20 years of Bend It Like Beckham
April 14, 2022 8:38 PM Subscribe
As Gurinder Chadha’s film Bend It Like Beckham turns 20 years old, Ali Rampling looks at what it means to players today.
Some more retrospectives from around the web:
Some more retrospectives from around the web:
- Shireen Ahmed: 20 years ago, 'Bend It Like Beckham' changed how millions of girls saw themselves
- Sarah Rahman: ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ isn’t a Queer story, but it’s part of mine
- Katherine Singh: Bend It Like Beckham Isn’t Perfect, But Jess Bhamra Is Still The Blueprint 20 Years Later
- Gabi Mostert: A love letter to Bend It Like Beckham
What a film! In addition to the retrospectives above, the excellent Gal-dem also noted the anniversary with an oral history piece that has a great interview with the Gurinder Chadha.
posted by sarcas at 1:14 AM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by sarcas at 1:14 AM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
This movie is right up there with A League of Their Own in the pantheon of sports movies for me. (I initially had that as "women's sports movies," which is also true, but I don't need the qualifier.)
The one quibble I have with the film is that Jonathan Rhys Meyers, while a good actor in general, is maybe the least convincing soccer/football coach casting I can imagine. The scene at the end where we briefly see him run through Heathrow is so weird - I know, I know, the character has a career ending knee injury, but something about his gait in that scene is so unathletic, it cracks me up every time.
posted by the primroses were over at 4:25 AM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
The one quibble I have with the film is that Jonathan Rhys Meyers, while a good actor in general, is maybe the least convincing soccer/football coach casting I can imagine. The scene at the end where we briefly see him run through Heathrow is so weird - I know, I know, the character has a career ending knee injury, but something about his gait in that scene is so unathletic, it cracks me up every time.
posted by the primroses were over at 4:25 AM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
Watched it with my soccer-loving daughters last year. They both agreed it was pretty neat but that the romance with her coach (who had also romanced another player!) absolutely ruined the movie for them.
posted by xthlc at 4:39 AM on April 15, 2022 [15 favorites]
posted by xthlc at 4:39 AM on April 15, 2022 [15 favorites]
I loved this movie when it came out, my senior year of high school. I'm like, the least athletic person I know (always picked last in school sports, etc), but the navigating-two-worlds stuff resonated hard with me.
This was also the era where it was impossible to see a brown body on screen unless they were Generic Service Worker/(fucking Apu) or Abused Woman Fleeing Religious Sect or Evil Terrorist -- Goodness Gracious Me had a great sketch calling this shit out, although I can't find it online. I mean, if we saw a South Asian appearing newscaster, or even a name scroll by in the credits, whoever was watching would cry out, "Look! Indian!" and we would all marvel. Things are better now, in no small part thanks to Bend It Like Beckham's sleeper success.
Totally agree that the relationship with the coach felt shoehorned in; not surprised to learn that it was an afterthought/corporate rather than creative idea. Kind of like how 1930s screwball comedies will have lots of queer-coded parts but gotta wind up with that heteronormative couple at the end to appease the censors! It was not great then and it really hasn't aged well today. I wish they'd had the courage to leave the homoeroticism of Jules and Jess's friendship ambiguous/open to viewer interpretation. I see value in both a queer reading and a non-queer reading -- teen girl friendships are really intense, y'all, and not every intense friendship is romantic/sexual.
It's also, I think, telling that Keira Knightley went on to be a huge star, whereas Parminder Nagra has had a much quieter career. So yeah, we've come a long way, but there's still miles to go.
posted by basalganglia at 5:28 AM on April 15, 2022 [16 favorites]
This was also the era where it was impossible to see a brown body on screen unless they were Generic Service Worker/(fucking Apu) or Abused Woman Fleeing Religious Sect or Evil Terrorist -- Goodness Gracious Me had a great sketch calling this shit out, although I can't find it online. I mean, if we saw a South Asian appearing newscaster, or even a name scroll by in the credits, whoever was watching would cry out, "Look! Indian!" and we would all marvel. Things are better now, in no small part thanks to Bend It Like Beckham's sleeper success.
Totally agree that the relationship with the coach felt shoehorned in; not surprised to learn that it was an afterthought/corporate rather than creative idea. Kind of like how 1930s screwball comedies will have lots of queer-coded parts but gotta wind up with that heteronormative couple at the end to appease the censors! It was not great then and it really hasn't aged well today. I wish they'd had the courage to leave the homoeroticism of Jules and Jess's friendship ambiguous/open to viewer interpretation. I see value in both a queer reading and a non-queer reading -- teen girl friendships are really intense, y'all, and not every intense friendship is romantic/sexual.
It's also, I think, telling that Keira Knightley went on to be a huge star, whereas Parminder Nagra has had a much quieter career. So yeah, we've come a long way, but there's still miles to go.
posted by basalganglia at 5:28 AM on April 15, 2022 [16 favorites]
I think a lot of female buddy comedies (and movies in general) get saddled with romance plots that are unnecessary and sometimes even detrimental to what makes the movie great. Frequently I only sort of remember the romance, since it basically serves as a Mcguffin for introducing conflict into the friendship and family plot. Certainly this is a romance plot I would happily axe. (On preview, totally agree basalganglia)
If I made all the "this movie should be 30 minutes shorter and drop the unnecessary romance" comments I feel in my soul, I would be so repetitive I would probably be banned for being a bot.
The discussion of the lameness of the romance element of this movie reminded me of a plot line in the HBOMax show The Sex Lives of College Girls which involves a similar player-coach relationship but views it very differently. It feels very much in conversation with this movie. It's from Mindy Kaling's production company and modernizing and repurposing problematic rom com tropes is a big component of her brand.
posted by the primroses were over at 5:48 AM on April 15, 2022 [4 favorites]
If I made all the "this movie should be 30 minutes shorter and drop the unnecessary romance" comments I feel in my soul, I would be so repetitive I would probably be banned for being a bot.
The discussion of the lameness of the romance element of this movie reminded me of a plot line in the HBOMax show The Sex Lives of College Girls which involves a similar player-coach relationship but views it very differently. It feels very much in conversation with this movie. It's from Mindy Kaling's production company and modernizing and repurposing problematic rom com tropes is a big component of her brand.
posted by the primroses were over at 5:48 AM on April 15, 2022 [4 favorites]
The romance with the coach was kind of a big deal for me at the time the movie came out! It was such an emotionally salient component of the story that I still can't evaluate it objectively as part of the movie/ in story terms. Back then I was in a secret romance with, well, he wasn't a "foreign" guy, but he might as well have been. My parents threw me out and disowned me for two years, later, when they found out.
At the time of the movie, though, I was still keeping it quiet, I was still lying to my parents every single day, and I felt like a piece of shit for doing that. Like I was betraying myself and them. So watching Jess own her truth in front of her family was a lovely and powerful moment. When her dad came round it allowed me to hope that I might luck out, too. (I didn't, but then again, I didn't do what Jess did and "give in" temporarily to keep my family happy either, so.)
posted by MiraK at 8:31 AM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
At the time of the movie, though, I was still keeping it quiet, I was still lying to my parents every single day, and I felt like a piece of shit for doing that. Like I was betraying myself and them. So watching Jess own her truth in front of her family was a lovely and powerful moment. When her dad came round it allowed me to hope that I might luck out, too. (I didn't, but then again, I didn't do what Jess did and "give in" temporarily to keep my family happy either, so.)
posted by MiraK at 8:31 AM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
sarcas - thank you for that oral history link! The bit about the movie being screened in EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, wow!
The part of the film that still chokes me up is Jess saying I didn't ask for this talent; Guru Nanak must have given it to me. Hard for me to articulate what's so moving to me about that, but it's all mixed up in the fact that Jess is NOT trying to 100% escape from and rebel against every part of her heritage. She gets itchy when certain obligations are foisted upon her, and only temporarily does vanishing acts as long as it's necessary -- a happy ending, for her, includes that very last scene, mixing her new and old lives together. She does not have to tear herself away from a foundational way of making meaning in order to articulate that her ambition is worthwhile. It's a single line but it really speaks to me, as a South Asian diaspora person who is also uninterested in obliterating my connection with my religious heritage.
posted by brainwane at 8:47 AM on April 15, 2022 [18 favorites]
The part of the film that still chokes me up is Jess saying I didn't ask for this talent; Guru Nanak must have given it to me. Hard for me to articulate what's so moving to me about that, but it's all mixed up in the fact that Jess is NOT trying to 100% escape from and rebel against every part of her heritage. She gets itchy when certain obligations are foisted upon her, and only temporarily does vanishing acts as long as it's necessary -- a happy ending, for her, includes that very last scene, mixing her new and old lives together. She does not have to tear herself away from a foundational way of making meaning in order to articulate that her ambition is worthwhile. It's a single line but it really speaks to me, as a South Asian diaspora person who is also uninterested in obliterating my connection with my religious heritage.
posted by brainwane at 8:47 AM on April 15, 2022 [18 favorites]
I believe the DVD includes a bonus feature where Gurinder Chadha cooks with her mother. There's a bit of dialogue that still gets recited around my household:
Mom: Peel the potato.
Chadha: But mummy, that's where the vitamins are!
Mom: Peel it.
posted by brainwane at 8:50 AM on April 15, 2022 [9 favorites]
Mom: Peel the potato.
Chadha: But mummy, that's where the vitamins are!
Mom: Peel it.
posted by brainwane at 8:50 AM on April 15, 2022 [9 favorites]
I believe the DVD includes a bonus feature where Gurinder Chadha cooks with her mother.
I've seen this movie 20 times, but I've watched the DVD extras 21 times.
posted by Bee'sWing at 9:10 AM on April 15, 2022 [5 favorites]
I've seen this movie 20 times, but I've watched the DVD extras 21 times.
posted by Bee'sWing at 9:10 AM on April 15, 2022 [5 favorites]
I loved this movie as a kid. I remember this as the era when British film was intentionally trying to make little feel-good films with lots of personality, and I've always assumed Bend it Like Beckham was made as part of The Full Monty strategy. The most shocking thing about all these retrospectives is learning that the the Film Council was so disinterested in the script that the filmmaker basically had to threaten her way into getting financing!
posted by grandiloquiet at 9:34 AM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by grandiloquiet at 9:34 AM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
I've loved this film for a long time. I wish the romance wasn't with her coach, but I really do love the connection they have talking about discrimination and families. I think it might be the first film I saw with an interracial romance and giving them a chance to talk about and navigate it was important.
It's great to read about what the film had meant to footballers in the years since it came out.
posted by blueberry monster at 9:55 AM on April 15, 2022
It's great to read about what the film had meant to footballers in the years since it came out.
posted by blueberry monster at 9:55 AM on April 15, 2022
I'm eating that aloo gobi recipe for lunch right now.
posted by Arctic Circle at 11:47 AM on April 15, 2022
posted by Arctic Circle at 11:47 AM on April 15, 2022
We live in West London, near where this was filmed and is set. My teenage daughter plays keeper with a local team, and this film is one of those things that nobody really talks about but when it comes up it's just part of the water we swim in.
But we will never not giggle at the "I understand: I'm Irish!" moment. I understand what they were trying to do there, but it wasn't quite the bullseye it needed to be.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 12:50 PM on April 15, 2022
But we will never not giggle at the "I understand: I'm Irish!" moment. I understand what they were trying to do there, but it wasn't quite the bullseye it needed to be.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 12:50 PM on April 15, 2022
They both agreed it was pretty neat but that the romance with her coach (who had also romanced another player!) absolutely ruined the movie for them.
When I saw it in the theater and the coach showed up at the end, a woman yelled "gross" and, as they say on Twitter, I hope she's having a great life.
Though MiraK, thanks for that perspective I hadn't really considered before. The romance with the coach gives Jess another dimension of friction with her family to deal with. And I do like the way they bond - I just wish they'd kept it to a platonic/professional coach/player level.
posted by lunasol at 3:04 PM on April 15, 2022 [4 favorites]
When I saw it in the theater and the coach showed up at the end, a woman yelled "gross" and, as they say on Twitter, I hope she's having a great life.
Though MiraK, thanks for that perspective I hadn't really considered before. The romance with the coach gives Jess another dimension of friction with her family to deal with. And I do like the way they bond - I just wish they'd kept it to a platonic/professional coach/player level.
posted by lunasol at 3:04 PM on April 15, 2022 [4 favorites]
Rewatched this movie over the weekend and realized I remembered it all wrong! She never does reveal anything about the romance to her family. Oy. What she owns out loud, and what her father comes round to, is soccer football.
Brainwane pointed out the bit about invoking Guru Nanak -- that was the exact moment that I was recalling, emotionally though not accurately, when I wrote my comment. Brainwane, you are spot on in the observation that what hits hard there is she doesn't *want* to reject her family and her roots. Maybe that was what gave me hope back in the day, too, because I was certainly feeling like it was a choice between family vs. my life. Jess showed she could belong to both with that one line. And Jess's secret romance made me feel better about my own, I guess.
posted by MiraK at 2:35 PM on April 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
Brainwane pointed out the bit about invoking Guru Nanak -- that was the exact moment that I was recalling, emotionally though not accurately, when I wrote my comment. Brainwane, you are spot on in the observation that what hits hard there is she doesn't *want* to reject her family and her roots. Maybe that was what gave me hope back in the day, too, because I was certainly feeling like it was a choice between family vs. my life. Jess showed she could belong to both with that one line. And Jess's secret romance made me feel better about my own, I guess.
posted by MiraK at 2:35 PM on April 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
MiraK, I wish I could send some healing and hope back in time to you. <3
[And me!]
posted by brainwane at 3:30 PM on April 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
[And me!]
posted by brainwane at 3:30 PM on April 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
The one quibble I have with the film is that Jonathan Rhys Meyers, while a good actor in general, is maybe the least convincing soccer/football coach casting I can imagine. The scene at the end where we briefly see him run through Heathrow is so weird - I know, I know, the character has a career ending knee injury, but something about his gait in that scene is so unathletic, it cracks me up every time.
Sir Alex Ferguson reveals why Manchester United did not sign Liverpool FC captain Jordan Henderson
posted by biffa at 10:40 AM on May 13, 2022
Sir Alex Ferguson reveals why Manchester United did not sign Liverpool FC captain Jordan Henderson
posted by biffa at 10:40 AM on May 13, 2022
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