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A service to His little ones (which includes at-home teens) through you, their parents and grandparents, in His name by His Word MAR23042  (2003), PG-13Analysis Date: April 18, 2003 CAP Score: 50 out of 100 CAP Influence Density: 1.07 MinMax: -100 |
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 (2003), PG-13 -- Maybe the hook in your "No" might save your child's life someday. Cast/Crew Details Courtesy Internet Movie Database Production (US): Kintop Pictures Distribution (US): Fox Searchlight Pictures, The 20th Century Fox Film Corporation Director(s): Gurinder Chadha Producer(s): Paul Mayeda Berges, Gurinder Chadha, Ulrich Felsberg, Russel Fischer, Simon Franks, Zygi Kamasa, Deepak Nayar, Paul Ritchie, Haneet Vaswani, Barbara von Wrangell Written by/Screenplay: Gurinder Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, Guljit Bindra Cinematography/Camera: Jong Lin Music: Curtis Mayfield, John McElhone, Rick Nowels, Craig Pruess, Sharleen Spiteri Film Editing: Justin Krish Casting: Carrie Hilton, Liora Reich Production Design: Nick Ellis Art Direction: Mark Scruton Viewed At: Loews Cineplex Cityview, Fort Worth, Texas A Sikh family in England is having trouble homogenizing cultures. Mr. Bhamra (Anupam Kher) is doing his best to work in the English culture and openly maintain honor to his faith. All of his family support him, except one. Jessie. Jesminder 'Jess or Jessie' Bhamra (Parminder Nagra) is his British-born 17 year old daughter. Since early childhood Jess has been interested and active in sports. Her parents were tolerant and patient with Jess's athletic proclivity, waiting for the day she would come to her senses and seek to become a young lady of refine, education and duty like her mother, Mrs. Bhamra (Shaheen Khan). But Jess is showing no signs of losing her interest in football (soccer for us Colonists). Playing football in the local park with a few of the local boys one day, Jessie is noticed by a real football player, Juliette 'Jules' Paxton (Keira Knightly). Seeing quality athletics in Jessie, Jules invites Jessie to try out for her all-girl football team. But Jessie knows her parents do not approve of her playing football. But she is so good at it and playing football is all she wants to do. So, she sneaks. A lot. She defies. She deceives. And she lies. Just to get to play football. The poster above fairly well says it all. I can hear it now! "If her parents had let her play, she wouldn't have been forced to sneak and lie." No one forces anyone to do these things. It is a choice for which the defiant one is completely accountable. To say that denial of a privilege forces one to lie is like a bad guy with a gun saying "Don't force me to kill you." A love triangle develops between Jess and her new coach, Joe (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) and Jules. One of the park football players and Jessie's best friend, Tony (Ameet Chana) admits to having no preference for girls. Jessie even leaves her country to play for a semi-pro football team as try-out for a chance to play in America for pay. It is clear that her defiance and deceit bother her but Jessie still is slave to her desires. SPOILER ALERT: The writers have Jessie coming to her senses and bowing to the will of her parents but her father eventually sees her pain and lets her play football. God tells us to not deliberately anger our children: to not unreasonably deny them their desires [Col. 3:21] It would sound as though Mr. Bhamra honored Col 3:21 by letting Jess play football, especially under the carefully crafted manipulations of the movie. But in no case does God's Word permit rewarding of simple rebellion and defiance by disregarding them. [Prov. 13:24] One must keep tight reigns on what anger is righteous and what anger is merely selfishness. You don't let a two year old beat on the TV screen with a toy no mater how angry she gets at you, but Jessie's eagerness to play football and her expertise at it may have been enough for the parent to compromise. It is so difficult to know when to say "No" when we all want dearly to make our kids happy, wise and strong. Just remember that God tells us that if we teach and guide our children in the proper ways, they will not venture far away from the teachings and guidance. [Prov. 22:6] But God also reminds us that we must not withhold proper guidance, even if it is discipline. [Prov. 22:15] The point of the verses as they applies to Jessie's behaviors is that the heart of youth is filled with poor judgment and lack of experiential maturity. The rod of correction is a metaphorical reference to the rod of the shepherd who never uses it to cause harm his sheep. Rather he uses it to guide them even if it takes a sharp prod to do it. Note also that the rod has a hook at the end of it to save the sheep's life -- to lift it out of a hole where the sheep would be easy prey for predators. Maybe the hook in your "No" might save your child's life someday. Regarding God telling us the heart of youth is filled with poor judgment and lack of experiential maturity, even man is coming around to recognizing this. Professional counselor, Dr. Larry Gilliam and Harvard educated child development expert and professor of psychology, Dr. Karen Nelson agree with me that it would be unusual for even a 16 year old to be able to fully comprehend the consequences of his/her actions or to be able to fully separate fantasy from reality: that such capabilities do not typically plateau until the early 20s. Consider these matters of Scripture I've shared with you when your teen demands unearned and unmerited independence and autonomy. With a final score of 50, Bend It Like Beckham is a R-13 due almost entirely to issues of sexual immorality of varying degrees of severity though often through innuendo rather than behavior [Gal. 5:19], offensive language [Eph. 5:4] and issues of rebellion against parental authority. Teen drinking and drunkenness were expensive to the scoring as well. [**] The listing in the Findings/Scoring section provides all the findings noted.
SCRIPTURAL APPLICATION(S) If needed to focus or fortify, applicable text is underlined or bracketed [ ]. If you wish to have full context available, the Blue Letter Bible is a convenient source. If you use the Blue Letter Bible, a new window will open. Close it to return here or use "Window" in your browser's menu bar to alternate between the CAP page and the Blue Letter Bible page. ***Selected Scriptures of Armour against the influence of the entertainment industry*** As always, it is best to refer to the Findings/Scoring section -- the heart of the CAP analysis model -- for the most complete assessment possible of this movie. |
 Wanton Violence/Crime (W) Impudence/Hate (I) Sex/Homosexuality (S) Drugs/Alcohol (D): Offense to God (O) Murder/Suicide (M) |
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| NOTE: While the Summary/Commentary section of these reports is precisely that -- a summary in commentary format which can be and sometimes is subjective, the actual CAP Analysis Model (the Findings/Scoring section) makes no scoring allowances for trumped-up "messages" to excuse, for manufacture of justification for, or camouflaging of ignominious content or aberrant behavior or imagery with "redeeming" programming. Disguising sinful behavior in a theme/plot does not excuse the sinful behavior of either the one who is drawing pleasure or example of behavior or thought from the sinful display or of the practitioners demonstrating the sinful behavior. We make no attempt to quantify the "artistic" or "entertainment" value of a movie -- whether a movie has any positive value or "entertainment" value is up to mom/dad. The CAP analysis model is the only known set of tools available to parents and grandparents which give *them* the control they need, bypassing the opinion-based assessment of movies by others and defeating the deceit of those who would say anything to convince their parents otherwise. The model is completely objective to His Word. Our investigation standards are founded in the teachings and expectations of Jesus Christ. If a sinful behavior is portrayed, it is called sinful whether Hollywood tries to make it otherwise. That the sinful behavior is "justified" by some manufactured conditions does not soften nor erase the price of sin. Whether there is application of fantasy "justification" or "redemption" is up to mom/dad. |
| "There are some in the entertainment industry who maintain that 1) violent programming is harmless because no studies exist that prove a connection between violent entertainment and aggressive behavior in children, and 2) young people know that television, movies, and video games are simply fantasy. Unfortunately, they are wrong on both accounts." And "Viewing violence may lead to real life violence." I applaud these associations for fortifying 1 Cor. 15:33. Read the rest of the story. From our more than eight years of study, I contend that other aberrant behaviors, attitudes, and expressions can be inserted in place of "violence" in that statement. Our Director - Child Psychology Support, a licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist concurs. For example, "Viewing arrogance against fair authority may lead to your kids defying you in real life." Or "Viewing sex may lead to sex in real life." Likewise and especially with impudence, hate and foul language. I further contend that any positive behavior can be inserted in place of "violence" with the same chance or likelihood of being a behavior template for the observer; of being incorporated into the behavior mechanics and/or coping skills of the observer. In choosing your entertainment, please consider carefully the "rest of the story" and our findings. |
