Bend It Like Beckham Essay

Arranged Marriages have been around since time can remember. An arranged marriage is a marital union between a man and a woman who were selected to be wedded together by a third party. Historically, arrange marriages were the main way to marry. In certain parts of the world, it is still the primary approach. There are two types of arrange marriages. The first is a traditional marriage where the children can, with strong objections, refuse to marry their soon to be spouse. In a forced marriage, the children have no say in the matter. Bread Givers shows an excellent representation of the pressures on children from their parents to be married against their will.

In our society, we wouldn’t consider arranged marriages as a normal thing we are, use to consensual heterosexual serial monogamy. But in some countries, they do consider arranged marriages normal. In India, arranged marriages have been apart of the Indian culture since the fourth century and many consider it a central fabric of Indian society (Arranged Marriages, Matchmakers, and Dowries in India, 2000). Pakistan also considers arranged marriages as normal in Pakistani culture elders of the family are considered wise and they are the ones who help pick out a spouse a family member (Arranged Marriages are the Part of Pakistani Culture, 2012). Japan still practices arranged marriage but now less than ten percent of marriages are arranged compared to half a century ago when about seventy percent were arranged(Tying the Knot, 1998). In China, they have marriage markets where parents line the pathways share with other parents their clippings they have on their child, hoping to find a good match for their child (Epatko, 2015). Still, today many countries consider arranged marriages normal.

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.

Family ties people down and brings people together. It chains people down with rules and regulations, caging them in with familial obligations. While most would not complain or fight against being encaged and molded into their parents’ desires, some let go, abandoning these duties in exchange for happiness. In the production Bend It Like Beckham, the protagonist, Jess, struggles with the reason why it is important to abandon family obligations when it conflicts with one’s personal desires.

In the film Bend It Like Beckham, several characters go through both internal and external conflicts. Their minds are pulled in conflicting directions by two compelling desires, ambitions, obligations, and influences. In Jess’s case, she is conflicted with her desire to play football and her obligation to her family to follow cultural traditions (Bend It Like Beckham). She is torn between doing what makes her happy and her responsibility to her family (Bend It Like Beckham). Because of this, Jess is forced to lie to her family to continue playing football (Bend It Like Beckham).

Overall, ‘Bend it like Beckham’ was an inspiring and comical film of the conflicts that arise in the clash of culture versus family/culture. Many themes were presented within the film such as wanting is will. This theme is explained with the constant perseverance of Jess, where she set a dream for herself and never gave up, in the end accomplishing what she dreamed for; her goal. Another theme explored was that of, your parents don’t always know what’s best for you. Times

Hank’s physician assistant Divya Katdare, is of Indian decent, who’s parents to do not approve of her working in the medical field. Instead, her family sticks to the traditional Indian cultural roles of arranged marriage, which eventually falls apart and becomes shunned by her parents for a time for not obeying their wishes. In this instance, we can see the cultural values of the United States beginning to shine through. Freedom to choose and marry whomever a person wants is a cultural norm and something that is prided upon by Americans. As a culture, we tend to look down on cultural traditions where individuals are forced into arranged marriages. This also goes along with stereotypical views of Indian culture. If their children do not obey the parents, they suffer from being shunned by their

Her mother thinks that playing soccer is un-lady like. Instead of playing football, they want her to study and go to university to become a lawyer, learn how to cook perfect indian meals, and marry an Indian boy. One example from the film that proves this, is when Mrs. Bhamra says that jess is running around showing her legs

The film is based on the autobiographical account of Mira Nair's own family.( Manish Gajjar 2002) It is about a stressed father, a bride-to-be with a secret, a smitten events coordinator, and relatives from around the world who create much ado about the preparations for an arranged marriage in India (IMDB). The excellent exploitaation of symbolism, colour and costumes together with the contrast between modern and traditional India has been successfully depicted the Indian values and beliefs. Nonetheless, with the use of representations, and by dealing with the concept of

People who escape their original culture, adapt into another environment and show an interest towards it, are free to be arrogant and make their own decisions within their lives. In time - they and others will accept who they are as a person both from self and society. This is portrayed in Gurinder Chadha’s 2002 film ‘Bend it like Beckham’ of which follows a young Sikh girl named Jessminder who is very passionate about soccer. She encounters cultural-barriers between her passion, dreams and her Sikhism culture, and her parents expectations. The themes of sexism, cultural-barriers and friendship, there are linked together to display how each and every environment is unique to whom it impacts and will continue to shape an individual towards their

In ‘Bend it Like Beckham’ the Indian culture is reconnoitered through conventional Sikh pious principles. For instance the importance of cultural rituals, cookery, clothing, the traditional role of a woman, and the particular importance given to elders (A. Ratna). The Indian Sikh culture integrates prayers into their daily life. For example, the Bhamra family hung a portrait of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism and Jess's mother is regularly praying and talking to the portrait. Unlike her mother, Jess has a portrait David Beckham, above her bed, and she is seen talking to the image about issues present on in her life. This portrait has a comparable part in Jess's life as that to the portrait of Guru Nanek.

Bend it like Beckham is a film that was written, directed, and produced by Gurinder Chadha, a British film maker who was grew up in India. The film focuses on the main character's desire to play football and the conflict she faces due to her obligations to her traditional Sikh family. The character, Jess Bhamra, must make the decision to pursue football or follow her parent's wishes and complete school and marry and Indian man. As Jess struggles to find her own identity without losing her family, she befriends a British footballer Jules. Jules' parents offer an interesting parallel to Jess' family, showing that although cultures may be very different in some ways, they are actually very similar in others. Director Chadha explains that

The cultural issues of Bend it like Beckham are breaking Indian traditions, what is a socially acceptable relationship. First issue is Jess breaking many Hindu traditions of showing too much leg when wearing her athletic shorts, showing the scar on her upper thigh, and playing organized soccer, falling in love with her coach who is not Indian. Second issue is gay couples we observe when Tony admits to Jess that he is ready likes David Beckham. Paula Jules’s mother freaks out when she thinks her daughter when she over hears argument between Jules and Jess over Jess kissing Joe when she knew Jules liked Joe, and her mothers the word you broke my heart. Paula comes to the conclusion Jules and Jess were in a relationship and broke up.

In the same way as arranged marriages are an established and expected part of Islamic culture, arranged marriages are very common also in India, where Hinduism is the leading religion. Most marriages here are arranged, but importantly with” the consent of the bride and the bridegroom and the blessings of the elders” (http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_marriage.asp). Also here the question of consent is very important to provide a distinction between arranged and forced marriage. This focus on consent has been a modern development of this ancient tradition. In the past, consent from the spouses was not necessary for them to be married (http://www.culturalindia.net/weddings/arranged-marriage.html HHHHHjjlafdkdk.)

Through the use of cinematic techniques, Hidden figures, a movie directed by Theodore Melfi and Bend it like Beckham by Gurinder Chadha both explore the dangers that are inherent in a marginalised society. Each text demonstrates that hope for change is needed in society as it can build the momentum for an individual to strive. Through these texts, we see that people have no conscience about harming others until they learn the truth about their circumstances. This is depicted by the way in which Jess’ coach Joe behaves after learning about her cultural expectations in Bend it like Beckham. Similarly, this is shown in Hidden Figures by Mr. Harrison. Both directors emphasise that the abuse of power leads to corruption and this can be seen through the segregation between the black and white people in Hidden Figures and the way in which cultural values overrule the lives of the Bhamra’s in Bend it like Beckham. Both characters highlight the importance of creating opportunities rather than seeking it, this is shown when Mary Jackson goes to court for educational rights in Hidden Figures and in Bend it like Beckham when Jess stands up to her father who appears to be patriotic about his cultural values. The resolutions to both texts justify that determination comes from within and that though many factors can outweigh a person’s ability to triumph, consistency can lead to rewarding results. As an audience we are able to further increase our understanding of perseverance through