Expectation From Parents In “Bend It Like Beckham”
What you want in comparison to what your family expects form you is a common disagreement through most family households. In the movie ‘Bend it like Beckham’ we saw the conflict between jess and her parents on how they feel and what they want for her, how jess sees the situation and how it is resolved. Throughout Jess’s journey she is constantly pulled in what she truly wants and what here family/culture expects (internal conflict). 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 play soccer. Despite her parents, Jess’s passion was so great that she bent all the rules to do what she loves. On the other hand, there are her parents. Jess’s father, Mr. Bhamra is worried about jess playing soccer in fear she will get hurt just like he did when he wanted to play cricket. Mr.
Bhamra was treated differently because of the way he looked, in the movie he spoke of how they made fun of his turban and he wasn’t allowed to play on any of the teams. Her father is afraid she will be disappointed and end up just as he did. Jess’s mother seems to be more caught up in the soccer situation; her mother does not agree that she should play at all but, instead spend her time learning how to cook; something culture oriented. Her mother throughout the movie stresses how it is against her culture to play soccer, for example when her mother talks of her running around with her legs exposed she says, “You bring shame to society! You can see this against here cultural beliefs. The conflict is present due to many reasons. Jess loves playing soccer but, also respects and loves her family and culture. She is drawn to decide to keep her soccer life a secret and tries to meet her mother and father’s expectations to avoid disappointment. “It’s an honor to play for the team” Jess says defensively in the film because she is determined to keep following what she loves. But, when she has the opportunity of a lifetime with and American scout coming to watch them another conflict arises: the game is on the same day as her sister’s wedding day.
That was the cherry on top for the impossible, which is when she decides to pull down her Beckham poster this shows her sense of defeat she doesn’t want to torture herself seeing it every day when she knows she can’t play any longer. In the end, her father realizes the pain that his daughter is feeling. He sees she cannot be truly happy without knowing if she was good enough to make her dreams a reality. Finally, he father overcomes his own thoughts that held him back from following his dreams and accepting his daughter’s playing soccer “if this is the only way to see you smile on your sister’s wedding day then go now. After the wedding she is offered a fully paid scholarship to play soccer in America. Although her mom is not thrilled with the idea she finally accepts that Jess must live her own life. 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 change and so do traditions. Things like that way we see the world and the way we do thing are not the same as it was 10 to 20 years ago. At times parents don’t seem to understand this, they wish you the best but I can be challenging to give advice to someone you cannot fully understand situation wise. All in all, although our parents want the best for us, they don’t always know what’s best for us.
