...y soccer or have a girlfriend. But all these kinds of behaviour are bad for the familys reputation, according to the father. So hat can the children do if they do not ant to be outsiders in society. They could do everything secretly. And so does Jess in Bend it like Beckham. She is a great fan of David Beckham and also enjoys playing soccer. But it is a shame for an Indian family if the daughter plays soccer. Her parents are not fond of this hobby and her mother attempts to replace the love for sports ith a knoledge of cooking Mark Dujsik, so Jesminder has to buy her soccer shoes secretly and has to play soccer hen her parents are out. This is a big Problem for Jess because her parents do not ant her to do the thing she likes best. She is torn beteen her family and herself. In East is East the Khan children also have to do a lot of things secretly. Tariq is involved ith Stella, the daughter of the racist neighbour Mr. Moorhouse. They meet though their fathers ould never allo such a relationship. Especially Mr. Khan ould be shocked. He thinks it is his task to select a bride for his sons. Mr. Khan had chosen a bride for his oldest son Nazir, but he fled the edding ceremony and gives full expression to his homosexuality. After Nazir s running aay, Mr. Khan declared him dead because this behaviour is a shame for the family. And ho big ould be the disgrace if Mr. Khans son ere gay So Nazir had to escape and no lives ithout any contact to his family hich is surely not pleasant. But Mr. Khan did not learn the lesson. He also has chosen to brides for his sons Abdul and Tariq andAbdul accepts the decision of his father. He just ants to make his father happy and has not got the self confidence to resist his father s authority. But Tariq has. He heads for the nearest bus stop. Although he can not leave his family and his friends like Nazir did, Tariq is torn beteen his family, on the one hand, and his ishes and his future life, on the other. But in the end he recognises that his family is more important to him than anything else. Nevertheless he has big problems ith his father and his opinion of hat life should be. Mrs Khan, Mr. Khans British ife, tries to defend her children from her husband and finds herself the victim of his misdirected anger Damien O Donnell,because he doesnt ant his ife to protect her children if he punishes them. This brutality frightens the children, especially the youngest Sajid, and shocks the confidence of the children to their father. A big, but often forgotten problem for the children is the circumcision. As a good father, ho believes that this ritual is necessary to be a good Pakistani, Mr. Khan ants to circumcise Sajid, ho runs aay. This operation could cause a lot of physical problems for the children. Its part of the religion but of course the young children, like Sajid in East is East, dont ant to be circumcised because it is very painful. This tradition, hich his father ants to keep up, could make a young boy hate his religion and his fathers tradition. In Bend it like Beckham it is also a edding that causes a problem. Jess sister, Pinky, is getting married on the same day Jess has a very important soccer match. If she plays ell, she could get a scholarship. But Jess is not alloed to go to the match because of the edding. Jess great chance of seems to be over but surprisingly her father permits her to go to the match during the edding . Her father realises that the match is very important for the future of his daughter. Once Mr. Sharma as a great athlete but after he arrived in England he as met ith racism that kept him competing Mark Dujsik. He just doesnt ant his daughter to have such an experience, too.This is the big difference beteen Mr. Khan and Mr. Sharma. Mr. Khan has his strict rules and never ants his family to break them. Mr. Sharma s character develops during the movie. First he is traditional and strict. But he changes from his conservative point of vie to a more tolerant one. The big difference beteen Mr. Khan and Mr. Sharma is that Jesminders father allos his daughter to choose their further husbands for themselves. This is a very important step from Asian tradition to estern lifestyle. That is perhaps also the reason hy the Sharma children get along ith their parents much better than the Khan children. Jess and Pinky are just alloed to make the most important decision in their lives for themselves and Jess is also alloed to go to university in America. In the end most Asian children in the films kno here their roots are and do not ant to loose their parents because of estern society. They accept the ill of their father more or less gladly except for Nazir. He ants to live his on life ithout such a dominant father. But this entails a lot of problems for them. For example they have difficulties in making friends because they are not alloed to go out and play ith them. Life for Asian children in estern societies ould surely be easier if also their parents, especially the father, gave them more personal freedom, like Mr. Sharma does at the end. Perhaps they ill recognise that the estern ay of life is not too bad after all. And perhaps a mixture ould be the key....
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