“Religion is a very important aspect of Sikh culture, as they include prayers and rituals into their daily lives” (Daniel Gold 1996, The Journal of the American Oriental Society)
Although at first glance, Bend it like Beckham may seem like a quite light, feel good film, when really it is a film full of cultural references. As well as constantly praying to an oil painting of Babaji, there are several scenes where both Pinkie and Jess greet their aunts with a traditional Indian greeting. The Bhamra family live in Hounslow, which is a district known for its extensive Indian culture. Even though the Bhamra family have moved counties to the heart of the Western culture, they still haven’t burst out of their own cultural bubble. The daughters have been much more acceptant of Western Culture than either Mr or Mrs Bhamra has done, although apart from Jules and the rest of the soccer team, neither girl seems to have any friends out of their own culture, probably a result of strong dictatorship from Mrs Bhamra. Their separation from the Western culture is most likely driven by a fear that the English culture will influence the lives and behaviours of both their daughters, when all they want is for them to grow up as respectable young women. Jess’ parents struggle to cope when they find out about her relationship with Joe, a “gora”, meaning a light or fair skinned person because of their separation to the British community. Because of this culture clash, the Bhamra parents, Mrs Bhamra especially, are portrayed as being almost the main rivals of the plot; however they are only doing what they see right for their children and to them, playing football seems like an unwomanly thing to do.
The Paxton family provide a rich contrast to the Bhamra family, being a stereotypical English household; however a similar layout of the family is shown with a comparable mother daughter relationship. Mrs Paxton is also used to show how British people view the Indian culture. Although the differences between the cultures is great, both mothers share a similar view on how their daughters should be growing up; spending less time kicking a soccer ball around and more time trying to get a husband.
The issue of homosexuality is also addressed throughout the film in several manners, the most obvious being Jess’ friend Tony telling her that he is gay, which Jess retaliates to by saying “But … you’re Indian!” Homosexuality in the Indian culture is seen as shameful and is punished, which is why it doesn’t get mentioned too much. Even in the Western culture where it is more accepted, people are still very quick to judge, as shown when Mrs Paxton though that Jules had a romantic tie with Jess.
At the climax of the film, Jess is made to attend her sister’s wedding which is inconveniently held on the same day as the football grand finale. Mr Bhamra, heartbroken after seeing his daughter sad on Pinkie’s wedding day, lets her play in the grand finale. Throughout the match, the scenes alternate from Jess playing soccer to the wedding celebration, all the time Indian music playing in the background. This filmic technique is used to show the incredible difference of cultures, even in a very close geological scale. When the game ends, Jess’ team help her get back into her Sari in the ground’s change rooms and she returns at the end of the wedding.
Bend it like Beckham can be taken on very different levels, much like the title. At first glance the title seems to be referring to the certain soccer tactic that David Beckham is famous for, bending the soccer ball around a line of defences to get a goal. Jess does a similar manoeuvrer in the pinnacle of the final game. It could also be referring to the slogan on the theatrical release posters; “Sometimes you have to bend the rules to be yourself”, but the true reason why the director chose it relates back to the first point. Gurinder Chadha chose the title as a metaphor. “I think [the title] is a great metaphor for a lot of us, especially girls. We can see our goal but instead of going straight there, we too have to twist and bend the rules sometimes to get what we want.” says Chadha in an interview after the film’s release.