Bend It Like Beckham

In the film ‘bend it like Beckham’ the film deals with many different cultural issues for example the film make reference to the English culture. It makes it seem like you can be really free as you have a tendency to be able to behave the way you want and for example mix with other races but you cant go out with anyone except your own race and religion yet eating is different, some things you can’t do in other cultures.

The film is about two girls who like and want to play football, which plays a very big part in English culture/society plus it shows how people of a different culture can be changed when they are open to the elements of English culture as you get an Asian girl playing and adoring football.

The film also makes reference to religion. It focuses on the Indian religion that the main character jess follows, the film shows what types of things jess has to do differently because of her religion for instance wearing a sari to a wedding and cooking tradition foods and praying to a picture of a god on her wall in her house.

This maybe easier for jess if she was in her own country with everyone doing the same things but for jess living in England under English society and culture she finds it hard to fit in and there is a conflict.

The film also makes reference to the family of an English girl and the family of an Asian girl you can easily spot the similarities and differences with the 2 families.

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You can also see how the two families fit into different cultures. The Indian family seem to be a closer family than the British family of jewls as you meet a lot of the family in jesses culture but in jewls family you only meet her parents. Also the ways both children are treated in the two families are different yet the same due to the different cultures.

The film deals with stereotyping also they are portrayed throughout the film. A stereotypical teenage girl is shown by jesses sister ‘pinkie’ she wears makeup loves shopping slags off her mates all the stuff present teenage girls are believed to do. But this conflicts with the stereotypical view of an Indian teenage girl who should be; loving, respectful and follow the culture of an Indian girl. So there is a twist to the stereotyping of a girl. Also jewls the English girl breaks away from the stereotype she loves football something not associated with girls also she wants to wear sports cloths like a tom boy her mum finds this very bizarre.

Next is the stereotype of a teenage boy jesses friends portrays this image as always playing football and messing about with there mates and girls. But again there is a twist as one of the lads turns out to be gay. A western family is also shown in the film by jewels family they are portrayed by being supportive to jewls but really the mom doesn’t like her playing football she gets quite worried and upset about it, the farther clearly loves football like most male people do in a western family.

The dad seems more encouraging towards jewls. They eat traditional food like fish and chips. Also jewls drinks in a pub something related to English culture. An Indian family is also stereotyped in the film jesses family is a typical Indian family, they are strict with the children even though they are quite old and they have arranged marriages, they cook and sometimes talk in traditional ways just like our view of a Indian family. Also homosexuality was bought up in the film but I don’t think it was stereotyped, as the gay lad likes football and male things not a stereotypical view of a gay man as they are said to be more feminine.

The film reflects conflict right the way through, there is family conflict when jess wants to play football but her mum and dad despise her playing football, also when jess has a big game on the same day as her sisters wedding jess wants to go but she also wants to stay at her sisters wedding and support her so there is a slight role conflict happening at hand. There is also relationship conflict when jess falls in love with the coach Joe but jewls also fancies him and when jewls finds out that jess has kissed him she falls out with her for betraying her trust. All these things add up to an inner conflict for jess should she play the role of a friend to jewls or the role of a lover to Joe. Also she will be thinking about playing football against her parent’s permission. So jess is going through a stressful and depressing time in her life.

The film does reflect some things about our modern British society for example there is a lot more ethnic people aloud to play sports now where as before they mite have been kicked out like jesses dad it shows that in this day and age in a modern society all races are treated the same and not seen as a minority and are not alienated. The film is about a teenage girl jessminda who loves David Beckham and football she dreams about playing football professionally but to start with she only plays in the park; until one day a girl from the local girl’s team jewls, noticed Jess’s potential in football and asks her play for the team.

Jess joins and everything is going great till her parents find out she is playing football, because of her culture her mom and dad bring an end to it and stop her playing football. She carries on playing behind their backs with her sister covering for her, but they find out she has been lying and jess gets into deep trouble. In the meantime jess is falling in love with the coach Joe and ends up kissing him causing her close friendship between her and jewels to end.

They sort there problems out and on the day of a big game with a American scout coming to watch jess cannot play as it is her sisters wedding but her dad gives in and lets jess go in time for the second half she plays. At the end of the game the scout wants jewls and jess to go and play professionally in America jess really wants to go and her parents eventually allow her to go. They both go to America as friends and play football.