Analyze the film Bend it Like Beckham

Film Analysis: Bend It Like Beckham
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Film Analysis: Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham is a story of two eighteen-year-old girls who want to become soccer players. Apart from soccer, the film focuses on issues of culture and gender. It indicates how the culture and gender influence the lives of the two girls. Jess comes from a traditional Punjabi Silk Indian family and has a dream of playing soccer against the expectations of her mother. Jess meets Jules who comes from an English family and who also plays soccer. Just like the case with Jess, Jules family forbids her from playing soccer because they want her to become “feminine.” This film analysis shows how the aspects of culture, gender, and racism affect the two girls.
The film indicates how society has certain ideal expectations regarding gender roles. The society has different expectations about the roles of men and women. There is what is deemed appropriate for both genders which force individuals to learn what is acceptable. In the film, Indian women are expected to remain as housewives and become good cooks (Chadha & Nayare, 2002). The movie displays Mrs. Bhamra, Jess’ mother, as the ideal Indian women because she spends most of her time preparing food and serving the others in the family. Jess’ sister Pinky believes in feminism and tries to uphold the traditional Silk ideology. However, Jess is not interested in what her mother and sister do. She does not care about learning to cook like her mother and being “feminine” as the sister. Instead, Jess cares more about playing soccer which is considered by society as a male thing. She deviates from the traditional expectations of the Indian culture which jeopardizes her integration into the rest of the Indian community members. At some point, Mrs. Bhamra is upset because she considers soccer to be a male sport. She wonders if Jess will find a family that wants a daughter-in-law spends her time “kicking a ball” yet cannot even prepare a traditional Indian dish. According to Rings (2011), Jess is a model for transcultural relations because she combines the aspects of Silk traditions and English customs. While Jess does not completely disregard her Silk traditions, she also believes in the independence of women.
The issue is no different for Jules who is also passionate about playing soccer. Jules mother, Mrs. Pax...