Thursday, April 24, 2008

Bend It Like Beckham

BBC World News had a segment last night about being a Muslim in London. They showed several people going about their lives, and one man was shown saying, “We’re just like anyone else, really.”

It reminded me of a movie my wife dragged me to some years ago, figuratively kicking and screaming. As I recall, I extracted a promise of a Bruce Willis movie the following week as a condition. It was about a girl who plays soccer and falls in love; you know, chick flick, blah, blah, bla.

I’ve seen it twice since. By choice.

Anyway. This family isn’t Muslim, they’re Sikh, but they have completely different customs. The father wears a turban. There’s a wedding in the picture, and daily life. The father is a bit henpecked, but pretty good natured about it. I wound up thinking that he was a man whose friendship I would value.

These folks were unlike the society they lived in, and they felt that, but they had no axe to grind. They just wanted to live their lives. Mom wanted her daughters to be happy. Dad just wanted to make a living, and have a beer once in a while in peace, and maybe play some cricket. (I’ve never figured out why anyone wants to play cricket, but the British seem quite fond of it.) The older girl just wants to get married and the younger one, of course, to play soccer. Underneath the skin, we’re all alike.

We need to remember that. Or learn it.

2 comments:

  1. Seriously, girls playing soccer is one of the best things to watch! Of course, it is better in person (kind of like that silly American "football" game), especially when it is a cute DTY dominating the field. I miss those days.
    However, Bruce Willis is also an excellent choice. I drug the daughters to see DH 4 when it came out (they had never seen a DH, poor girls), and I know DTY went at least once or twice more within acouple of weeks.

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  2. It was a good movie - for lots of reasons. The young soccer player is pretty good as a doctor on ER, too.

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