Bend It Like Beckham

In the movie, Bend it Like Beckham, the father-daughter relationship dynamic rings true to real life experience. A study published in the U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institute of Health (2012), determined that “father-daughter interactions potentially influence both social cognition and HPA reactivity to developmentally salient stressors in young women” (Byrd-Craven, Auer, et al, 2012). Effectively, a young woman who feels protected, supported and loved by her father, is more likely to possess better coping skills, when faced with stress.

Jessmina and her father’s relationship, evolved into a loving and supportive friendship, just as a life-transitioning event was happening in her life. Together, they endured the challenges

Remorsefully, from her father’s prospective, this situation would only become a lifetime of regret for his daughter. Obviously, this feeling was something that he did not want to plague another member of his family. Essentially, the new message caused a shift in the level of support that Jessmina felt, positively affecting the connectedness of the whole family.

Father-Daughter Communication Patterns

Effectively, when it comes to communication, there are both verbal and nonverbal cues within a message. Consequently, the verbal words spoken contain the basic content. On the other hand, non-verbal cues speak to how we really feel about our relationship to the listener. “The relationship part conveys the feelings and attitudes of the speaker (friendly, neutral, or hostile) and indicates how the words are to be interpreted (as a joke, request, or command) (Strong, 2014, p. 231).”

Initially, the communication patterns between Jessimina and her father, had its’ challenges. Appropriately, she displayed verbal cues, bordering on disrespect, as long as she felt misunderstood by her mother and sister. Fortunately for Jessmina, her father noticed this behavior and became concerned. Soon, he would pay closer attention to his younger daughter to find out what was making her so

Strong, author of the book, The Marriage and Family Experience Intimate Relationships in a Changing Society, 12th ed., (2014), wrote: “The life course perspective emphasizes the dynamic nature of families and the changes in family relationships that accompany life transitions (Strong, 2014, p. 51)”. Subsequently, what I learned from this movie is that, within the cycle of life, there are opportunities to right the wrongs of the past. By sharing your experience, in support of other family members who are facing the same issue, negative past events can be healed. Effectively, through change, growth and commitment to his family, this father embraced the opportunity to acknowledge the mistakes he made, in his own youth. In doing so, he freed Jessmina to make the decision for her own life-transitioning event.

Conclusion

In analysis of the movie, Bend It Like Beckham, this is a story that sends a strong message to parents; communicate with your children and be open enough to allow for effective communication to occur. B. Strong tells us how, in this statement: “For a message to be most effective, both the verbal and nonverbal components should be in agreement (Strong, 2014, p. 231).”

However, there are no scripts that make sure that parents get it right, in real life. Certainly, the more effective the communication patterns are within the family, the better are the chances for family members to support each