Relationship Between George And Ella Khan example essay topic

Representation of multi-cultural Britain in the films "East is East" and "Bend it like Beckham."East is East" and "Bend it like Beckham" are two films that represent multi-cultural Britain. The title "East is East" suggests that there is no change. East will always be East no matter what country they live in or what expectations they should live up to. The title specifically refers to George Khan who refuses to change to please a culture, which he does not belong to. "East is East" explores the culture clash that occurs in the context of half Pakistani / half British family living in early 1970's England. George Khan is a Muslim who, upon immigrating to Great Britain, married a white British woman despite the fact that his first wife still lives in Pakistan.

Now, the still happily married couple, live in a small apartment with their daughter Meena h and their six sons, all of whom have been raised to honour their father's religion and traditions. George is suddenly confronted with the fact that as times change and the world moves on, the younger generation will no longer abide by the archaic rituals of an ancient age. George's ultimate goal in life is to arrange marriages for his teenage sons within the accepted tradition of the Muslim faith, despite the fact that his wife, Ella and even his sons have no knowledge of this. But culture is often a force that parents try in vain to stand by and these children, raised in the far more open and liberated society of "mod" England, are not about to take such parental control lying down. George Khan is not presented to us as an unreasonable character, yet at the same time, he will, in his frustration, strike out even physically at his children and his wife who seem to oppose him.

We sense the fear that runs through him that, if he allowed his sons too much freedom, they would oppose his tradition and "bring a shame on the family". George dreads that, without any traditions to anchor him and his family, they will be cut adrift in a different world of different teachings, different morals and different traditions. The film leaves us to ponder the strange contradiction between George's own words and the choices he himself has made. After all, his opting to marry a British woman who does not share his faith obviously went beyond the bounds of the very traditions he is now insisting his sons uphold. This is evidence that George is a terrible hypocrite who has one set of rules for him and another for his children. This type of ambiguity within the characters enhances their credibility.

The relationship between George and Ella Khan, who embrace this interracial marriage is frequently one sided. George makes nearly all of the decisions despite whatever Ella says and she knows this", well what can I say? You know what he's like". Ella's close friend also recognises the stress and tension that George puts on the family, I realised this when she said to Ella", What's old bothered balls got to say about it".

Also, Ella's friend knows that it is George's religion that causes all the disagreements between the family but she knows that Ella can't do anything about it because "it's religion and it's theirs". George is the decision maker and I think that this emotionally affects Ella because she sometimes feels that she is a bad mother when she just goes along with whatever George says. Yet George and Ella appear to greatly enjoy each other's company. Ella has undoubtedly made any number of concessions and compromises to her husbands belief system, yet she has retained her British feistiness and knows how far to let George go before she draws the line, especially when it comes to protecting the rights and happiness of her own children. In a similar way, we see, in thorough detail, the complexities that make up the two very different sets of relationships between the respective parents and their children. "East is East" limits the viewing of racism by introducing the broader theme of how a suspicious and prejudiced society deals with a "different" family.

We only see bits and pieces of this in the form of intolerant comments uttered by a disapproving neighbour, who obviously is racist as he has a picture of Enoch Powell in his house, and a mere mention of a political rally intended to startle the population on the issue of emigration. The authors concentrate more fully on the struggles taking place within this one family. In a way, the Khan family are not undergoing any crisis not already familiar to countless families all over the world, as parents cope with children eager to establish life on their own terms and as children, likewise, deal with parents who want to determine the course of their lives. The Khans just happen to provide a more intensified view of this. The title "Bend it like Beckham" suggests that the film is about football. The central theme of the film is the potential for conflict between the Western and Indian cultures personified in a young, westernised, British Asian girl (Jess) who is obsessed with following and playing football.

David Beckham is Jess's idol, her bedroom walls are covered in pictures of him but her parents would prefer Jess to worship religious icons, not sporting icons. Jess progresses from casual kick abouts in the park to joining a girl's football team without the knowledge or consent of her parents. Her skills mean that she is eventually considered for training for a professional football career in America. This opportunity brings her life to a head because she desperately wants to go and fulfil her dreams but she doesn't want to betray and disobey her family, who, she feels, is blocking her future.

Her parents want her to be a top class solicitor with her good grades but that is not what Jess wants. Jess's mother feels that it is time to stop all the fun and games", I let you play all you wanted when you were younger, now it's time to stop". Now that Jess is older her mother thinks that she shouldn't be " running about playing football with boys". Her father doesn't want her to play because he is frightened she will be let down and turned away just because of the colour of her skin, like he was.

Jess feels trapped and feels that no one understands her situation, not even her sister pinkie who is a really "girly" girl and is only interested in looking pretty and chasing after boys. Pinkie can't understand why Jess doesn't want to do the same. The clash between the essentially Western values of freedom of choice, personal fulfilment and self-development and the Asian values of loyalty and obedience to the family and the limited domestic view of women's' roles is extensively explored. The film seeks to deal with prejudice as it is found in both cultures. It focuses on racial abuse on the football pitch, (when Jess gets fouled and gets called "a paki"); the lewd, sexual comments of lads watching the girls play football (lavish behaviour), the opposition to mixed marriages and the idea in both cultures that sport is not really for women. "Bend it like Beckham" focuses on the cultural clashes faced by young British Asians, as they grow up in Asian families, in a Western environment.

This film, as well as "East is East" uses comedy as a means of diffusing the tension and prejudice through laughter. It is a fine line to draw, however, to ensure that we are laughing together at cultural misunderstandings and prejudices rather than any one group laughing at the customs of another culture but I think that "Bend it like Beckham" manages to pull this off. The tension of trying to live in two different cultures will be a feeling that many young Asian people in modern Britain can really relate to. The film's conclusion with the triumph of freedom of choice and personal fulfilment represents just one- possibly rather unlikely- outcome. Many other Asian youngsters lose their individual battles against prejudice and are forced to do as they are told to safeguard the "family honour" in the eyes of the wider community. "East is East" is set in early 70's in Salford whereas "Bend it like Beckham" is set in modern times.

The "East is East" soundtrack plays 70's music / music of the time but "Bend it like Beckham" plays Sikh music and modern music. The neighbours in both films react very differently towards the families. In "East is East" the neighbours are friendly, supportive and very anxious to see the Khans dressed up in sari's etc because it is something new to them, something different to what they know. There is only one neighbour that is racist (the old man that lives next door) but he too comes out in the street to watch what is going on because he too is anxious. The neighbours in "Bend it like Beckham" are very different, they don't react any differently and just carry on going about their everyday lives e.g. When it was Pinki's engagement in the garden and the next door neighbour was just pegging her washing out, not taking any notice. I feel that the neighbours are ignorant towards other cultures but this maybe because they have seen it all before.

Jules is very excited and anxious when she arrives at the wedding", wow this is amazing, look at all the colours!" Jules's mother is a stereotypical "blonde" who also shows her ignorance when she says " Jess? Is that Indian?" which highlights her uncultured knowledge as she expects Jess to have an Indian name, which she does have, as Jess is short for Jessminda. Both films include one dominant parent. In "East is East" it is the father, and the mother is the reasonable character, but in "Bend it like Beckham", the mother is the dominant one who has the most say in her children's lives and the father is the more reasonable one.

In both films the children oppose their tradition and try to be more westernised so that they fit in better with the community e.g. In "East is East" Abdul and Tarik change their names to Arthur and Tony so that they can get in the club because the doorman only seems to be letting white English people in. In "East is East" the children are more down to earth and don't care what their father expects of them whereas in "Bend it like Beckham" the parents teachings of "respect your elders" has rubbed off on Jess e.g. When coach Joe says his dad is a "bastard" Jess tells him that he shouldn't say things like that about his dad. Jess's football friends quiz her on her religion and don't understand it, which shows their ignorance towards other cultures. Joe the coach has some understanding of religions because he asks Jess "Are your folks up for it?" so he must know that in some religions parents wouldn't agree to it.

In "East is East" the Khan family don't really have any interaction with anyone other than their own family. George and his family are the victims of racist comments and George himself shows racism towards Indians but in "Bend it like Beckham" Jess is the victim of racist comments but she doesn't make any herself which shows that she has better morals, maybe Jess knows what it feels like to be a victim of racism and she therefore wouldn't wish those feelings upon anybody else. Both films use comedy in order to diffuse tension that builds up in each film. "East is East" has a darker side to it, it is a ruthless film with a harsher reality as it deals with violence amongst families etc but both films pull the comedy genre off very well. By Alison Moffitt.