at the same time not losing close contact to her family and remaining devoted to her cultural traditions at least to some extent.

The main heroin of the movie is Jess and the whole story is presented to the audience through her eyes. She is an active and smart girl; she does her best in order to correspond to the expectations of her parents, at the same time she is not able to withstand her desire to play soccer. According to cultural traditions in India girls are not allowed to play soccer and behave in this way. “Izzat applies to both sexes, but in different ways. Women must uphold the ‘family honor’ by being chaste, passive and submissive, while men must be strong, brave, and be willing and able to control the women of their families.” (Vishwanath 2011).  Mrs Bhamra would prefer her daughter learn to cook Indian dishes and find a nice India young man to marry him, when she says “What family would want a daughter-in-law who can run around kicking football all day but can’t make round chapatis?” (Bend it like Beckham). On the surface the main problem is related to cultural traditions; in reality there is another important reason. Mr Bharma is afraid that Jess would be disappointed to the same extent as he was, when he wanted to play cricket. He had to stop doing what he liked because of racist attitude from the side of the English players. “Racism is touched on both in terms of institutionalised racism (Mr Bharmra was not let into his local cricket club due to membership rules) and more directly, when Jess is called a Paki by an opposing player.” (Bend It Like Beckham 2002).

Often, when somebody has a true wish, the life helps him, this was the situation with Jess also, when she was playing football in the park, she was noticed by Jules, who invited her to play in real women’s football team. Jess agreed, as this was another step towards her dream and again he faced no understanding from the side of her family. Culture is utterly important for Bharma family, for them this is a way of their lives. Jess’ parents immigrated to England long time ago. They are doing their best in order to preserve their own culture and traditions and teach their children. This could explain that fact that Jess actually did not have friends outside her cultural environment, as her parents were concerned about their potential impact upon their child and her involvement into the British culture. One the one hand sticking to native cultural roots is a good option, on the other hand it is important to consider the actual environment, as ignorance and hostility towards its traditions might become a serious obstacle for becoming a successful member of this society. “Mrs. Bhamra is an excellent example of ideal Indian femininity because she is almost always shown preparing, serving, or eating food. The preparation of these meals is a symbol of continuity of culture, as are her attempts to teach her daughters.” (Rees 2012).

The notion of modesty in Indian culture is related to showing as little skin as possible by women. This is the reason, when Jess wanted to play soccer, her mother was against it, stating that “she shouldn’t be running around with all these men showing her bare legs to 70,000 people! She’s bringing shame on the family” (Bend it like Beckham). Playing football for a girl breaks so many cultural traditions of Indian people. “But being a girl, her chances are limited to having a kick about in the local park and, being an Asian girl, her family don’t even agree with her doing that. As her mum says: “Who’d want a girl who plays football all day but can’t make chapattis?” (Russell 2002).  Jess was concerned about this very much: “I nearly scored from 25 yards today. I could have carried on playing all night. It’s not fair that boys never have to come home and help. If I get an arranged marriage, would I get someone who’d let me play football whenever I wanted?” (Bend it like Beckham).

The theme of gender roles is vitally important for this movie. In any society there are certain expectations, if not rules, defined for female and male behaviors and roles. Indian women are supposed to cook good food and become good housewives. “The mothers, who are usually shown cooking or otherwise working with food, come to terms with this future through food. Mrs. Bhamra is initially a roadblock to Jess’s future as a soccer player, with her feet firmly rooted in the kitchen” (Rees 2012). Pinky, the sister of Jess, is ready to maintain these traditions of cooking and serving and being feminine for her husband. The behavior of Jess is considered to be deviant in Indian culture, as she is not interested in cooking or taking care of house chores, rather she wants to become a sports star.

Overall, Bend it like Beckham is a deeply emotional and psychologically profound movie, which touches a lot of vital social themes, has a portion of positive humor and suggests audience reconsider some of their live views, making them treat some of the life issues in a broader sense.

Works cited:

Bend It like Beckham. Dir. Gurinder Chadha. By Gurinder Chadha. Perf. Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Parminder Nagra. 2002.

Bend It Like Beckham. Film education, 2002

Manesh, Chitra.  “Bend It Like Beckham” Online edition of India’s National Newspaper
Friday, 2002

http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/fr/2002/07/19/stories/2002071900910202.htm

Rees, Jamie. Bend It Like Beckham and “Bending” the Rules. University of Missouri, 2012

Russell, Jamie. Bend it like Beckgam, 2002

http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/03/19/bend_it_like_beckham_2002_review.shtml

Bend It like Beckham. Dir. Gurinder Chadha. By Gurinder Chadha. Perf. Keira  Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Parminder Nagra. Redbus Film Distribution, 2002

Vishwanath, Jyothi. Patriarchal Ideology of Honour and Honour Crimes in India. University of Bangalore, 2011

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
Available at:

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]
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