Cultural and Social Pressure

 This the fourth and probably last blog I write about "Bend It Like Beckham". In this blog, I would like to write about social pressure represented in the movie. In the movie, as those of you who have watched it may already know, Jess, the protagonist suffers from social pressure.

 The social pressure includes

• Girls should be able to make dhal and chapati
• Girls are not expected to play football
• No snogging in the public

 Since I have already discussed the first two points in the previous blogs, I would like to talk about the scene where Jess was misunderstood to be kissing a man in public in this blog. In this scene, due to Jess being misunderstood to be kissing in public, her sister's marriage was canceled. This incident emphasizes that Jess is living under the social pressure. 

 Additionally, there was a scene where  Tony confessed Jess that he was gay. In this scene, her reaction was "you are Indian!" that implies that under social pressure, Tony does have not freedom to be homosexual.

 Therefore, in the movie "Bend It Like Beckham", the social pressures are represented in many ways.

As I mentioned at beginning, this is the last blog I write about this fantastic movie. I hope you enjoyed reading my blogs! By the way, please feel free to comment on my blog.

Word count 237

New Generation and Old Generation - Cultural Difference

 As you may know, this is the third blog I have written about "Bend It Like Beckham". In this blog, I want to write about the cultural difference between new generation and old generation. In the movie, there are scenes that represent Jess from the new generation as different from the old generation; such as her mother in law and her relatives.

Through the entire film, there were many scenes that represent difference between younger generation and older generation. However, I would like to highlight the parts where she takes a free kick in football and the opposition make a wall to block her kick. Suddenly, the opposition become her Indian relatives instead of the football players in her mind. But she successfully kicks the ball over the wall and scores the goal. I personally think that this is the scene when she decided to overcome her older generation advice and her Sikh family cultural *norms but to do whatever she likes.

In my opinion, after this free kick, she makes up her mind to continue to play football. I firmly believe this is why she said "I want more than seeking a good husband" which has traditionally been the most important thing in the life of the old generation of Sikh family

If you have watched the movie "Bend It Like Beckham" before and felt differently, please feel free to leave any comments below. 

*norms means standard expectation

Word count 250

Western Culture and Indian Culture

 In addition to the last blog about traditional gender role in "Bend It Like Beckham", I want to write about the difference between western and Indian culture represented in the movie. In the movie, Jess, the protagonist makes friendship with Juliette who is from western culture. There are both similarities and contrasts between western culture and Indian culture.

 To begin with, in both cultures, mothers expect their daughters not to play aggressive sports such as football. Instead, they want their daughters to do something which attracts men who will eventually become their husband. For example, in the movie, Jess was told to learn about making chapati as a way of finding a good Sikh husband. Furthermore, there was the scene where Juliette was suggested by her mother to buy bras which make her chest look bigger instead of sport bras. Therefore, I personally believe that in many cultures, seeking for a good husband is thought as being important for young female adults by their parents.

 On the contrary, there are scenes where Jess discusses about marriage with Juliette which represent dissimilarity of freedom in these two cultures. In western cultures, women are usually free to decide about their husband and the traditional values are not as influential as the individuals willingness. On the other hand, in Indian Sikh culture, marriages are arranged and one's ethnic cultural background outweighs one's willingness. For instance, Jess is supposed to marry a good SIKH man.

If you have watched the movie before and felt differently, please feel free to leave any comments below.

Word count 248

Indian traditional gender role

 Recently, I watched a movie called "Bend It Like Beckham". In this movie, there are some scenes that represent Indian traditional gender role. As you may know, traditional gender role varies from culture to culture.

  In the movie, Jess, the protagonist is expected to marry a "good Sikh man". Since the gender role of traditional Indian female is to do the household chores, she is expected to learn cooking; such as dhal and chapati. If you don't know what dhal and chapati are, the picture is shown at the bottom of this blog. Despite the expectation from her parents especially her mother, she loves to play football and dislikes cooking. This creates conflicts between her and her mother.

 The scene that highlights the traditional gender role is when Jess' mother says " No Indian girls are expected to play football especially those who cannot even make chapatis". This quote shows that in Indian Sikh culture, girls are expected to be able to do all the household chores especially cooking  instead of fulfilling their personal dreams such as becoming a professional football player like David Beckham.

If you have watched the movie "Bend It Like Beckham" before and felt differently, please feel free to leave any comments below.  

*
                            
dhal(dried pulse whic has been split)                              chapati (unleavened flat-bread from India)


Word Count 226

Book review Throw away daughter

Book review Throw away daughter

 

I think you have never heard of this book, Throw away daughter. But, if you haven’t read it yet, you should read this book.

 

The author of this book is Ting-Xing Ye. She was born in Shanghai, China in 1952. She obtained a degree in English Literature from Beijing University and became an English interpreter for the national government. During this time, she met a Canadian English teacher named William E. Bell, who will marry her. In 1987, she moved to Canada and started to write books, both fiction and non-fiction.

 

This is a novel about Dong-Mei, or Grace, who was thrown away by her Chinese family and adopted by a Canadian family when she was a baby. As she grows older with the Canadian family which adopted her, she starts to have a desire to know about her past and her original family in China. This story is described from many perspectives. In other words, chapters are narrated by different characters that appear in the story. I believe that this technique of using more than one perspective lead to the writer’s success.

 

As I mentioned before, there are certain plotting skills and technique used in the story, such as chapters being narrated by different character from previous chapters. This plotting technique may be confusing to some readers like me, and it may take a few chapters to get used to this style. However, this technique helps the reader understand both sides of the decisions made by the characters in the story. Through reading this book, I realized that every decision in life is made through communication with other people who have different points of view, and there are no perfect decisions in life.

 

In conclusion, this book may be quite confusing but I believe that this book is worth reading. You may cry at the end of the story, like I did.

Diary Throw Away Daughter

Date:23rd June 1989

Dear Diary,

   I saw there were student-led popular demonstrations in Tiananmen square, Beijing on TV yesterday. My father wanted me to see what was going on in Beijing. I thought this was a waste of time since I don't care much about China. But I have learned one thing yesterday, that China isn't a free country.

  Tiananmen square demonstrations still continues today. Almost every channel on TV is reporting about demonstrations in Beijing so I could not watch my favorite music video. Instead of nice music, I heard screams of panicking people who were shot, arrested, or hit by trucks. I cried as I saw many dead bodies in front of me. To be honest, I have never seen anything worse than this. While I cried, my thoughts about China had changed. I now have sympathy for China and worry about Chinese people unlike yesterday when I had no interest in what was going on in China. Moreover, surprisingly even to myself, I also became worried about my genetic mother, Chun-mei. Therefore, I asked my dad whether Yanghou is close to Beijing to know whether my genetic mother was alright. This was the first time I could call her name without anger.

   I now want to know more about my past in China and I want to see my genetic mother Chun-mei. This is all that I can think and care about right now. This change shows that I can now face the facts about my past, instead of just feeling gloomy about rejecting any connections with my country of birth, China.



Grace


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