Culture and identity crisis in women Movie Review Paper

Culture and identity crisis in women
Name:
Instructor:
Institution:
Date:
Introduction
In modern cinema, women and gender issues have been represented in films through varying lenses. Despite being released in different years, the films; “Bend it Like Beckham” (2003) and “Divines” (2015), presents cultural barriers and states of social despair that force women to bend societal practices as means of attaining their goals. Based on these films, the articles “Questions of Identity: Cultural Encounters in Gurinder Chadha's Bend It Like Beckham” by Rings and “Divine Girlhoods; Filming Young Women in France’s Banlieues” by Vogt explores identity crisis and the impact of hybrid culture on women. This paper reflects on how cultural practices and identity crisis in women is presented in the two films and two articles.
Bend it Like Beckham (2003) and Questions of Identity: Cultural Encounters in Gurinder Chadha's Bend It Like Beckham
There are certain instances whereby literary works or even films work to depict the way the society is at that moment. The main aim is either to simply represent, or provide a criticism of the same. The most common issues are usually criticisms of culture and gender. The film “Bend it Like Beckham” explores cultural differences in societies and gender. It mainly revolves around the way Jess tries matching up to the competing demands of the British against her own Asian culture. Jess desire is less sexual but more existential; she desires to be like Beckham rather than with him. However, Jess is a Punjabi Indian girl and Beckham is a white English man. Due to such cultural and gender differences, rules are applied differently and women are forced to marry and take care of the children.
In his assessment, Rings (2011), argues that Jess being forced to marry an Indian boy and her desire to play football and adopt English customs revokes identity crisis in women. For example, there are certain cultural constructs that prevent women from running around with the ball. For boys however, there is more freedom which sets them free and allows them to have the time and freedom to play football. Rings (2011) therefore notes that Jess is a representation of transcultural relations, in the way she manages to mix both the British and Asian cultures. She represents the model of transcultural association since she tries her best to embrace the British culture while at the same time trying her best not to fully take up her parent’s culture.
As a resu...