Win it Like Beckham

Most sports movies use the pursuit of victory as the driving force of their plots, and Bend it Like Beckham (2002) is certainly no exception. The premise is simple enough: Jesminder “Jess” Bhamra (Parminder Nagra) has played soccer informally all of her life, but when she is approached by Juliette Paxton (Kiera Knightly) with an opportunity to play in “proper matches,” her parents strongly disapprove. The narrative tension, of course, stems from Jess's conflicting desires: to play the sport she loves and to please her parents by following her culture's traditions. The philosophical tension that the film presents, specifically with regard to sports, is between winning and being victorious – a distinction explored in great detail by Heather L. Reid in her article, “Sport, Education, and the Meaning of Victory.”

As Reid states, the ultimate aim of sports programs, both within and separate from education systems, can be summed up in “one word: winning.” Yet Bend it Like Beckham seems to understate the wins and losses of the women's soccer team, focusing more upon the obstacles faced than the results achieved. The high and low points of the film's narrative never align with the outcome of the games. The team's defeat in Germany, for example, was not immediately followed by any sort of wallowing. Instead, the women go out and celebrate. Reid addresses this as well, saying that even after a loss, the game could be termed “a moral victory, a personal victory, or some such qualified win.” The plot does not take a turn for the worse until the romance-related (read: non-sports-related) conflict between Jess and Juliette begins.

Alternately, the technical “wins” of the team do not always mark a positive point in the narrative arc. In one successful game, Jess is actually shown a red card and forced to leave the field. This particular case depicts a team win, but not a personal victory in the case of our protagonist. To Reid, victory requires “the discipline to maximize individual potential without stopping short of or overstepping one's limits” (emphasis mine). In this instance, Jess oversteps her limits by shoving another player, thereby participating in unsportsmanlike behavior.

At first, it may seem that Beckham does not acknowledge victory within sports at all by suggesting a clichéd notion that the biggest victories occur off the court/field/track/etc. Indeed, the film does not exactly subscribe to Reid's “almost universal plot of sports stories and movies: athlete begins by losing miserably or suffering a terrible setback; athlete pledges his allegiance to the goal of victory nonetheless, athlete trains tirelessly in pursuit of that goal; athlete achieves victory.” For Jess, the trajectory is similar, but the goal is quite distinct. Her aim is not to win, but simply to be allowed to play. The act itself is her victory, not the potential future victories of that act.

However, at the end of Beckham, the film seems to elevate the women's final “win” to a “victory” by way of montage, drawing attention to both the challenges that were overcome and the elation that this particular success brings. The individual clip is hard to track down, but it begins around 1:24:00 in the video below, if you'd like to view it for reference.

The entire film builds up to this victory, and it represents a huge number of smaller wins: the successful compromise made by Jess between family devotion and athletic pursuits, the American scout witnessing the women's talent, the repaired friendship between Jess and Juliette, and the complete openness between Jess and her father about where she actually is, what she's actually doing. The movement from mere wins to ultimate victories cannot occur until Jess has been honest with her parents, and honest with herself, for that matter. Her passion for soccer pushes her toward that honesty, just as Reid argues: “From sport we learn to be honest, with ourselves and with others, about what is possible, what is inevitable, and what can be achieved.” For Jess, since her gravitation towards soccer is inevitable, gaining approval from her family becomes possible and is eventually achieved.

During the final few minutes of Bend it Like Beckham, Jess's father delivers a powerful line which speaks directly to the difference between wins and victories. “I don't want her to make the same mistakes her father made, accepting life, accepting situations. I want her to fight. And I want her to win.” In terms of the film's conflict itself, this line proves that she already has.