Bend it Like Beckham Review

published in the State Press on Thursday, April 3, 2003



Where was Bend It Like Beckham when I was 10 years old?

In 1991, I was an awkward-ass, softball-playing tomboy. I had thick bangs, I was about a foot taller than my best friends in our fourth-grade class, and my favorite thing to wear to school was a manly pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt that read, "Snickers, reach for satisfaction!"

I didn't know what the hell I was doing, and I blame Hollywood.

The only movie out at the time to depict girls' sports was Ladybugs. If you don't recall this cinematic masterpiece, please let me fill you in. The movie starred Rodney Dangerfield as a struggling businessman who tries to impress his boss by coaching his daughter's soccer team. The girls on the team are so inept that Dangerfield has to put his girlfriend's son into a wig in order for the girls to have a chance in hell on the soccer field. What kind of message was that supposed to send to little tomboys like me?

Perhaps if I had seen a movie like Bend it Like Beckham, I would have had a healthier idea of what it means to be a female athlete.

This charming movie, directed by former BBC reporter Gurinder Chadha, follows Jessminder "Jess" Bharma [played by Parminder Nagra], an 18-year-old British-Indian living south of London, as she defies cultural norms and pursues her dream of being a football [aka soccer everywhere except America] player like her hero, Mr. Posh Spice...er David Beckham.

When Jess begins playing football, she doesn't have much hope for a serious career. She comes from a family of orthodox Sikhs who feel that it is important for young girls to stay home and learn how to cook traditional foods like Aloo Gobi. Activities like football are considered profoundly unfeminine and a waste of time. Also, unlike America, England does not have any professional opportunities for female footballers.

Jess is aware of these cultural dilemmas and is resigned to playing casual games in the park with her mates. She has a natural talent and one day catches the eye of Juliette "Jules" Paxton [Kiera Knightly of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace] who plays on a local women's team. Jules invites Jess to try out for the team and Jess accepts the offer even though she knows her parents will disapprove.

Some of the film's finest acting comes from Jess's concerned parents. Veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher, in his British-film debut, plays Jess's warm-hearted father. He remains diligent about keeping his daughter off the playing field. It is revealed that he was a champion cricket player in his youth in India, but when he moved to Britain, the white blokes wouldn't let him anywhere near a wicket. He loves his daughter and doesn't want to see her hurt like he was. Her mother [played by Shaheen Kahn] continually asks what she could have possibly done in her past life to deserve such a strange daughter.

Jess makes the team and befriends Jules, who faces similar at-home tension. Jules' silicon-enhanced mother, Paula [Juliet Stevenson of Nicholas Nickleby, Emma] is paranoid that playing sports will turn her daughter against the opposite sex. When she takes Jules shopping and she opts to buy a sports bra, Paula tells her, "There's a reason why Sporty Spice is the only one without a man."

When Jess's parents find out she is spending her afternoons playing on a real team, they forbid her from going back. Jess is devastated, but with Jules' help, she sneaks out of the house and continues to play.

Nagra takes on her role with confidence and grace. Although her character is a lot older than most girls beginning a sport, she possesses the same heart and passion of any athlete. The plot may be a bit convoluted at times [Jess and her coach, Joe, played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, end up falling for each other] but Chadha creates a film that leaves you rooting for Jess the whole way through.

If there are any 10-year-old tomboys defying our demographic by reading this movie review, you should consider yourselves lucky. Nowadays you have films with real inspiration.

Bend It Like Beckham was released in India in 2002 and has already had a profound effect on the culture. According to a BBC article, this month India will launch its first-ever girls football league.

Fairly impressive, considering that in my day the only thing a sports movie ever did was inspire pre-teen cross-dressing.