Bend it like beckham

Director: Gurinder Chadha (2002)

1. Describe the representations found on the DVD/film poster (include an image of DVD/film poster) (this should be a detailed character textual analysis - A2 level)

The representations found on this film poster are positive for British youth culture. Youth is represented, as it is clear the young girls are aged around 18 to 20. This is a positive representation of youth, as both girls look happy and their body language shows that they are good friends, as they are embraced in a close position. The girl on the left of the photo is Indian, however she is dressed in typically 'British' clothing; tracksuit bottoms and a top, showing that she is socially integrated into British society. The similarity between the Indian girls clothing and the white girl closes the social gap between the two cultures. Female youth culture is also represented positively as both girls are dressed respectfully, in contrast to the stereotype that young females wear low cut tops and mini skirts. Culture is represented positively as it shows two girls from two different cultures, smiling and hugging eachother, stood in similar positions showing that they are both very similar, even if from different cultural backgrounds.

2. How does the film reflect changing attitudes to gender and ethnic identity in contemporary Britain?

The film reflects a lot of change to attitudes of gender and ethnic identity. The main character Jesminda hopes of becoming a professional women's football player which reflects huge change in society. 50 years ago, football was highly dominated by males with the majority of professional players being of male gender, however the film features a successful women's football team. At the beginning of the film, a lot of the characters such as Jess' friends and Jewel's parents are not supportive of women playing football and a lot of scenes show them making sexist jokes about the women, but towards the end all become acceptive and respect that women can play equally well, showing that modern Britain is shifting its views on females roles in society.




3.What are the problems Jess faces as a British Asian 18-year-old girl?

As a young British Asian girl, Jess is torn between two cultures; the culture she has been brought up with and the culture she is surrounded by. Her aspiration to become a professional football player is encouraged by the culture who she is surrounded by, mostly White British. However this brings great conflict with her family and friends who are of the same cultural background being Indian and who expect her to recieve good A level results and then continue her career to be a doctor.

Jess is torn between what she personally wants and what she is expected to do by her culture and family.


3. How can filmmakers make a difference by representing the diversity national, regional, religious and ethnic identity in UK?


As filmmakers only have around two hours to make a difference and change the beliefs regarding religious and ethnic diversity they must make the chracters easy to relate to as appose to complex and difficult to comprehend. The character Jesminda is represented as a kind, respectful Indian girl, therefore making her easy to relate and sympthathise with. She has a dream of playing professional football, a typically English sport, chosen as it is a well-known sport that again, the audience can relate to. Filmmakers must use stereotypically 'English' or 'Asian' features such as langauge, clothing and house decor, in order to connect with the audience and not complicate the characters. However, they must also abolish some stereotypes that comes with being from a certain race or ethnic background. Gurinda Chadha shows an excellent portrayel of this achievement of representing religrious diversity in a different way as some aspects of the characters are stereotypical such as the family celebrations with Indian music and dancing, however, she gets rid of a lot of the stereotypes such as every girl from an Indian family has to have an arranged marriage, as Jess' sister marries the man she chose to be with. Chadha makes a difference by showing not all stereotypes are true and that people from different cultural and social backgrounds share a lot in common.


4.What does this film say about gender?


Gender is a key feature of Bend it like Beckham, particularly regarding what girls should or should not do. For example, the women's football team raises a lot of issues with characters in the film and many of the men are sexist and makes sexist jokes about the women playing football. However, as the ending scene shows Jewells and Jess both going off to play professional football in America, the film highlights the fact that there can be gender equality in the sport world.


There is a lot of pressure on women in the film to cook and enagage in stereotypically 'feminin' activities, however the women resist these activities showing that stereotypes are wrong and just because you are from a certain gender does not mean you like certain activities more than others.


5.In what way are British teens represented in this film? (use specific examples from the text, consider the fact that it is a positive representation)


British teenagers are respresented postively in this film. The majority of the teenagers have different views to their families however, when presented with this conflict, do not turn violent, disrespectful or impatient, rather they respect their families view and patiently try to resolve this conflict. Jess is the primary example of a positive representation of British youth, as in the scene where she is in the living room talking to her parents about football, she does not swear or barely raises her tone of voice, contrary to the stereotype that all youths swear and yell at their parents when they do not get their own way.


Although, many of the teenagers lie in the film, they are apologetic when they get caught out. For example, in the scene where Jess' parents find out she has been lying about her job and playing football instead, the scene of her parents talking is juxtaposed with images of Jess and her sister cooking dinner, representing them as remorseful and caring.


 Most of the teenagers are represented as having a good relationship with their parents which can be seen in various scenes, such as the scene where Tony is carrying the shopping bags whilst out of a shopping trip with his mother.  This goes against the stereotype that most teenagers argue constantly and do not help their parents out.




6.What are the themes and issues of this film? How are they represented/what is the film saying about them? (friendship, gender, ethnicity/culture, family, growing up)

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