Response to Rebecca Murray's '"Bend It Like Beckham" Movie Review'

Recently, I have watched a film, “Bend It Like Beckham”. The film deals with many cross-cultural issues that Jess faces as an immigrant in the Britain community. Rebecca Murray, a film critic, writes a review that discusses the cultural values that are present in the film. He discusses the cultural values that are reflected in the film. I agreed with his idea that Jess’ culture has clearly defined and traditional gender roles: women are expected to be caregiver, while men are supposed to be the sole breadwinners. Jess tries to go against this norm by becoming a professional female soccer player, and her aspiration entails many conflicts. Trying to satisfy both her dream and her family’s expectations, Jess lives a double life. Though desiring to break away from the cultural norms, I could identify some evidences of Jess’ influences from the Sikh culture, for example, reluctance to undress in front of other girls. I think this was what made the film even more realistic, in that Jess is not completely detached from her culture. Murray compliments the realistic soccer scenes and the cast’s successful acting. I also agree that those elements enhanced the development of the film’s themes and ideas. Overall, “Bend It Like Beckham” is a refreshing film that combines sports, romance, courage, culture and comedy successfully.

Link to Rebecca Murray's review:
http://movies.about.com/library/weekly/aabenditlikebeckhamreview.htm

"Bend it like Beckham" Film review - 4

Hi! This will be my final post on “Bend it like Beckham”.

Jess is forced to give up her dream as a soccer player, and she removes all the soccer posters on her bedroom walls. However, she cannot help feeling down during her sister’s wedding which unfortunately happens on the same day as the final match of the soccer tournament. I think the director purposely edited the film so that the scenes of soccer match and wedding contrasted each other and symbolize Jess’ dilemma. In the end, Mr. Bharma allows Jess to leave for the second half of the final match. Jess’ excitement in the match again contrasts with her previous sad look at the wedding and highlights her true passion for soccer. Jess’ team wins the game, and Jess succeeds in getting scouted for a competent soccer team in America.

The director signifies how Jess breaks away from the stifling constraints of her family expectations and traditional norms of behaviour in the film. Of course, this does not always happen in real life. However, I think it is important to understand that the cultural issues can be resolved bit by bit with sincere heart and perseverance, as Jess has shown.

After watching this film, I gained a better understanding about cross cultural issues. I really recommend you watch “Bend it like Beckham”. It’s a great movie. 

"Bend it like Beckham" Film review - 3

Hello, everyone. Thanks for coming back.

In this post, I would like to identify some issues that migrants face in the community they moved into that were illustrated in the film. The particular incidents that highlighted those tensions were Mr.Bharma’s experience of racism and insult at Jess during a football match.

Jess’ father, Mr.Bharma has been an excellent cricket player back home. After migrating to England, he wants to join the local cricket club. He gets rejected, not because he lacks skills in cricket, but because of his Turban. The experience of racism in the sports team makes Mr. Bharma strongly oppose Jess’ joining the girls’ football team.

Similarly, Jess, during her football match, gets insulted by a rude player from the opposing team. The player calls Jess a ‘Paki’ which is a very offensive term referring to Pakistani people. Jess feels insulted by this and reacts violently. As a result, she is given a red card.

Those two incidents in the film demonstrated the discrimination migrant people sometimes encounter in their new ‘home’. It is not easy for them to settle down and live without cultural difficulties either within their house or the outside community.

Thanks. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or want to share your ideas.

"Bend it like Beckham" Film review - 2

Hi!

This is my second post on “Bend it like Beckham”. In the last post, I wrote about the different attitudes of younger and older generations of migrants. Today, I want to show how the film portrayed that the younger generations are to some extent also influenced by their first culture through the protagonist, Jess.

Jess goes against the norms of Sikh culture and decides to join the girl’s football team. However, during training, she finds it uncomfortable to wear shorts or undress freely in front of other girls. Here, she shows her influence from the Sikh culture. She has been taught to hide her scarred leg and not to expose her skin too much in front of other people.

Although Jess accepted much of the English values, she is still part of the Sikh culture, as can be seen from her behaviour in those situations. From Jess, I could see that most of the younger generation of migrants are shaped by both their first and second cultures, even if they were born outside their ethnic country of origin.

I want to hear your opinions. Please leave a comment and follow up with my third post on “Bend it like Beckham”.

"Bend it like Beckham" Film review - 1

Hi, all!

Today, I would like to introduce you to a fascinating movie called “Bend it like Beckham”. It is a comedy movie, but I found that it contains many insightful messages about the cross cultural issues that young migrants and their families often face.  

Jess, the protagonist of the film, is a Sikh woman who was born in England. As can be seen from Jess’ room which is plastered with posters of soccer and David Beckham which symbolize her dream, Jess loves soccer. Playing soccer with her male friends at the park often, Jess aspires to become a professional soccer player. On the contrary, Jess’ mother, Mrs. Bhamra, expects Jess to be a good Sikh woman who cooks well and behaves appropriately, so that she can marry a good Sikh man. As a result, she is horrified by Jess’ playing soccer with guys.

Since the beginning of the film, I think there has been a clear contrast drawn between the values of Jess and those of her mother. Jess seems to represent the younger generation of migrants who are influenced greatly by their second culture, while Mrs. Bhamra represent the older generation who are bonded strongly to their first culture, the Sikh culture in this case. I find that the main source of tension between the two generations is the disparity between the values of the environment in which the young migrants are raised in and those of the culture they are originally from. Jess is willing to overcome the constraints imposed by Sikh culture to pursue her own dreams as a soccer player. However, her parents expect her to follow the norms of Sikh culture.

In this portion of the film, I learned where the cross cultural issues stem from and what they result. I will be writing more posts on this film, so do remember to come back!

Throwaway Daughter Voicethread Conversation

https://voicethread.com/share/5155413/



Please listen to the second half of the conversation. That is our final version. Thank you.

"Throwaway Daughter" Review

“Throwaway Daughter” is a young adult fiction written by Ting-Xing Ye. The protagonist, Grace Dong-mei Parker is an adopted girl from China. By describing Grace’s journey of discovering her identity, the author effectively explores the ideas of family and identity.

The author develops the theme of family through the portrayal of Grace’s connection with her Canadian and Chinese families. Grace was born to a Chinese family bur raised by a Canadian one. The love and care she receives from her adoptive parents and sister show that family is not necessarily a link made by blood. Grace accepts that her adoptive family “treated [her] as if [she] came out of [her] mother’s womb in Milford’s Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital just like Megan did”; she is regarded as a true member of the Parker family. Sincere love and care is what forms a family. However, Grace cannot ignore her roots. Even though Grace wants to cut her ties with China, she cannot stop the curiosity about her biological family that rises as she gets to know more about Chinese history, culture and language. Her unbreakable connection with her roots is evident also when Grace and Chun-mei meets for the first time. They recognize each other at once and feel an overwhelming flood of emotions. Their closeness emphasizes that blood ties form family regardless of time and distance. Thus, the author conveys that the family is not limited to blood ties, but blood relationship is unbreakable.

Moreover, Grace’s internal conflict conveys the theme of identity. Grace suffers identity crisis due to the disparity between her ethnic appearance and upbringing. She feels that she is “neither and nothing”, belonging neither to Canada nor China. Grace’s confusion causes low self-esteem and leaves a missing puzzle in her life. Then, after she learns about the story behind her birth and abandonment, Grace’s identity crisis gets resolved. Likewise, the author illustrates the significant effects of her identity on Grace’s life to suggest the importance of knowing one’s roots.

What makes the themes stand out effectively is the use of different perspectives. The author shifts from one character’s point of view to another to describe in detail the character’s position in the events occurring. This technique facilitates more thorough insight into characters’ feelings and thoughts, so the overall message and themes are easy to grasp. For example, Grace’s uncertainty about her identity was revealed when she illustrated her envy for the children of immigrated Asian families and concern that “everybody is only pretending [she]’s a Parker. Her internal conflict and sense of identity were demonstrated well because of the technique.

Overall, Ting-Xing Ye successfully communicates her ideas about family and identity with the use of various perspectives. The author has made perceptive insights into possible issues that adopted children may face, and those touch the readers with the warmth of families and encourage them to look back at their upbringing that designed their identity. “Throwaway Daughter” is therefore a meaningful book containing significant messages for life.