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Essay / Analysis of Bend It Like Beckham in terms of intercultural communication
Table of contentsDescription of the filmRelevance for intercultural communicationLiterature reviewDeep analysis of the structure of cultureWorldview analysisConclusionReferencesDescription of the filmBend it Like Beckham follows the story of Jess Bhamra as she grows up while trying to find balance between the society she lives in and her family. The film is set in the United Kingdom in the early 21st century, when David Beckham was a futball star. Jess Bhamra has always idolized David Beckham, as evidenced by all the posters draped across her bedroom walls. Growing up, Jess always found time to play futball with the neighborhood boys in the park. One day, while playing in the park, she caught the attention of Jules, a football player from a women's club. In just a few minutes, Jules was amazed by Jess's skills and convinced her to come try out for his team. Jess showed up to tryouts without proper equipment, but easily impressed the team and earned her spot on the team by lying to the coach that her parents had approved of her arrival. Jess continues to lie to her parents and hide at practices and games, quickly racking up points for her team. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get the original essay Jess and Jules quickly put their team on a winning streak, earning them a spot in the finals where a scout from the USA will be there to watch both girls give them a chance to play overseas. Jess is at a crossroads as the finale falls on the same day as her older sister's wedding. At the reception, Jess's father approaches, telling him to go play in the second half of the game so he has the opportunity to see both of his daughters happy on the same day. Jess seizes her opportunity and led by Jules and Jess, the team wins the championship, which isn't the biggest prize of the night. Both Jess and Jules are given the opportunity to play in the United States, which, thanks to some convincing of Jess's family, eventually accepts. Jess ends the film with not only her futball dreams within reach, but she also has the man of her dreams. Relevance for intercultural communication Bend it Like Beckham mixes two cultures, Indian culture with British culture. Jess Bhamra and her family are part of Indian culture living in the UK. At the beginning of the film, it appears that the two cultures are strictly divided and only interact out of necessity and in a reserved manner. When Jules invites Jess to try out for the team, they deny this social normalcy and the cultures soon unite. Together, the two girls are simply looking for a way to achieve their dreams in a place where it is not encouraged for women to play futball. Although British culture does not support women playing futball, in Indian culture the idea is practically taboo. As Jess continues to struggle with her cultural restrictions and family ties, she forms relationships with her teammates who enthusiastically learn about Jess's culture. As the team fights for victory and acceptance, these cultural differences seem to dissipate among the players. Literature Review To this day, how the world works still remains a mystery to humanity, but individuals have their own opinions and ideas. These assumptions are common in a culture that develops unification through the deep structure of the culture. The deep structure of culture develops through family, state and religious institutions.The family institution develops the structured gender roles of a culture. As girls and boys grow up, they exhibit distinct differences that develop due to culture and family rather than biological differences (Samovar, Porter, McDaniel, & Roy, 2017). From the earliest aspects of their lives, they are given a specific path and expectations related to their biological sex that they must follow to mold themselves into what is considered a successful individual in a given culture. Gender roles are important in Indian culture and are a building block of culture from birth. In traditional India, women were seen as significantly inferior to men, although this idea is changing as globalization begins to influence Indian society. This idea in India comes from India's history of isolation, coupled with strict and consistent religious beliefs. India is a collectivist culture, as evidenced by its old proverb: “An individual can no more be separated from his family than a finger on the hand” (Samovar et al., 2017). In the role of Indian women, the group they focus and make sacrifices for is their family. Women are required and expected to fulfill their duties as a wife while preserving the happiness of their husband and without owning any property in his own name. Housework, caring for the children, preparing all meals, and performing all religious duties are just a few of the long list of these marital duties. While women carry out these tasks, they are expected to ignore their personal interests and needs to concentrate on completing the household. Just as the deep structure of culture aims to explain how the world works, the worldview of a culture is used to develop hypotheses about the nature of reality. When life seems confusing and inexplicable, our worldview is used to explain those random events that seem illogical in our lives and in our society. A worldview can be represented across three different spectrums: atheism, spirituality and religion. Religion is what gives the worldview to more than a billion people around the world. Religion helps provide this vision by intertwining with perception and behavior. Hinduism is one example of the many religions practiced and celebrated around the world. Hinduism is unique from other common religions because of its collaborative attributes, meaning that they do not believe in one supreme being, but rather in a variety and plethora of beings for various aspects of life . Furthermore, Hinduism does not align itself with a single founder, a single religious symbol, a single doctrine, or even a single holy center; Rather, Hinduism is celebrated using a variety of each of these religious spectrums. In Hinduism, there is no separation between religion and culture, instead these two factors align to become a follower's complete way of life. Hinduism offers the ideas of dharma, karma and reincarnation which are important and structure the way Hindus behave. Dharma is a set of laws that inform Hindus how they should conduct themselves, explain their duties towards others, and how they should act during the four stages of life (Samovar et al., 2017). Karma states that for every action there is an effect. In Hinduism, this means that if you live according to your dharma, you will be successful and will have positive reactions. Reincarnation is linked to karma since rebirth occurs so that one can right one's previous wrongs in order to achieve salvation. In addition, the system ofcaste is subject to Hindu law and secured by the claim of a divine relationship by previous Aryan priests. Hinduism is a religion, but it presents a complete way of life and structures the worldview of its followers. Deep Structure of Cultural Analysis Throughout the movie Bend it Like Beckham, you can see a distinction between opportunities for men and women in both countries. and British cultures. Families are the main witnesses throughout the film who distinguish these roles and differences. In both British and Indian culture, it is becoming clear that there are negative emotions towards women who play sports. In British culture, this is primarily represented through the character of Jules' mother. It is obvious that Jules' mother is reluctant to have her daughter play futball, thinking it makes her masculine and ruins her chance of finding a suitable husband. Jules' mother isn't the only person in British society to feel these feelings, as Jules admits she had to fight against Joe to form a team for women to play for, as they have no options sport in society. In Britain, women playing sport is not seen as an opportunity, nor as an opportunity to learn from and excel, but rather as something that only lesbians would participate in, which would make these girls outcasts and degenerates in society. Jules' mother's hatred for her daughter playing futball is significant. not even comparable to the level of revulsion the Bhamras feel at the thought of their daughter playing futball. Playing sports is strictly against the role a woman is supposed to play in Indian culture. Jess's mother presents a long list of ways Jess has broken Indian culture and how she dishonors her family. Indian women are not expected to pursue their pleasures in life, but their role is strictly to support the family and make sacrifices. As an Indian woman, the film shows that the main goal is to become an eligible wife from a young age, as Mrs. Bhamra likes to remind Jess how she was married to Mr. Bhamra before reaching the age of Jesse. At one point in the film, Mrs. Bhamra becomes upset and exclaims to her daughter that no family will want a daughter-in-law who can kick a soccer ball and doesn't even know how to prepare traditional Indian recipes. . Both mothers in Bend it Like Beckham are disgusted by their daughters for playing futball and participating in what is considered a masculine activity. Worldview Analysis From the moment we are born, we are raised by our family's worldview and this is what we know and believe to be reality. The worldview that your family follows is the only worldview and understanding of the world that you have as a child until you grow up and encounter other cultures in the world. Jess Bhamra experiences this when she is asked to join the soccer team and given the opportunity to regularly spend time with girls who do not follow the strict, traditional religion of Hinduism that Jess grew up in. A major misunderstood factor in Jess' religion is the concept of marriage. Due to the caste system, Indian women are expected to marry someone of equal or higher status, making arranged marriages a common practice (Maistry, 2009). Jess's sister Pinky gets married during the film and it is what Jess calls a love marriage, meaning it is not arranged. This idea perplexes Jess's teammates and she has to explain to them that even if her.