Post by hybrid on Apr 18, 2011 18:52:21 GMT -5
Warning: Contains bullshit
In South Asian cinema, there are reoccurring themes found throughout which deal with family struggles, work, finding oneself and living life to its fullest. Amongst these themes, the most dynamic falls into a three-part commitment spectrum in the form of duty, honour and sacrifice. These three themes epitomise South Asian cinema and to an extent cinema in general. Duty falls into the subject of one’s work, family and role within a community. Honour is the embodiment of pride and commitment to one’s culture, heritage and upbringing. Sacrifice is putting others or a culture before oneself or happiness for the greater good for his or her people, country of origin, religion and family. These themes are current and noticeable in films such as Bend It Like Beckham, which are important in distinguishing and establishing the factors of duty, honour and sacrifice. This essay will explore this film and how – in its own ways – are critical for South Asian cinema and cinema in general. This essay shall also briefly explore these themes in My Beautiful Laundrette Because of this, connecting South Asian cinema to a wider, more broad cinema shall be explained using Star Wars as an example.
In the film Bend It Like Beckham, duty is explored early on when Jess’s character is forced into studying and going to university because of her parents. Jess does not want to study – she wants to play football. Claire Monk writes, “In Hounslow, west London, 18-year-old Jess Bhamra dreams of playing professional football like her idol David Beckham, but her Punjabi Sikh parents have more conventional plans for her: a law degree and marriage.” This essay shall refer to the sport of football as being football and not soccer, as this is a South Asian / English film and not an American film. Her parents – especially her mother – have very strict fundamentals which they force onto her. For example, learning to cook and serve men. This is not only very old fashioned, but to Jess, who lives in a modern word – incredibly stupid. She does not like her mother’s way of thinking and would much rather be dating boys, playing football and ogling over David Beckham – her hero, role-model and seemingly all-knowing God. While Jess’s parents are praying to their God, Jess – under their radar – pays special homage to her Beckham memorabilia, set up in her room in a shrine-like fashion. To Jess, it is her duty to worship Beckham like he is her God. And by praying to him, she believes she will get better at her true calling: football.
The aspects of football in the film have their own special aspects of duty. She is required to attend practices, games, and travel with the team wherever they are en route to going. For example, the team heads to Germany to do battle with other teams. Jess is the star on her team – a real gem and one of the reasons her team is doing is well and will be visited by a pro-scout. It is also believed that this film was an early ad for Major League Soccer (MLS) in North America and was designed to get more audience members into the sport. Thus, duty is again explored in the film; the filmmakers may have had a deal with MLS to support it.
In Star Wars, it is Luke Skywalker’s duty to do as Obi Wan Kenobi requested of him and learn the ways of the force, being the last hope for the Jedi and the galaxy to overtake the Empire. This is why South Asian cinema’s theme of duty comes into play in a very mainstream film in the form of Star Wars. In Episode IV: A New Hope, Han Solo returns in the Millennium Falcon during the battle of Yavin to help Luke and a few over rebels in X-Wing and Y-Wing craft destroy the Death Star by firing photon torpedoes into a shaft. When Darth Vader in his special Tie Fighter, along with two elite Tie-fighter pilots close in on the remaining X-Wings and Luke, Han Solo comes to the rescue along with Wookie Chewbacca and shoots the Tie Fighters away. Han Solo then says to Luke, “You’re all clear kid, now let’s blow this thing and get out of here.” At which point, Luke destroys the Death Star and makes it out before the battle station explodes. It was Han Solo’s duty to come back for Luke and to help out the rebels. It is clearly evident that Star Wars displays traits of South Asian cinema with the theme of duty.
In Bend It Like Beckham, the theme of honour is prevalent. Jess is a very honourable character. She has much honour. She demonstrates her honour by giving it her all on the field. She plays hard, because she wants to win and bring honour to her team. When she loses, she feels she let the team down. For example, in the game in Germany, she has a free kick, and when she kicks the ball, she does not score. She feels depleted, empty and void of any emotion. She is upset, defeated and suffers great humility. Her coach, however, who has the hots for her, comforts her and soothes her. They hit it off well. For example, in one scene, he gives her a foot massage. It would seem in South Asian cinema, many of the directors have foot fetishes. Oddly, no South Asian film has been directed by Quinton Tarrantino. Anyway, Jess ends up liking her coach and the two hit it off. But her friend’s family, for some reason, believes she is a lesbian and silly. This brings great shame to her family and thus, she loses honour. Derek Elley writes, “Main characters are all leading secret or outsider lives. The Harriers' young trainer, Joe (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), is not only Irish (an "outsider," like Jess, in English society) but also was held back from realizing his dream by a knee injury.”
Later on in the film, Jess needs to play the game because she has a big match and a big scout will be watching. With hopes of making it to the big leagues, she dashes away from a wedding and onto the proverbial minefield which is a football pitch, because her mom would be upset if she saw Jess playing football instead of enjoying the wedding. But her dad is chill and lets her go. Her father displays honour in letting Jess play, because he understands he did not have the chance to as a young man and lost his chance. He does not want Jess to undergo the same fate he did. Jess is happy and scores a big goal at the right time and is offered a scholarship so she can attend school and play football full time.
In My Beautiful Laundrette, honour plays big factor when it comes down to family ties. Paul Salmon writes, “The implicit constraints upon film artists who would attempt to challenge the mainstream from within is suggested by the cautiously favourable tenor of media reaction to many of the so-called New Wave films. In their responses to My Beautiful Laundrette, in particular, critics were at pains to emphasize that while the film was challenging it was also entertaining and accessible.”
The phrase “honour among thieves” is very true in the film. As odd as it sounds, Jess is a thief in the sense that she steals her mother’s trust. And, for that matter, her father’s trust too. Which is sad. She goes behind their back to play football, and her friend too, knows she is doing this. Thus, there is a sense of honour amongst them. An honour amongst thieves. Jess’s friend really, really, really likes the coach of the team, but when Jess and the coach kiss, there is a sense of thievery going on. This creates tension in the group and tempers flare. Controversy erupts. And battle-lines are drawn. However, they patch things up in the end. Which is nice. For sure.
In Star Wars, the aspect of honour is a huge factor. More so than in Bend it Like Beckham. The reason being is that Jedi have a lot of honour and pride. They are one with the force and visa vis, and thus, so are the Sith. An example of honour would be in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi where Luke Skywalker burns the remains of his father, Darth Vader otherwise known as Anakin Skywalker on the planet Endor. Before this happened, Darth Vader threw The Emperor down a hole after he was attacking his son, Luke with his Sith lightning. Luke screamed, “father, help me!” And he did just that. This scene will play into the factor of sacrifice later on.
In a rather poor Star Wars film – Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Anakin Skywalker has to rescue his mother from the Sand People. During the rescue, Anakin kills men, women and children to save his mother. But she dies anyway. Regardless, Anakin made a promise in Episode I: The Phantom Menace, to come back and save her. He does this in Episode II, but it’s too late. This is, however, an example of honour.
In My Beautiful Laundrette, sacrifice plays a key role when the main characters must deal with racism and unjust stereotyping. Leonard Quart writes, “English racism, sexual stereotyping, and, of course, the nature of Pakistani immigrant culture's adjustment to English society. Many of these ideas and themes are not fully developed, and we're left at times with our appetites whetted and wanting to know more about particular characters and situations.”
Finally, sacrifice is explored in Bend it Like Beckham as Jess sacrifices the game to attend a wedding. But she ends up going to the game anyway. And her dad was cool with it. She could have ended up not going, but then her team would have lost and she would have never been noticed by the pro scout.
In Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader sacrifices himself to save his son, Luke, and kill Darth Sidious. The galaxy is saved and all is well as the Rebel Alliance manages to destroy the second Death Star and all is well. Sacrifice is a key part in Star Wars. Without sacrifice, there is no honour. Without sacrifice, there is no duty. Anne Lancashire writes, “The original Star Wars trilogy is based on what mythologer Joseph Campbell has called the cultural monomyth of the hero: in cultures around the world, a leader or potential leader who is called upon a quest ("departure"), goes through a series of ordeals or trials culminating in a near-death or actual-death experience ("initiation"), and then is symbolically or literally resurrected to go forward in triumph to a victorious conclusion both for himself and for his people ("return")”
In closing, Star Wars, My Beautiful Laundrette and Bend It Like Beckham all demonstrate the factors of duty, honour and sacrifice. It is clear that these factors are themes in not only South Asian cinema, but North American cinema too. Because these traits are so obvious and well-kept, there is great evidence that this essay has demonstrated that duty, honour and sacrifice are key components to any film. You cannot have duty without honour. You cannot have sacrifice without duty. You cannot have honour without sacrifice. These are all factors critical to any film. Star Wars and Bend It Like Beckham may be opposites in theory, but in the end, they both maintain elements of duty, honour and sacrifice and use these factors to tell the story and progress the narrative.
References
Monk, Claire. "Bend it like Beckham.." XII(2002): 38-39. Print.
Elley, Derek. "Bend it like Beckham.." CCCLXXXVI.7 (2002): 32. Print.
Lancashire, Anne. "The Phantom menace: repetition, variation, integration.." XXIV.3 (2000): 23-44. Print.
Quart, Leonard. "My beautiful laundrette.." XV.1 (1986): 38-39. Print.
Salmon, Paul. "Revising the traditions: Hanif Kureishi and contemporary British cinema.." II.2-3 (1993): 107-115. Print.
In South Asian cinema, there are reoccurring themes found throughout which deal with family struggles, work, finding oneself and living life to its fullest. Amongst these themes, the most dynamic falls into a three-part commitment spectrum in the form of duty, honour and sacrifice. These three themes epitomise South Asian cinema and to an extent cinema in general. Duty falls into the subject of one’s work, family and role within a community. Honour is the embodiment of pride and commitment to one’s culture, heritage and upbringing. Sacrifice is putting others or a culture before oneself or happiness for the greater good for his or her people, country of origin, religion and family. These themes are current and noticeable in films such as Bend It Like Beckham, which are important in distinguishing and establishing the factors of duty, honour and sacrifice. This essay will explore this film and how – in its own ways – are critical for South Asian cinema and cinema in general. This essay shall also briefly explore these themes in My Beautiful Laundrette Because of this, connecting South Asian cinema to a wider, more broad cinema shall be explained using Star Wars as an example.
In the film Bend It Like Beckham, duty is explored early on when Jess’s character is forced into studying and going to university because of her parents. Jess does not want to study – she wants to play football. Claire Monk writes, “In Hounslow, west London, 18-year-old Jess Bhamra dreams of playing professional football like her idol David Beckham, but her Punjabi Sikh parents have more conventional plans for her: a law degree and marriage.” This essay shall refer to the sport of football as being football and not soccer, as this is a South Asian / English film and not an American film. Her parents – especially her mother – have very strict fundamentals which they force onto her. For example, learning to cook and serve men. This is not only very old fashioned, but to Jess, who lives in a modern word – incredibly stupid. She does not like her mother’s way of thinking and would much rather be dating boys, playing football and ogling over David Beckham – her hero, role-model and seemingly all-knowing God. While Jess’s parents are praying to their God, Jess – under their radar – pays special homage to her Beckham memorabilia, set up in her room in a shrine-like fashion. To Jess, it is her duty to worship Beckham like he is her God. And by praying to him, she believes she will get better at her true calling: football.
The aspects of football in the film have their own special aspects of duty. She is required to attend practices, games, and travel with the team wherever they are en route to going. For example, the team heads to Germany to do battle with other teams. Jess is the star on her team – a real gem and one of the reasons her team is doing is well and will be visited by a pro-scout. It is also believed that this film was an early ad for Major League Soccer (MLS) in North America and was designed to get more audience members into the sport. Thus, duty is again explored in the film; the filmmakers may have had a deal with MLS to support it.
In Star Wars, it is Luke Skywalker’s duty to do as Obi Wan Kenobi requested of him and learn the ways of the force, being the last hope for the Jedi and the galaxy to overtake the Empire. This is why South Asian cinema’s theme of duty comes into play in a very mainstream film in the form of Star Wars. In Episode IV: A New Hope, Han Solo returns in the Millennium Falcon during the battle of Yavin to help Luke and a few over rebels in X-Wing and Y-Wing craft destroy the Death Star by firing photon torpedoes into a shaft. When Darth Vader in his special Tie Fighter, along with two elite Tie-fighter pilots close in on the remaining X-Wings and Luke, Han Solo comes to the rescue along with Wookie Chewbacca and shoots the Tie Fighters away. Han Solo then says to Luke, “You’re all clear kid, now let’s blow this thing and get out of here.” At which point, Luke destroys the Death Star and makes it out before the battle station explodes. It was Han Solo’s duty to come back for Luke and to help out the rebels. It is clearly evident that Star Wars displays traits of South Asian cinema with the theme of duty.
In Bend It Like Beckham, the theme of honour is prevalent. Jess is a very honourable character. She has much honour. She demonstrates her honour by giving it her all on the field. She plays hard, because she wants to win and bring honour to her team. When she loses, she feels she let the team down. For example, in the game in Germany, she has a free kick, and when she kicks the ball, she does not score. She feels depleted, empty and void of any emotion. She is upset, defeated and suffers great humility. Her coach, however, who has the hots for her, comforts her and soothes her. They hit it off well. For example, in one scene, he gives her a foot massage. It would seem in South Asian cinema, many of the directors have foot fetishes. Oddly, no South Asian film has been directed by Quinton Tarrantino. Anyway, Jess ends up liking her coach and the two hit it off. But her friend’s family, for some reason, believes she is a lesbian and silly. This brings great shame to her family and thus, she loses honour. Derek Elley writes, “Main characters are all leading secret or outsider lives. The Harriers' young trainer, Joe (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), is not only Irish (an "outsider," like Jess, in English society) but also was held back from realizing his dream by a knee injury.”
Later on in the film, Jess needs to play the game because she has a big match and a big scout will be watching. With hopes of making it to the big leagues, she dashes away from a wedding and onto the proverbial minefield which is a football pitch, because her mom would be upset if she saw Jess playing football instead of enjoying the wedding. But her dad is chill and lets her go. Her father displays honour in letting Jess play, because he understands he did not have the chance to as a young man and lost his chance. He does not want Jess to undergo the same fate he did. Jess is happy and scores a big goal at the right time and is offered a scholarship so she can attend school and play football full time.
In My Beautiful Laundrette, honour plays big factor when it comes down to family ties. Paul Salmon writes, “The implicit constraints upon film artists who would attempt to challenge the mainstream from within is suggested by the cautiously favourable tenor of media reaction to many of the so-called New Wave films. In their responses to My Beautiful Laundrette, in particular, critics were at pains to emphasize that while the film was challenging it was also entertaining and accessible.”
The phrase “honour among thieves” is very true in the film. As odd as it sounds, Jess is a thief in the sense that she steals her mother’s trust. And, for that matter, her father’s trust too. Which is sad. She goes behind their back to play football, and her friend too, knows she is doing this. Thus, there is a sense of honour amongst them. An honour amongst thieves. Jess’s friend really, really, really likes the coach of the team, but when Jess and the coach kiss, there is a sense of thievery going on. This creates tension in the group and tempers flare. Controversy erupts. And battle-lines are drawn. However, they patch things up in the end. Which is nice. For sure.
In Star Wars, the aspect of honour is a huge factor. More so than in Bend it Like Beckham. The reason being is that Jedi have a lot of honour and pride. They are one with the force and visa vis, and thus, so are the Sith. An example of honour would be in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi where Luke Skywalker burns the remains of his father, Darth Vader otherwise known as Anakin Skywalker on the planet Endor. Before this happened, Darth Vader threw The Emperor down a hole after he was attacking his son, Luke with his Sith lightning. Luke screamed, “father, help me!” And he did just that. This scene will play into the factor of sacrifice later on.
In a rather poor Star Wars film – Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Anakin Skywalker has to rescue his mother from the Sand People. During the rescue, Anakin kills men, women and children to save his mother. But she dies anyway. Regardless, Anakin made a promise in Episode I: The Phantom Menace, to come back and save her. He does this in Episode II, but it’s too late. This is, however, an example of honour.
In My Beautiful Laundrette, sacrifice plays a key role when the main characters must deal with racism and unjust stereotyping. Leonard Quart writes, “English racism, sexual stereotyping, and, of course, the nature of Pakistani immigrant culture's adjustment to English society. Many of these ideas and themes are not fully developed, and we're left at times with our appetites whetted and wanting to know more about particular characters and situations.”
Finally, sacrifice is explored in Bend it Like Beckham as Jess sacrifices the game to attend a wedding. But she ends up going to the game anyway. And her dad was cool with it. She could have ended up not going, but then her team would have lost and she would have never been noticed by the pro scout.
In Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader sacrifices himself to save his son, Luke, and kill Darth Sidious. The galaxy is saved and all is well as the Rebel Alliance manages to destroy the second Death Star and all is well. Sacrifice is a key part in Star Wars. Without sacrifice, there is no honour. Without sacrifice, there is no duty. Anne Lancashire writes, “The original Star Wars trilogy is based on what mythologer Joseph Campbell has called the cultural monomyth of the hero: in cultures around the world, a leader or potential leader who is called upon a quest ("departure"), goes through a series of ordeals or trials culminating in a near-death or actual-death experience ("initiation"), and then is symbolically or literally resurrected to go forward in triumph to a victorious conclusion both for himself and for his people ("return")”
In closing, Star Wars, My Beautiful Laundrette and Bend It Like Beckham all demonstrate the factors of duty, honour and sacrifice. It is clear that these factors are themes in not only South Asian cinema, but North American cinema too. Because these traits are so obvious and well-kept, there is great evidence that this essay has demonstrated that duty, honour and sacrifice are key components to any film. You cannot have duty without honour. You cannot have sacrifice without duty. You cannot have honour without sacrifice. These are all factors critical to any film. Star Wars and Bend It Like Beckham may be opposites in theory, but in the end, they both maintain elements of duty, honour and sacrifice and use these factors to tell the story and progress the narrative.
References
Monk, Claire. "Bend it like Beckham.." XII(2002): 38-39. Print.
Elley, Derek. "Bend it like Beckham.." CCCLXXXVI.7 (2002): 32. Print.
Lancashire, Anne. "The Phantom menace: repetition, variation, integration.." XXIV.3 (2000): 23-44. Print.
Quart, Leonard. "My beautiful laundrette.." XV.1 (1986): 38-39. Print.
Salmon, Paul. "Revising the traditions: Hanif Kureishi and contemporary British cinema.." II.2-3 (1993): 107-115. Print.