Bend It Like Beckham Character Analysis

In present-day society, families go through several problems and arguments regarding numerous issues which would have been considered unacceptable in past times. Throughout a variety of different cultures, the level of respect and obedience for one’s parents has diminished while the negotiation of conformity and rebellion has risen. This statement is supported and evidential in two different stories, “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan and “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. Although these stories represent different cultures, they both exemplify the values and importance of family relations; as well as demonstrate in every culture families face social problems. In both these stories, two major topics stood out which allowed me to compare each one to one

People often think of family as positive, loving, and with no flaws. However, there is almost a stereotype that all families love each other and there aren’t problems or challenges in a family. Sometimes families put people through challenges and some families aren’t “perfect”. In the book Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff, Jolly has two kids and goes through challenges with her family. Most careful readers can see how Jolly has these challenges with her kids and how she is far off from the “perfect” family. She goes through many of these challenges in life and finds a way to overcome them. Jollys family shapes her identity because the challenges she faces ends up making her stronger. Jeremy and Jilly challenging her, LaVaughn helping her out, and her past family all shape her identity.

How does one define family? Throughout our readings, we find ourselves learning the ideas of theorist, concepts, and definitions to help us define and describe what family is. The family could possibly be what or who we say they are, or in simpler Bozett’s term, who the patient says it is! (Plumer, 2010). A family could consist possibly of values, roles, communication, environment, and relationships. Families may transition through all of these principles that either unites them or tears them apart. For instance, the movie Mrs. Doubtfire portrays these perceptions of what family is when family processes are shifted within a household. We will now discuss in more detail of the family assessment found throughout the movie starring the Hillards.

Bend it Like Beckham (2002/3) is a romantic comedy written, directed and produced by Gurinder Chadha, a Kenya-born British film maker who grew up India. Director Chadha’s films often reflect on her complex background. Unlike many comedies, Bend it Like Beckham is filled with plenty of important themes. One of them addresses the importance of cultural integration.

While there are many strong relationships, there are also familial relationships as evidenced through Shelby and her mother, M’Lynn. Their relationship does a great job demonstrating the characteristic of responsibility in family relationships. M’Lynn constantly felt the need to protect Shelby. She also felt responsible for Shelby’s health and well being. Our text explains this same idea claiming, “Family members see themselves as having certain obligations and responsibilities to one another,” (DeVito, 2015). We found that Shelby and M’Lynn’s relationship is based off of this element of obligation and demonstrates how a family characteristic can dictate how members act. For example, because of Shelby’s diabetes, M’Lynn constantly watches after her. When Shelby’s blood sugar drops in the salon, her mother runs right over to her and feeds her juice demonstrating her duty to take care of her daughter. If she was not a family member of Shelby she may have just uncomfortably observed the whole incident like some of the other women. However, because they do have a familial bond, M’lynn knows more about Shelby and her condition than anyone else; she understands that she is the only one out of the women that knows how to take care of her daughter during a diabetic

In today’s society, family is often attempted to be organized within a social structure. Within this structure family typically is consisted of mom, dad, daughter, and son. However, many families do not fit into this configuration. These families may include same sex couples, separated or divorced families, extended families, or even blended families. Even though these families may be happy and healthy, to many they are not considered real families. Going along with the topic of imperfect families, both Barbara Kingsolver and Richard Rodriguez try to break down the traditional family structure through their writing. While Kingsolver’s “Stone Soup” and Rodriguez’s “Family Values” explore the ideas of different family structures and traditional American values, “Stone Soup” breaks down what an actual family is like while “Family Values” expresses the value of family in different cultures.

Our parents often play an important role in shaping us into the type of people we will eventually become. In the short story “Two Kinds” written by Amy Tan, Tan portrays a mother daughter relationship through the daughters eyes while she struggles with her mother trying to make her into prodigy. Although I was never thought to be a prodigy, I was very good at soccer, and therefor I was forced to play it. Like Jing Mei, I played soccer because I wanted my parents to be proud, I wanted to be socially accepted, and

Jess has the desire to play soccer, but her parents want her to conform to Indian traditions. Once Jess earns a place on a women’s soccer team, she is encouraged by her new found teammates to continue to defy her parent’s wishes for a chance to play with them. She starts playing on their team after Jules, one of the players, complements and urges her to play on a team most well known for their competitiveness and multiple accomplishments in the soccer world, for example winning the tournament in Europe. This decision goes against Jess’ family obligations in that it subjects her to being immodest and straying away from a traditional women’s role in Indian society. Jess’ mother wishes for her to adhere to Indian traditions in that she prospers into a good Indian wife, instead of playing a game most often looked upon as a boy’s sport. Furthermore, she tells her daughter to stop continuing on with her ongoing rebellions and resorts to forcing Jess to learn to cook good Indian meals and wear

To start off, Jess’s dreams are more important than here culture, because they are who she is as a person. Jess does not simply want to be the traditional Indian girl that her parents want her to be, she wants more. Instead, Jess makes a bold decision that traditional Indian girls wouldn’t do, she chose to

To begin with, Bend It Like Beckham is a film about an Indian girl named Jess who lives in London with her family who is very strict about the way culture shapes how they live. She is an amazing soccer player and is asked to join a great team by Jules, a girl who sees her playing at the park. Unfortunately, Jess has to hide this team from her parents for her mother strongly disapproves of the shorts that expose her legs, especially her large burn scar on her thigh. Moreover, she mainly does not want Jess playing soccer because it is masculine and unattractive in her eyes, and she should be focusing on attending a university. Jess’s mother states that Jess needs to learn how to cook delicious Indian food in order to attract a husband, rather than worrying about sports. Due to this presence of folk culture in her home, Jess decides to lie to

She is an amazing softball player but she decided to challenge herself by joining a travel team. A travel team is a higher level of competition that helps get girls notice from colleges to get athletic scholarships. Tryouts finally came she thought she had a long shot after seeing the competition. She gave it her all and it resulted with her making the team. Now every weekend she goes to different cities playing tournaments all day from the morning to the late afternoons. Lucky for Jazlyn she got to really know her teammate and her St. Mary sister, Dominque Montelongo. Even though, Jazlyn was busy with softball she still made time for family. On Fourth of July

Rule of the Bone, by Russel Banks, was written during a time where there was a boom in homelessness of teens accredited to abuse and a negative family environment. This novel uses the character Bone’s experiences as a critical lens for viewing – and challenging – the idea that a home with a mother and father is always the best option for American youth. Throughout the novel, Bone’s character growth stems from his views of what his family life is like. Rule of the Bone poses the question of whether a person can choose their own family, or whether family is strictly the nuclear household in which someone is born. The answer can be found in the critical analysis of the nuclear family, the bond of biological family, and whether or not a person – particularly a young adult – can actively choose who they allow to be their true family, all seen through the lens of Bone’s inner character growth.

Most families are complicated but supportive. For example, a family could argue a lot, but still love one another. In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” mama still supports her daughters even though, they’re not around much. Their issues are not unique because my family has its issues, too. The family in “Everyday Use” and my family both have similarities and differences regarding siblings, bonds, and mothers.

A family is the most important and fundamental processes of development in childhood. There are many examples of works that deal with family. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the reader sees how neglection from a family setting can invoke horrible events. In The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing, presents how Isolation and dislike can and will lead to unfortunate events. In Macbeth by Shakespeare, shows the betrayal of a family and how it affects the mind by playing with it in several different ways. Before a person can see effects of isolations, neglection, and betrayal of a family he/she must “climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

Her parents have a hard time understanding Jess' interpersonal conflict with them because they have chosen to remain separated from the British community, rather than integrate. Jess' parents are afraid the living in Britain will influence the lives and behaviors of their daughters. Often times during the movie the parents show signs of ethnocentrism. They believe that their culture is the correct one and make comments about how one of their daughters marrying a white man or a Muslim would be shameful. An important moment in the film is a conversation that Jess has with her football teammates. They are talking about marriage and the teammate says to Jess that she must have to marry and Indian and Jess agrees. Her teammate questions how she can "stand" having to marry who other people want her to. Jess replies, "It's just culture". Jess understands that certain traditions are a part of her life because of her culture. She may not always agree with the way things are done but she accepts the reasons why her family pushes her towards traditional roles.