"Bend it like Beckham" Film review - 1

Hi, all!

Today, I would like to introduce you to a fascinating movie called “Bend it like Beckham”. It is a comedy movie, but I found that it contains many insightful messages about the cross cultural issues that young migrants and their families often face.  

Jess, the protagonist of the film, is a Sikh woman who was born in England. As can be seen from Jess’ room which is plastered with posters of soccer and David Beckham which symbolize her dream, Jess loves soccer. Playing soccer with her male friends at the park often, Jess aspires to become a professional soccer player. On the contrary, Jess’ mother, Mrs. Bhamra, expects Jess to be a good Sikh woman who cooks well and behaves appropriately, so that she can marry a good Sikh man. As a result, she is horrified by Jess’ playing soccer with guys.

Since the beginning of the film, I think there has been a clear contrast drawn between the values of Jess and those of her mother. Jess seems to represent the younger generation of migrants who are influenced greatly by their second culture, while Mrs. Bhamra represent the older generation who are bonded strongly to their first culture, the Sikh culture in this case. I find that the main source of tension between the two generations is the disparity between the values of the environment in which the young migrants are raised in and those of the culture they are originally from. Jess is willing to overcome the constraints imposed by Sikh culture to pursue her own dreams as a soccer player. However, her parents expect her to follow the norms of Sikh culture.

In this portion of the film, I learned where the cross cultural issues stem from and what they result. I will be writing more posts on this film, so do remember to come back!