Bend It Like Beckham: In Retrospect

It was a struggle initially for my parents to persuade me that I should participate in our family watch of the Bend It Like Beckham DVD they had purchased.

Words: Freya Yeldham

I’m notorious for my apathy towards most sports, and at that time football was my number one hatred. Firstly, it’s everywhere in this country. People ask “who do you support?” on a regular basis and draw what seemed to me at the time like completely random assumptions about you from the answer. This frustrated me and frankly I felt whenever it was on TV it was a waste of what could’ve been time for a nice film.

Secondly, my sister was obsessed with football. And like many sisters nothing was more frustrating to me than a shared hobby at that time. I wanted my own identity, so her sticking to football and me sticking to dance was my ideal scenario. No cross over there, I thought. I waited for what felt like an age to be old enough that I didn’t have to come and stand in the mud and rain with my parents to watch her play. As an adult my lack of support seems callous, but as a kid I remember wanting to be inside in the warm and not having to make small talk with her teammate’s mums.

My only foray into ‘footie’ was once at primary school when I can only assume I was overcome with a frenzy induced by boredom as I asked to play football with the boys in the playground. Only none of them would pass the ball to me. So, I tackled my own teammates in an attempt for some game play. They never invited me back to play again, and I never asked.

Anyway, I digress. Several years after the successful release of Bend It Like Beckham my parents had finally bought the DVD. It opens with football commentary - not compelling to Freya as a child. But what unfolds is a story that enveloped me. Suburbia presented as a colourful place, the unfairness of being a girl in a man’s world, English culture shown with its biases and a few positives too. The mirror reflecting clearly.

There are so many important elements of this film I needed to be aware of from a young age: racial discrimination, the immigrant experience, incorrect stereotyping of LGBT+ people, and the unfairness of inequality. It’s not all presented perfectly to the modern viewer. The famous “I’m Irish” line lacking nuance in a scene about racial slurs springs instantly to mind. But it tackles some heavy themes while keeping an engaging story and characters you can get attached to and root for (other than Joe, I’m not a Joe fan and I need that on the record).

And I haven’t even mentioned the jokes which have kept my family going for years. There’s no trying on clothes without mention of mosquito bites and juicy juicy mangos, no moving of mustard without mention of the offside rule. And the scene of wrestling over the camera at the wedding reception is without a doubt one of my favourite ‘unnecessary to the plot’ moments in all of cinema.

There is life and laughter between sisters, and much in the way Jess and Jules betray each other and lie for each other, judge each other and support each other. My sister and I have grown closer. We have grown with an ounce more understanding of what ourselves and others were facing in the world because of this film. Intersectionality is woven in. I’m no Pinky and she’s no Jess but the thread of womanhood and solidarity is clear in this film and makes it all the more obvious why it’s important to support films written and directed by women and minorities.