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PHOTO COURTESY OF FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES
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Keira Knightley (left) and Parminder Nagra are two English girls who are in love with football and its most well-known British player, David Beckham, in the coming-of-age film," Bend it Like Beckham."
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By Lindsay Utz
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Thursday April 3, 2003
A year ago I was sharing an apartment in Spain with three British girls. One of my roommates was born in India but grew up in London, in a culture drastically different from her parent's homeland, yet they remained adamant that Indian values and traditions, especially those concerning family and marriage, be respected.
She was torn, as many of the young Indian/British generation are today, between the cherished past and the inevitable future, between living with her parents' traditions and surrendering to their own desires for freedom.
Jess, the main character in "Bend it Like Beckham," an exciting indie film from the UK, is faced with this dilemma. She's been playing soccer since she was very young, knowing that someday she'll have to give it up, go to "uni" (college) and eventually settle down with a good Indian man, get married, cook Aloo Gobi, wear saris and have a baby. And while Jess appreciates her family's traditions, she dreams of being whisked away by an American scout to go play soccer in the United States.
David Beckham is England's Michael Jordan (and Jackson) of soccer. Jess loves and adores him, plastering posters of him all over her bedroom walls like a crusty-banged Î90s teenager fixated on "New Kids on the Block."
Endless afternoons spent kicking the ball around the park with all the boys pays off when she's spotted by a player from the local women's football team who convinces her to try out. She does against her mother's wishes, and joins the team.
Jess's mum is a riot, stubborn and appalled by the idea of a girl "running around showing her bare legs off." Shocked by the sight of her sweet little Indian daughter wearing cleats she fans herself and prays to the cheesy Technicolor photo of their Indian god hanging above the fire place. Her mother is unrelenting, but totally endearing.
In fact, what makes a film like "Bend it Like Beckham" so successful, like many independent films, is its natural ability to create characters who are always likeable no matter how annoying, stubborn and ridiculous they may be. The comedy, the real comedy poking fun at the absurd emotional and mental nature of humans is good comedy because essentially, we are all laughing at ourselves. Everybody likes to laugh at themselves. Too bad we can't do it more often. Maybe we wouldn't be at war if Bush would just throw on a yellow raincoat and smoke a pipe, like Vincent Van Gogh did in his self-portraits, drunk on absinthe and laughing at himself.
Jules, Jess's new friend and teammate is also harassed, but this time by a mom who hopes her daughter will someday abandon the sports bra for a lace pump-up style instead. But there's no stopping these girls because no matter what their mothers or their cultures tell them, they're going to kick some balls.
And yes, while this all may sound cheesy: "the Indian girl overcomes her family's disapproval and follows her heart" it's so funny and sweet that you'll eat the cheese and reach for more.
With an energetic, fun soundtrack including British pop, Indian pop and some funky didgeridoo, "Bend it Like Beckham" is one of the most enjoyable, feel-good, I-can't-control-my-smile movies I've seen all year.
As they would say in England ÷ "I'm over the moon about it."
