The Bechdel Cast - Bend It Like Beckham with Subhah Agarwal

Episode Date: July 12, 2018

This *goal* for this week's episode was for Caitlin and Jamie to *team* up with special guest Subhah Agarwal and chat about Bend It Like Beckham! P.S. This movie does pass the Beckham Test: the baldest soccer player is in charge.(This episode contains spoilers) For Bechdel bonuses, sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/bechdelcast.Follow @subhah Twitter! While you're there, you should also follow @BechdelCast, @caitlindurante and @jamieloftusHELP Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16th 2017 was assassinated. Crooks Everywhere unearthed the plot to murder a one-woman WikiLeaks. She exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. Listen to Crooks Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. To listen to new episodes one week early and 100% ad-free, subscribe to the iHeart True Crime Plus channel, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. I'm NK, and this is Basket Case. What is wrong with me? A show about the ways that mental illness is shaped by not just biology.

Swaps of different meds. But by culture and society. By looking closely at the conditions that cause mental distress, I find out why so many of us are struggling to feel sane, what we can do about it, and why we should care. Oh, look at you giving me therapy, girl. Listen to Basket Case every Tuesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, fam. I'm Simone Boyce. I'm Danielle Robay. And we're the hosts of The Bright Side, the podcast from Hello Sunshine that's guaranteed to light up your day. Check out our recent episode with Grammy award-winning rapper, Eve, on motherhood and the music industry. No, it's a great, amazing, beautiful thing.

There's moms in all industries, very high stress industries that have kids all across this world. Why can't it be music as well? Listen to The Bright Side from Hello Sunshine on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Bechdelcast, the questions asked if movies have women in them. Are all their discussions

just boyfriends and husbands or do they have individualism? The patriarchy's effin' vast. Start changing it with the Bechdelcast. Hello, welcome to the Bechdelcast. My name's Jamie Loftus. And my name's Caitlin Durante. And this is our podcast about the representation of women in movies you've seen before. Or maybe you haven't. Yeah. Jamie, how do you feel the representation of women in mainstream American cinema is?

I'll tell you what, pretty bad. Yeah, I would agree. Don't care for it. You usually feel it's like a bit of a slap in the face. For sure. And that conversation just passed the Bechdel test, which is the test that we use as just a jumping off point to initiate a larger conversation about the representation of women in movies. The Bechdel test for us requires that a movie has two female identifying characters in it. They have to have names. Already, why bother?

Those characters have to speak to each other. If that happens, I'm leaving the theater. Who wants to watch women talk, right? And their conversation has to be about anything besides men. Sorry, are they talking about food? There's nothing else to talk about. Right. So.

Here, let's beta test the test really quick. I'd love to. Hey, Caleb. Hey, Jamie. You play any sports? I do play soccer. Whoa. I played soccer when I was four, but then I got kicked off of a youth team, which isn't

supposed to be allowed to happen to four-year-olds. Right. But I... What did you do to get kicked off the team? Quote, refused to participate, unquote. I see. And quote, picked flowers and quote, threw them at the opposing team, which I would argue was probably helpful to my team and they should have let me stay.

I think that is... Poor sport. Maybe some poor sportsmanship. Oh, you said man, so it doesn't count. Well, we'll do better next time. Sorry, we're just dumb women. Shall we introduce our guest? Yes, please. She's a comedian

and she's a writer for the Jim Jeffries show, Subha Agarwal. Hey! hey welcome thanks for having me thanks for being here so we're talking about Bend It Like Beckham tell us about your history with this movie your relationship to it when did you first see it I oh I think I was young I don't remember exactly when but um it was very relatable. I loved it. It was like, I think it was the first, because like when I was little, the only other brown girl I really saw was like, well, of course there's Bollywood films.

But I had no idea what the hell was going on there. And then there was Princess Jasmine. And when I was super little, I thought I was a princess because I saw Jasmine and my dad would call me princess. And then all of our white school teachers called my house and were like, is your daughter really a princess? And my dad was like, no. Supes embarrassing. That's adorable, though.

That's great. I was like, that's going to be on the program. You could have just leaned into it. You'd be like, yeah. He just doesn't want people to know. That's great. They're trying to murder me because I'm gonna inherit the throne no um i think we were merchants was our cast i don't know but like so yeah i saw ben at lake beckham i absolutely

adored it because it kind of became my life story with the whole entire double life thing with me in stand-up where it's like um my parents took me to my first ever open mic and then they forbade me from doing comedy and then i would sneak out and say I was going to parties and like go out and do shows and stuff. So it was very like Beckham. They were cool with parties, but not. Well, you have to understand who my friends were. Oh, OK. I was such a loser.

This is completely true. I got into comedy because I thought it would teach me how to talk to people. Oh, I'm a monster. It worked. Even weirder wrong direction yeah i think i've gotten way socially worse since i started doing stand-up hey now i talk but everything i say is inappropriate perfect yeah but um i mean it's more complicated than that but so my friends this is true i was so awkward and so nerdy that the people who took me into their friend circle was this korean church youth group at my school yeah because they saw me and it was like adopting a stray dog and they like yeah they took me into their group and they like let me come

to their like youth group friday so it's like yeah we would go real crazy we would do karaoke and like go to a hay patch you were their project you were their project so those were the parties that you told your parents you were going to and instead you were going out and doing stand-up okay wow that is really bend it like back up except i think i like that better jamie when did you first see the movie i'm pretty sure i first saw this movie i definitely didn't see it when it first came out i would have been too young to see it. But I saw it at some point in high school. I think that a bunch of my friends and I watched it. And it would have probably been because we knew by that point who Keira Knightley was. And so we were like, oh, Keira Knightley's in this movie. We'll watch it. And yeah, I really

liked it. I've seen it a couple times over the years. And it's always been just like, I don't know, I was I was a little bit worried, i always am anytime we re-watch a movie with this like lens i was a little bit worried going into it because i didn't remember all the details quite and usually when that happens it means that i'm about to not love the movie anymore it's gonna make me very upset yeah but uh this movie held up for me i thought i really it's oh it just warms my heart to be like, movie still bangs. It's great. It's very rare that we revisit a movie after having been doing this podcast for a while and are able to still enjoy a movie.

Yeah, without like that weird feeling of like, but asterisk, asterisk, you know. Right. Yeah. So it came out in 2002. I think I saw it shortly after it came out. I would have been in high school at the time. And I was really at the top of my soccer career in that moment. I was a captain of my soccer team.

Brag. I know. I know. I was a left forward. I was scoring goals all the time. What does left forward mean? Is that just? I played an offensive position.

So like upstage. But it didn't drama. They're closer to the half line. I would enter the field, stage left. Field left. Hit your mark. I would hit my mark. And yeah, so I'm a huge soccer fan.

And so I kind of just automatically liked this movie because it was about women playing soccer. It was around a time in my life where I was like really gung ho about soccer. And you could argue that I still am because right after this, I'm going to play soccer in Pasadena. So yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I really enjoyed this movie at the time and then would watch it here and there.

I haven't seen it that many times. I loved soccer, too. Did you play? I tried. Really? I wanted to be a professional soccer player, but my health and my genetics got in the way. It's like, so sorry.

Did you think you were going to do soccer? You're going to do math. I'm sorry about that. You're physically suited to math. Your bones are shaped for this wheel and desk. That is what your bones are shaped for. I mean, make no mistake. I'm not good at soccer.

I've been playing for over 25 years, so I should be much better than I am, and I'm literally still very bad at it. Well, my problem was I was fat when I was little, and I'm literally still very bad at it well my problem was I was fat when I was little and then when you're fat and they don't know what they're doing they just make you the goalie they're like well she doesn't move and I would get so mad that they would put me in goalie because I knew it's like I'm like this is because I'm fat and then like I stopped I refused to play goalie and I started playing these positions but by the time like my school was very competitive so it was like really hard to get on the team yeah and I started playing these positions. But by the time, like, my school was very competitive. So it was, like, really hard to get on the team.

And I started working out. And I jogged. And I lost all this weight. And, like, I ended up, like. For soccer? For soccer. Like, well, for soccer. And I was also tired of, you know, not being fuckable in the 90s.

Like, now it's better. But now I'm sure there'd be a dude who's like, yeah, you don't have to look like that. I'm totally into you. But, you know, back then, nope. Yeah. I mean, when you're, yeah, teen in the 90s, it's, yeah you don't have to look like that i'm totally into you but you know back then nope but yeah i mean when you're yeah teen in the 90s that's yeah no it's uh so yeah i lost all this weight i started jogging i started working out and training really hard and i could not catch up i still couldn't make it but i was like well i guess at least i'm not gonna die

of a heart attack at 30 i guess i'll just be healthy and do math and hate my life. I was told I was once perfectly physically built to play the oboe. Because when I had a back brace, I went to my oboe instructor, and I thought he was going to tell me to quit because I'm like, I have to wear a back brace all the time. How am I supposed to? And he was like, you don't understand what a blessing this is. That's so funny. He said that the way I was leaning, like my crooked spine was leaning on my lung in such a way that was very advantageous to oboe playing.

So not to brag, but it was a gift. So we've got an athlete, a musician, and a mathematician. We are basically the three most fuckable people in the entire world. Yeah. So I'll do the recap. Recap it up, baby. Okay. So Bend It Like Beckham.

The movie focuses on a character named Jess Bamra. She is a young woman living in England with her family and her parents are immigrants. They're Indian and they're this very traditional family and they do not like that Jess plays soccer and loves soccer and loves David Beckham. And then we meet Jules. That's Keira Knightley's character. Her mother's all like, try on these sexy bras. And she's like, I'd rather. Her mom is fully like calling the manager.

White lady mom. Yeah. Yeah. Right. calling the manager white lady mom yeah yeah right and Jules sees Jess playing soccer in the park and she's like wow she's really good and she goes up to her and Jules is like hey you should like try out for this women's league that I'm on and Jess is like am I good enough for this and she's like yeah so yes queen 2002 really forward thinking so Jess goes and tries out and she makes the team her coach is named Joe and he's played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers and he thinks that she's got a lot of potential but her parents don't want her

to play anymore and like her sister is gearing up to get married and they're all like stressed out because of that so um her sister's played by archie punjabi who is my favorite character on the good wife oh a show that i have seen every episode of and remember could tell you zero things that happened in the entire show it was like 150 episodes. I have no idea. I have no idea. I love Archie Panjabi. I love Alan Cumming. That's all I know about the show.

Who was even the lead in that show? Probably a wife that's good. Juliana Margulies. Trick question. Oh, I see. Okay. Good job. Anyways.

Oh, wait. Really quick. Alfred Molina mentioned. Oh, please. Chris Noth, a.k.a aka Mr. Big, plays the husband in The Good Wife. And Chris Noth, as we all know, is the poor man's Alfred Molina. I said it. Yeah. Okay. I'm glad we got that out there. has to lie to her parents and like tell them that she's got a job so that she can start playing on this women's league uh women's side i don't know club club soccer they're british and they use words that i don't understand and then jules and jess develop a close friendship and then they're both interested in their coach joe and they don't tell each other for a long time. Right. They play it cool.

Or they're only kind of hinting about it. I feel like there's a million times where Keira Knightley is like, I don't know. I don't know. Whatever. And Jess is like, okay. Jess plays it way cooler than Keira Knightley. Keira Knightley is spazzing out.

Oh, sure. Anyways. Yeah. I've never played it cool. Not once. It's really hard. Imagine being chill for even a second. Oh, I can't relate.

So different things happen. There's a moment where Jess and Jules are kind of laughing and hugging. And a family friend drives by. And they think that Jess is kissing someone. So they tell her family. And then the wedding gets called off because that's very frowned upon in the community. Jess has to like sneak off to Germany to play a game and she has her like sister cover for her.

But like all this stuff gets revealed that she has been playing and her parents like forbid her from continuing to play. But then she just keeps at it. She keeps lying she's committed to lying she and joe almost kiss for a moment and then like jess walks in on them and then that creates some tension between them finally her parents i think they find out about the germany trip and they like forbid her from ever playing soccer again. It gets kind of convoluted,

because that happens a bunch of different times, where it's like, I think that the big plot points go like, they think she's gay, they catch her playing soccer. They think she's gay, they catch her playing soccer. They think she's gay, they let her play soccer. The movie's over. But it is kind of like the same two conflicts that keep sort of manifesting in different ways.

Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. So by the end there is this like big tournament game that there's like an american scout going to be at who has his eye on both jess and jules but that's the same day of jess's sister's wedding which gets also jess and jules are fighting fighting over this man and we'll get there because i'm like should he be dating any of these girls doesn't seem like he should right but the movie does not acknowledge that what the characters do they keep saying yeah yeah like he's off limits but then they go for it anyway but then he he's like, JK, I'm not. The reasons I thought he was off limits and the reasons they thought he was off limits were different reasons. I thought it was an age thing, but he's just like, oh, no, I'm your coach.

Oh, right. Because they're meant to be in their late teens, like about to go to uni. They're on like summer. Yeah, it's like summer break. Well, he looks young, too. It's not that creepy. I hope so. He could also be's not that creepy. I hope so. He could also be like 24, though.

I hope so. And they're like 18? I don't know. I mean, I don't think laws are being broken. Right. It's just a little weird. Sure. Slightly sus.

Yeah, we'll get into that. My sus meter went off. I was like, I don't know if you should be dating them. Beep, beep, beep, beep. So the final kind of big moment in the story is that she's at her sister's wedding and has decided, well, you know, I can't play soccer anymore because my parents forbid it. But then her dad finally gives her his blessing because he had seen her play in a game and, like, recognizes her talent. So he's like, go off. And if this is going to make you happy, go do it.

So she leaves the wedding, goes and plays like the second half of this soccer game, scores the winning goal. The scout sees her and he's like, wow, great. Let's send you off to America. You know, the country that loves soccer and that there are so many opportunities for soccer players at. Oh, yeah. I didn't even think of that.

It was funny. There's so many times in this movie where these characters in the uk are like we can't play soccer here we have to go to america in order to like make a living at soccer and it's like is that that might have been true but also like the u.s like hates soccer and And women athletes. And women athletes. Right. It seems like a real blanket lose. Maybe that's the movie being like, we want to get international distribution.

Maybe if we just compliment America a bunch of times, they'll be like, okay, we'll show it. And that must have worked because we've seen it. And this movie was financially a huge success. $6 million budget. $77 million box it. Yeah. And this movie was financially a huge success. $6 million budget, $77 million box office. Wow. They got them. I'm so jealous of that one part of the movie

because our stories are pretty similar with the whole double life lying, blah, blah, blah, it ruining whatever. And then the part where her dad's like, I saw her and she's so talented.

I never got that moment. My mom has never been like, your dick joke was so well crafted. I can't hold you back from the world. It was more of, I'm not going to stop doing this. So they have come to accept it, but they're not necessarily. They're not on board. She tries, bless her heart. To this day?

Yeah, she does. Oh my God. She even tries, because she won't see i won't let her into a show i mean if she does maybe one day but i need a heads up and it's gonna be a whole different set and it's gonna be super annoying um but like she tries and watch stuff online or like she tried to watch the jim jeffrey show which is very like news-based and she's like i didn't like current events and then she she was like I tried to

watch it while I was folding my laundry so I tried I'm like alright thanks mom thank you mom every time she tries it's just way worse like she tried to watch me I had like a small non speaking role on a friend's show and she's like why did you look fat and nervous and I was like what the fuck

I was like ma I was not I could not look nervous I didn't have any lines and what do you mean fat she nervous? And I was like, what the fuck? I was like, ma, I was not, I could not look nervous. I didn't have any lines. And what do you mean fat? She's like, she just was like, I meant you're skinnier in real life. And I'm like,

what the fuck lady? I love it. Very, your mom sounds like a very chill woman. She just has no, I mean, I adore it. I think it's really funny

because she has no filter. It's like, and it like taught me to be like, I'm still very, I mean, I would it. I think it's really funny because she has no filter. And it taught me to be like, I'm still very, I mean, I would like to be less sensitive. But what little insensitivity I have to be like, eh, screw it. Because my mom has just been talking shit the entire time. I'm like, oh, some weird egg on Twitter wants to call me a whore. I'm like, well, get in line after my mom. Like, it's great.

My mom's the ultimate egg come at you my mom does your mom ever make comments on like your job no she's been surprisingly supportive from the get-go she did question whether or not i'd be able to ever make a living at it and when i did decide to go to grad school to get a master's degree in screenwriting from Boston University, I hate to bring it up. I don't know if anyone knows this about me because I would never mention it. But my mom, she was like,

yeah, I don't know if that's a good idea, Caitlin. You already don't use your first film degree. So like, what are you thinking? And I was like, no, this is this is really gonna work out and look at me now we've got a movie podcast I was like wait I'm trying to draw okay yeah yeah my mom just sometimes will like look at something I did or like not even the full thing like an image of it and she'll be like I just it's just disgusting okay. Your issue with it is that it's disgusting to you.

And she's like, it's good and I'm glad, people, but I find it disgusting. That's so funny. Cool. Gotta love our moms. I love an unfiltered mom. Yeah. Okay, so the very end of the story is she leaves the wedding to go play soccer.

She gets recognized as being a very talented player, goes off to the U.S. to play soccer in this, you know, wonderful haven that is this country that loves the sport of soccer and loves female athletes. But not before a weird last-minute airport kiss. There's an airport kiss, and her parents, like, finally, she, like, gives this speech speech and then her dad kind of is like yeah like we should let her be happy and do what she wants and then she's like yeah i wanna this is like what's gonna make me happy so please let me make this choice and her family comes around and then like she and and jules make up and they go off to play soccer together but not before there's a hetero kiss. And then that's pretty much the end of the movie.

Let's take a quick break and then we will be right back. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16th, 2017, was murdered. There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate. My name is Manuel Delia. I am one of the hosts of Crooks Everywhere, a podcast that unhurts the plot to murder a one-woman Wikileaks. Daphne exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state.

And she paid the ultimate price. Listen to Crooks everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. To listen to new episodes one week early and 100% ad-free, subscribe to the iHeart True Crime Plus channel, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. I've been thinking about you. I want you back in my life.

It's too late for that. I have a proposal for you. Come up here and document my project. All you need to do is record everything like you always do. One session. 24 hours. BPM 110. 120.

She's terrified. Should we wake her up? Absolutely not. What was that? You didn't figure it out? I think I need to hear you say it. That was live audio of a woman's nightmare. This machine is approved and everything?

You're allowed to be doing this? We passed the review board a year ago. We're not hurting people. There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing. They're just dreams. Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller from blumhouse television iheart radio and realm listen to dream sequence on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts i felt too seen um dragged uh i'm nk and this is Basket Case. So I basically had what back in the day they would

call a nervous breakdown. I was crying and I was inconsolable. It was just very big, sudden swaps of different meds. What is wrong with me? Oh, look at you giving me therapy, girl. Finally, a show for the mentally ill girlies. On Basket Case, I talk to people about what happens when what we call mental health is shaped by the conditions of the world we live in. Because if you haven't noticed, we are experiencing some kind of conditions that are pretty hard to live with. But if you struggle to cope, the society that created the conditions in the first place will tell you there's something wrong with you, and it will call you a basket case. Listen to Basket Case every Tuesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. Sorry, I had to go score some goals.

Goal! Yeah. You can only get one point in soccer, right? At a time? At a time, yes. Okay, right? At a time? At a time. Yes. Okay. Right.

I didn't mean total. Yeah. One goal equals one point. It's like Quidditch, right? There is a quaffle. There is a snitch. There are some bludgers. And yeah.

I'm exhausted. I don't want to like go right to the end, but the logic of the airport kiss scene, it's so clearly like to that. I'm just like, oh, they got a note like they got a note that they're like, we got it. We got to see a kiss by the end of the movie. But the logic of that scene is so weird because I feel like based on everything we know about Jess's family in this entire movie, they would not be like, oh, yeah, definitely make out with this guy at the airport. But the guy enters behind the family and we're to believe the family just doesn't turn around. Right. Because this whole scene takes place behind both families, Jess's family and Jules's family.

And in front of Jules where, you know, she and Jess made up, but the reason they were fighting was this guy, and I'm like, it's pretty, like, I was like, Jess, that's a move to just be like, remember this guy who didn't want to fuck you? Bam! Like, I was like that, and then, I don't know. I was just like, the logic of that scene was wild.

It feels very tacked on, and, like, it wasn't given that much thought. Yeah. Yeah. Where they're just like, oh, well, just everyone who isn't directly involved in the kiss, avert your eyes as if this is something that would happen. It's very weird. So the first thing I just want to mention about this movie is that it is a movie about an Indian woman directed by an Indian woman.

Get out. Yeah. I didn't know that. Her name, and I'm afraid I'm going to mispronounce it, but it's Gurinder Chadha. She also co-wrote it with another Indian woman and her husband. I don't know if they were married at the time. But yeah, so it's those people involved. It's also several of the producers are Indian. and um like the cinematographer is an asian man so it's like

yeah we so rarely come across this because oftentimes if there's a movie that does tell the story of a person who is marginalized scarlett johansson plays the lead. Scarlett Johansson plays the lead. And it was directed and produced and written by exclusively straight cis white men. And the best friend is played by Emma Stone, another person who just simply doesn't know. Exactly. I think that has a lot. The fact that this movie holds up well, and that's not to say that this movie is perfect, that it doesn't mishandle some things here and there, which we'll get into. But I think the fact that it holds up as well as it does and handles the issues that this movie brings up because it was made by someone who shares the experience of the character.

She directed a lot of films I like uh i just said films like i'm fucking a genius okay she's directed bennett lake beckham bride and prejudice and angus thongs and perfect snogging oh which is a book series and a movie i really liked yeah well we talked about on the sisterhood of the traveling pants episode yeah snogging Snogging. So there you go. So just keep that in mind. Because this is a movie that like explores a lot of different things in terms of like a woman of color coming from a family of immigrants having to deal with racism, having to deal with sexism, because she's existing mostly in like a straight male white space. There's different things where she's self-conscious about her body and different things where her family, you know, has a very

specific idea of what she should and should not be doing, a very specific idea of who she should and should not be romantically involved with. So she's dealing with all of these things and she, you know, finds herself at the intersection of being a woman, being a person of color, being a female athlete, and just the idea of like femininity and masculinity, and like how people perceive that to relate to sexual identity and like different things like that. So this movie like tackles a lot of really interesting things but it's so funny and it's funny like yeah when you I was like whoa it really does tackle all that stuff but it's so fun to watch it doesn't feel I don't know for me it

doesn't beat you over the head with it yeah it's not like kind of limited yeah it's cool and and also just oh god it watching Jess have to deal with so many things it's when you're just like she's a good kid she's a good kid she's just trying to pursue an extracurricular to save her alone right so yeah her sort of history is that she has played soccer in a park mostly with men i think all of them are indian men if i'm not mistaken yeah they have like a friendly rapport but they also like will make sexist comments to her a lot where you know they talk about like her hitting the ball like the soccer ball with her chest and like how like how can you do that when you've got and then like later yes but you do it anyway right yeah

because women have a higher threshold for pain later in the story is revealed that she has like a burn scar on her leg which she is ashamed about and we realize that probably one of the reasons she's ashamed about this is because her mother makes her feel ashamed about it because she's like like how can you be showing your legs in front of all these men like you should cover that up and then like the guys who she plays soccer with are like oh my god that's disgusting like oh god and every time she's confronted with anything like that like any sort of sexism she challenges it which is a really nice thing to see because usually in movies a character will say a really horribly sexist thing and no one's even aware that it was sexist so the

characters just barrel through and it goes unchallenged yeah at the beginning watching Jess play soccer with the guys and like they were giving her a lot of shit, but it felt like so much in this movie feels so like realistic in ways that teen movies rarely do where they're being sexist toward her, but you can also, because I'm sure like we've all had this experience, you can also understand why she stays because they're awful to her,

but they also know she's a good player. There's where else is she going to go? There's all these dynamics at play where I don't even think that Jess dislikes those guys. But it's like if she wants to play at the beginning of the movie, that's the only way she knows how. And so she challenges it and then compartmentalizes it sort of on and off in a way that felt, I don't know, like reminded me of being a teenager in yeah any male dominated teen space yeah you're just like okay this is the battle I'm gonna push back on and this is the one where I'm just gonna pretend I didn't hear anything right okay because she doesn't

have any other options to play until she gets sort of recruited to be on this team which like kira knightley's character says like oh they finally let us like form a woman's side and it sounds like kira knightley i think jules i think says or maybe joe says this that it was like jules was the one who was really really pushing for him because he was playing for the men's club when she was hanging around right and so she just i like to imagine her like lingering around and then waiting for one of the men's club when she was hanging around. Right. And so she just, I like to imagine her like lingering around and then waiting for one of the men to get injured and be like, you're our coach now. Because he couldn't play anymore, so he had to coach.

And I think she just like scooped him up and was like, you are my coach now. Thank you. This is your new job. She just purposely Tanya Harding's one of them. I'm so sorry. Your knees are gone are gone better coach me and a bunch of other ladies there's a bright side i love that fan theory maybe that's why he doesn't

want to date her he's like you you hired someone to bash my knee and she's, it was never proven. It was never proven. Keira Knightley galoo-laid him. She straight up galoo-laid him. There is a character among the men that she plays with in the park named Tony, who is a close friend of hers, feminist icon, queer icon, because later in the movie he comes out to her. I forgot about that. So did I. Yeah. queer icon because later in the movie he comes out to her i forgot about that so did i yeah

yeah so basically anytime she's confronted with any sort of misogyny or racism like there's a moment toward the end when they're playing a game and one of the players on the opposing team calls her like a slur for pakistani people and then she like she sort of pushes and kind of comes at the player who did this and then she gets a red card and then her coach joe like yells at her for doing that and she's like you don't understand like this person like called me a slur and she's like well you wouldn't get it and he's like i'm irish so yeah i get it and then that goes unchallenged, and I'm just like, I'm sorry. Like, I'm sure Irish people in England do experience some sort of prejudice, but... It seemed kind of apples and oranges.

Yeah, for sure. Okay. That was, like, one of the few moments of the movie where I was like, I didn't like how that there and just the way it played out felt weird and not not quite lining up with like what it seems like the characters would expect the Joe character because it like it makes sense that Jess he knew that that he would yell at her because that's not really didn't seem like the kind of person he was and then even after she explained it he was kind of just like i'm irish we've got it that seems like something a white dude would do to me oh for sure i was like i could see that happening absolutely i think it just came as a surprise to me that she didn't say like no like it's not the same like you're still a white man yeah i guess when it's like when he said that i think that it was like and now that issue is resolved yeah i did it doesn't seem like they really talked about it i don't know but um anyway

so my point is i really enjoyed seeing any time she experienced you know for the most part racism sexism etc she challenges it and it's just a really cool thing to see in a movie i also wanted to talk about the idea of like femininity and how that's an expectation of like especially for jules that was interesting for me because that was the one part was not my background at all it was to an extent where it's like because I think it was my dad wanted a boy and so my mom was like oh just treat her like a little dude it's the same shit so like I grew up a tomboy for that reason because I would watch sports with my dad I would watch wrestling I was super aggressive my brother had my mom's personality where he was very patient and calm and i was just a lunatic from like just came out of the womb an insane person smashing bottles but like it was so it was like me and my dad got along but as soon as i got

close to puberty my parents tried obviously they failed but they were like you can't talk to men outside of the classroom you can only talk to them in like an educational setting and about school obviously i lied straight to their face right away but like it was just and it was like this weird thing where like i used to like wear baggy overalls like and then on top of it i would wear a sports jersey like that was my mo and then it wasn't until like i guess my hormones started kicking in and i wanted attention from men that I was like, ah, shit, I can't dress like you anymore. And then I started like reading like Teen Vogue and like trying to do the face makeup that they told you to do. And it was just God awful.

They were wrong. Oh, yeah. Teen Vogue did pretty cool these days, though. Teen Vogue did weird things to your face. It didn't make sense god i used to i still have like just like all these memories of like a specific issue of teen vogue where it like would tell you what shape your body was and it was like three of like the same shape and then it was like garbage like a pile of garbage at the end you're like oh okay well that's me there i am feeling seen but, you play the oboe so well.

True. I should have asked my oboe instructor for body image advice. He's like, no, you and your crushed lung are dope. Great. Curvy spine? What you need is an A-line skirt. That is fine. Exactly.

But no, so in the first scene that we meet Jules in like her mother is taking her bra shopping and she keeps saying like oh these bras will you know boost your cleavage and like and then Jules has no interest in presenting as feminine or like you know wearing quote-unquote girly things or like lacy bras or anything like that so she goes over to the the sports bra section and this sort of sets up an ongoing struggle between her and her mother throughout the movie where her mom you know wants her to be more feminine wants her to be girlier doesn't like that she plays soccer football um but she doesn't like forbid Jules from playing it like Jess's parents do but she's just like oh you know if you just like dress differently you know boys would like you and Jules meanwhile is just like I don't care about that like I'm gonna wear what I want to wear I don't feel the need to

present as super super feminine in like the clothes I wear and like my hairstyle and things like that and it seems like part of the reason Jules's mom puts up with it is because Jules' dad feels so differently, where Jules' dad is very supportive of Jules playing soccer, I think partially because he really likes soccer, so he's like, oh, yeah, this works out. There's a common interest. And it seems like part of the reason why Jules gets to continue playing in a way that Jess doesn't,

because Jess doesn't really have a parental ally until the very end. I'm wondering how you both felt about this, but I felt like the way that Jules' mom forced femininity and I think kind of a very stereotypically hetero form of femininity fed right into the way that this movie deals with like queer panic because Jules's mom it comes up with her I feel like almost more so than any other character and it comes up with a lot of people yeah there's a moment at the climax of the movie where Jules's mom gets so upset thinking that Jess and Jules are queer and they're together that she crashes a wedding

which is like that's bananas there's the moment where she hears Jess and Jules arguing and the way this scene is presented I'm like is they're actually arguing about a boy so it's okay and I like don't love how that's presented but they're actually arguing over Joe but there's a lot of like mishearing mishaps in this movie. And Jules's mom thinks they're arguing about their relationship. She goes downstairs and bursts into tears. Yeah. And it's like freaking out with Jules's dad. That scene I thought was a little bit better.

The climactic wedding crasher queer panic scene seemed a little bit out of nowhere because jules's mom in kind of like two-thirds through the movie is like actually i like soccer and i want to understand it and i respect your choices but then freaks out again but right so that was a little weird but but the first time she significantly panics thinking that Jules is queer she at least contextualizes it and explains part of the reason why she's so nervous and she cites George Michael and how George Michael was treated in the media for being gay and she worries that and it's a silly example but the way she explains it does make sense in like panicked mom logic of like, I've seen someone who I like, George Michael, be abused in the media for being gay. And what if that happens to my kid? And that sort of when she said it that way, I was like, okay, that is like a really good move by this movie to contextualize the panic a little bit. She's still wrong, but at least we understand a little bit better why. I also got the sense, though, that that was only part of her reasoning for being so upset

by it. Which we learn later when she yells, get your lesbian feet out of my shoes. Like, there's still certainly some, like, homophobia there, and it might not be the worst case we've ever seen. But like, she, regardless, she is very upset by her thinking that she might have a daughter who is a lesbian yeah she's and i think she would be upset about that you know today like even if you know like gay people were totally yeah she still has her own hang-ups because get your lesbian feet out of my shoes like you're like okay so she's also she's problematic in other ways

because she does a few microaggressions toward jess where like whenever she first meets jess when they're in like jules's room she learns her name and she's like oh jess is that indian basically saying like that doesn't sound like an indian name like what what i don't understand and then she says something like, I hope you teach my daughter a bit about your culture, you know, to respect your elders. And then she says, Oh, you're a lucky girl, because I expect that your parents are fixing you up with a handsome young doctor soon, aren't they? So just like, taking stereotypes that she knows about Indian culture, and just assuming that they apply to Jess. And this is an example of a time where

like Jess doesn't challenge it, but it makes perfect sense. Why? Like you don't want to like your friend whose mom you just met, you're not going to like necessarily stand up and be like, um, actually here's all the things that are problematic about everything you just said. So that like tracked for me, but it just like, I mean, this is all to say that i think all the characters in this movie are like characterized very well they feel like real people thought and time was put into developing them so even though like jules's mom is problematic in many ways the movie handles it in such a way where we the audience realize what she's saying is problematic. Where in a lot of movies, that care and time isn't bothered with at all. So, I mean, there are people like her, like Jules' mom, like we've met them.

But, yeah, it's just, I find it interesting that each of these characters, problematic though they may be, are still developed in such a way by, like, the writers that they're used to demonstrate the biases and the microaggressions and stuff like that a character or a person like Jess would experience. So I thought that was all handled very well. Let's take a quick break. I have to go score some more goals and then we'll be right back. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16th, 2017, was murdered. There are crooks everywhere you look now.

The situation is desperate. My name is Manuel Delia. I am one of the hosts of Crooks Everywhere, a podcast that unhurts the plot to murder a one-woman Wikileaks. My name is Manuel Delia. I am one of the hosts of Crooks Everywhere, a podcast that unhearts the plot to murder a one-woman Wikileaks. Daphne exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. And she paid the ultimate price. Listen to Crooks Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app,

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I have a proposal for you. Come up here and document my project. All you need to do is record everything like you always do. One session. 24 hours. BPM 110. 120. She's terrified.

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and of course, lucha libre. It doesn't get more Mexican than this. Lucha libre is known globally because it is much more than just a sport and much more than just entertainment. Lucha libre is a type of storytelling. It's a dance. It's tradition. It's culture. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12-episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar,

the emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Join me as we learn more about the history behind this spectacular sport from its inception in the United States to how it became a global symbol of Santos! Santos! Part of my Cultura Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts. I wanted to talk a little bit about the, I mean, I don't have that much to say because I'm not super critical of it. But just saying that the team dynamic inside of the team that Joe coaches, that Jess and Jules are a part of, is like a really positive community. They're all generally very supportive of each other. They'll like dig at each other sometimes, but it's in a very friendly way. Most of the time, there's a scene that I really liked

where Mel, the captain of the team, Jules and a few other teammates ask Jess questions about her culture because they just don't know. Like they don't understand why is she not allowed to play soccer? What are the culture's rules around dating? Like they just don't know. Like, they don't understand why is she not allowed to play soccer? Like, what are the culture's rules around dating? Like, they just don't know.

So they ask in a way that I thought, and I mean, I'm not totally, but it seemed like a very respectful conversation. They asked respectfully, she answered, and they're like, oh, okay, we know. And I was like, that's great. That seems like how that should go. Right, especially when you contrast that with how Jules's mom approaches those same sort of topics where she's like making assumptions and then being like well this is how it must be for you so I already know

everything and I don't need to ask questions because I got this and it's just like yeah so I think I agree that I think those were handled better and I yeah I enjoyed that scene I also like the scene where um she has to get back to her wedding the like her sister's wedding at the end so her teammates are helping her put on like the sari yeah that was I still I don't know how to wear one of those things but everyone on the team did so fun I was like I didn't even think of that. My mom has to put it on me. That's sweet, though. That's nice. It feels weird as an adult to have your mom come behind you because she has to put it on like she's putting it on.

That's how she knows. Like, you know how some people do. Oh, right, right, right. Tie, tie. Yeah. So it's just a very, like, pottery scene from Ghost where my mom is just wrapping her arms around me and, like, folding a sari. I was like, this is is uncomfortable I don't want this that's great

oh that's a beautiful image just ghosting with your own mom with the same song playing in the background the whole bit fully unchained melody another thing I wanted to talk about is this is a movie about women's

sports a woman in sport goal goals and kicking penalties this is to say that there are not that many movies about female athletes women playing sports a A few examples include, aside from Bennett Lake Beckham, a league of their own. Stick it, bring it on, whip it. A lot of them have it in the name. Because you can't say it. Well, I guess if you replace it with her, that would be bad. No. That would be bad.

Never mind. Iris and my comment. It being the sport or the... The ball. The ball. The ball be bad. Never mind. Iris and my comment. It being the sport or the... The ball. The ball. Caitlyn. Sports. Gotta Kick It Up is another one.

The ball. Then we've got Blue Crush, Million Dollar Baby, Girl Fight, Love and Basketball, She's the Man, I, Tonya. And then a few lesser known ones that I found out via a very thorough Google search, like Gracie, Personal Best, Ice Princess, The Cutting Edge. Ice Princess Rules. I've never, I don't. Lesser known. Well, if these are like Disney Channel originals, which I feel like some of these are, I don't know what they are. Double Team is another one it's a great one so this is like roughly 20 movies throughout the course of history that are well known enough that they show up in a google search versus like 8 000 movies about men playing sports so i mean we see this all the time where like biopics 90 of them are about men much fewer are about women um you know movies about the military almost all of them feature male characters none of them are about women in the military so

it's like and that's a media issue where i feel like that the counter argument that i can hear my cousin saying is like well people don't watch women's sports as much but that is like, well, people don't watch women's sports as much. But that is like a snake eating its own tail. Not a game. It's a movie. I'm not. Bend It Like Beckham wasn't just like a filmed soccer match. Right. And it's like if young women don't see female athletes depicted on screen

in the like celebratory way that it is in Bend It Like Beckham, when they're younger, then they're probably less likely to want to play that sport like that's a proven thing over and over why do so many little girls want to be princesses because that's what they see and so it's like if they see other stuff then of course you know the the cultural landscape will gradually shift. And so maybe I wouldn't hate sports balls so much. If there were movies of women doing it more, we'll never know. I, too, would have liked hoop goals more if I had been. I would have been slamming hoop goals. I would have been kicking the basketball.

Gotta kick it up. Gotta kick that basketball up into the air. For crying out loud. Also, a lot of the movies that I named are about sports that I would say are at least perceived to be more feminine. Because it's either dancing, figure skating, gymnastics. A few female-dominated sports. Right. A couple of them are, like, League of Their Own is baseball.

A couple of them are about boxing. Some of them are like league of their own is baseball a couple of them are about boxing some of them are about basketball but yeah i feel like if you're gonna have a mainstream movie about women doing a sport that is commercially successful chances are it's like cheerleading or like figure skating or something that we as a society already are okay with women doing i think the ones like bend it like beckham or a league of their own are more outliers like even though they were you know they're popular movies they hold up but they're not the rule so i don't know yeah i think i tend to not like sports movies very much especially like i nothing will ever make me enjoy a boxing movie except i didn't really enjoy Girl Fight

I I like sports and movies and maybe it's because I grew up watching it but um honestly I was thinking about it have there been more movies about dogs in sports because of all the airbud sequels oh my I bet there are more airbud movies than there are movies featuring female athletes. I've for sure seen a movie about a monkey playing hockey called MVP, Most Valuable Primate. More than I've seen movies about women playing sports. That said, highly recommend it. Those primates are going to grow up to play hockey because they got exposed to it. I mean, and that's why there's so many professional monkey hockey players right now,

because media is influential. I keep saying it. It is a 2000 feature film that sparked the MVP franchise. The film's title character, Jack, is a chimpanzee. What else does he play in future movies? Oh, my God. Okay. Okay. chimpanzee what else does he play in future movies oh my god okay uh okay mvp2 is skateboarding most vertical private what and then the last one is x games themed most extreme prime that's so that's mxp it's kind of a different i see but it's the third one we already know it's a proven

product the shark with that one. Okay. Well, no. Oh, and it is an extension of the Air Bud franchise. That makes sense. Well, thank goodness for, you know, animals and sports and all the representation that they get. True. I wanted to talk about the love triangle. Yeah.

I would argue that it kind of has no place in this movie. I don't like that it's there. I get why it's there. It's a way to heighten the tension of the story and to introduce more conflict. But to me, it just kind of cheapens the whole narrative because so it's Joe is their coach. They both develop an interest in him, which me makes sense you know he's cute he's respectful of them he like if you watch million dollar baby clint eastwood is over here being like i don't teach girls because i don't think they're people and i feel like a similar thing happens in girl fight where like male sporty mentors are like reluctant to teach girls how to sport but in this movie he's just like yep

this is my job and I'm fine with it and I'm respectful of all the women on this team so that was nice to see so at least it tracks why they would be interested in him because he's you know nice to them and he's respectful of them but they both have a crush on him and it drives a wedge between their friendship, which is like has just become such a lazy writing move. Yeah, it just and it's not even like the Joe character that I had a particular issue with. I thought it was like in some ways positive to see a man fully comfortable with and acknowledging the skills of a woman is equal to his own. Like, I think that there was, like, that's a generally good thing to see,

especially in a sports movie, I'm guessing. But I don't know. Like, all the scenes between Jess and Jules, they just felt, like, a little weird of, like, I don't know if they're, like, that whole Keira Knightley bursting onto a balcony and going, you bitch. You bitch.

I was like, oh, man. And also I'm like, would Jess have kissed her coach at a club? I mean, maybe. I don't know. It just felt it did feel like a little cheap. And with the wide array of things like issues this movie addresses, there also more i think interesting from a story point more interesting things for them to have been in conflict about i don't know i kind of liked it just because i've seen that happen with my friends sure a couple of times like two good girlfriends

in college like got into the like almost the exact parallel situation and just like this is gonna sound however it's gonna sound but like when you're not what's represented as a standard of beauty i would say uh and you don't know how to like i didn't know how to make my body attractive you know especially like sure previously having been overweight and then like if you're indian you've got all those hair coming in and you don't know how to get rid of it because your mom's like who's seeing you anyway and i'm like everyone mom everyone in a goddamn locker room help me such a nightmare and like being super self-conscious about my body and then like this weird thing at the end where it's like the coach picks the brown girl like to me it like blew my

mind where i was like yeah get it bitch like i just i didn't think of it that way yeah well i did appreciate that i liked that you know you see like an interracial romantic relationship represented in a positive way it shouldn't be groundbreaking for film but it kind of was but i guess i what i didn't like is that the fact that these two women are in conflict with each other over a man yeah that's the part of it that kind of bugged me. But again, I mean, those things do play out in real life all the time. So it's not unheard of or it's not even that it's unrealistic. But I think it was just an easy choice where, like Jamie, what you said with all the other things that this movie explores in terms of like, you know, Jess being one of the few women of color on this team of mostly white girls you know had the pressure of her family there's

like sources of conflict coming at her from every direction towards jess a bunch of times and jules never really says anything right like how that triangle was shoehorned in though is a bit odd yeah yeah i don't know if it was like a studio note to like we need more drama or something like that but um yeah i just feel that it was a little unnecessary i think that there was enough sources of tension and conflict in the movie already that that didn't need to be there um limitless yeah so i don't know um really quick on the pinky character because i like the relationship that dress has with her sister too that felt like for them i mean pinky i feel like is uh that's just his older sister who's getting married i feel like she's like a little more cartoony than most of the

characters we came across in this movie where like she's she's a very big personality but like at the same time and it she reminds me of my cousin a lot where she's like this big personality and like doesn't have a filter but also is kind of traditional in the way she's like choosing to go about her life, where she is getting married to someone her parents approve of. She loves him. It's what she wants to do. This is the life she wants. And then she's also like super loud and very opinionated.

And there's a lot of different elements of her parents seem to approve of Pinky's choices more than they do of Jess's oh for sure uh yeah but but also Pinky is like by far the more outgoing and like Pinky and Jess are in conflict a number of times in this movie one time when Pinky's fiance's family thinks that Jess is gay and then cancel the wedding. And then to be fair, I mean, one of the good things I liked about Jess's family is they do like acknowledge that she is a generally honest person and believe her when she's like, no, that's they misunderstood. That's not what was happening. And they're like, OK, well, you're honest and they fucked up and but but pinky is so mad but later on that's resolved and pinky helps jess sneak away and play soccer

a couple different times yeah she covers for her a lot yeah and and but my brother would have ratted me out in a goddamn heartbeat oh really yeah but did he know you were doing comedy stuff? Oh, man. Who knew? My best friend in high school and then a couple of, you know, closer friends in high school. Okay.

But like no one inside the family? Oh, no. Absolutely not. Yeah, so I guess Pinky's not as much of a narc as your brother would have been.

Because Pinky, I mean, but she is kind of selectively, she's like the kind of selectively she she's like the kind of character that as long as like what jess is doing is not in conflict with what she wants she'll go along with it yeah but if something like if jess's soccer got in the way of her wedding which it does pinky's like no you're coming to my wedding like what are you talking about and the whole third act of the movie is like or like the very end where jess goes to the wedding then the soccer game then the wedding again is done i forgot

exactly how that like sequence plays out but it's jess basically decides no i'm gonna i'm going with like the duty i feel toward to my family i'm going to the wedding and her dad is pushing for that because there's like that whole phone scene where Jess is like that's the day of my game and he's like yeah you're going to the wedding and then Tony is the one who's like you have to go in soccer and blah blah blah and Jess is like I can't and then Jess's dad comes in and he's like, what's going on? And Tony's like, soca. And then Jess's dad is the one who's like, soccer. Right. You know?

And so her dad is the one who's hiding that Jess has gone from both her sister and her mother until Jess gets back. There is an element of, and it did, again, it's like this movie does so well generally that it's like not the biggest deal, but if we're getting like nitpicky, both Jess's dad and Jules's dad end up for their respective storylines being the good guy of the family, which is kind of a trope I feel like comes up. I can't think of it, but like there is, you know,

like the mothers of both of those families are the stricter ones. They're harder on their daughters. They're more critical of them. The dads are critical and will back the moms up, but are usually the ones who go behind the scenes and are like, but it's okay, I'm the nice one. And that happens with, I mean, Jules' dad, I don't think at any point is made to seem strict in any way.

He's just like, soccer rules. Yeah. In fact, he says something like, if our daughter is more interested in playing football than chasing boys, I'm over the moon about that, which we can unpack that where it's like, well, what if she did want to chase boys and you know explore her sexuality what's wrong with that dad but um right

but like his character is like i mean he's barely a character at least just his dad we get some context yeah at the end why he feels how he feels yeah right because he was a was it a cricket player yeah so yeah i like the story gives him a little bit more context for why he's sort of trying to protect her. Right. And things like that. Because he also had experienced a lot of racism when he tried to play cricket. They kicked him out because he was brown. Yeah, I noticed that, too, about the parents that both of the mothers were way less chill just like we're trying to either like suppress their daughters in some way where

they like you can't play soccer or trying to like force an idea of femininity onto them i feel like they were extra upset when because both families at one point or another think that their daughter is queer with the other character um and yeah, the way like, Jules' mom handles it. There's like, she crashes the wedding, like you said, like screams about shoes. And then there's that scene

after that in the car where she's like, you know, you're a lesbian. And she's like, just because I wear khakis and play sport doesn't make me a lesbian.

But like also, Jules' tone during that scene is a little problematic. It's very 2002. Yeah. The way that scene plays out. Yeah, because then she says there's a pause, and once Jules' mom realizes, and this happens with both families, once they realize that their daughters aren't gay,

they're like, oh, gay people are fine. Yeah. Yeah. This is another story I shouldn't tell. I'm going to make it real quick. I was in high school and, like, there was this girl bullying my friend by, like, spreading rumors about her being a lesbian. So I thought it would be funny if I came on to her because she was homophobic. So I did that.

And then it turns out it wasn't just her that was homophobic. It was a whole bunch of people that were homophobic. No. And so I accidentally got myself semi-gay bashed when I was walking down the hallway. And I was like, I'm not actually gay. That is such a high school thing. I just think you're shitty. Yeah, that is such a high school thing to happen, too, of like, I know what I'll do.

And then it's like, no, everyone's hateful. Everyone hates everybody here. This is a help it. I was like, oh, no. God, that's everybody here. This is a help it. I was like, oh, no. God, that's the worst. The way that scene with Jess and her mom, at the end, it is kind of like played for laughs where, or no, sorry, Jules and her mom, not Jess. There's too many J names. But, you know, Jules says, besides, being a lesbian, it's not that big a deal.

And then her mom is, you know, goes full hypocrite when she realizes her daughter is straight thank god is uh she's like oh yeah there's nothing wrong with it and they're all like teeheehee we're straight but but then oh so the the last thing i wanted to talk about was so the way they deal with female queerness this movie comes out in the weird place. It's not totally bad, but it's weird. Sure. It's not fully accepted.

But we also have Tony, who is a queer male character. Yes. Who I forgot about his storyline, but it is I feel like it is fully realized within the movie. There's just so much going on but yeah Tony is the one boy on the soccer team that Jess plays on at the beginning um who is not horrible to her right and is nice to her and they get along and everyone thinks he has a crush on her but it turns out he just respects her right the twist is he's gay and he respects her. I mean, I liked that scene where he, you know, and Jess is being like, you know where she's coming from. And she's like kind of grasping at straws and just like wants to stop disappointing her family.

And she's like, so do you like me? We should just, what, we should just get married? Yeah. In a way that if Tony were interested in her would probably have been very hurtful of like well I've decided to settle here I am I've done it but then Tony is like no I just respect you also yeah I'm gay that's the I mean Jess is like oh that's you know she's fine with it then there but she's the only character as far as we know who knows about him being gay he's the only person that he comes out to so i think that if more people like in jess's community knew about it i feel like the movie

might have handled it similarly to how like female queerness is perceived so i think in general yeah i mean it's this is like characters in 2002 responding to queerness in the way that a lot of people in 2002 would have responded to that. But yeah, it's I think it's interesting and positive that Jess is still very respectful of him. And, you know, he comes out to her and she's just like, great. It doesn't change their friendship at all or anything like that. Like, yeah, I thought that all was handled very well yeah and then there's that the last minute scene with him where he says because he is so supportive of jess's soccer career and doesn't think that her parents will ever support it and so he's like i'll marry her you know in the last he's He's like, I'll marry her. And I was so nervous because 2002, I was so nervous that she was going to out him.

Same, same. I was like, oh my God, I feel like in 2002 people wouldn't have thought as much of that. But she doesn't. She just says, nice try, Tony. Like, I need to tell the truth. And then she tells the truth about herself. I was just, there was a moment where I was like, oh, my God, if she adds them, I'll be so sad. But she doesn't.

Another win. Another win for the movie. Another character doing just basic decency. Basic respect. Basic decency on camera. Yeah. Yes. Exactly.

His character also, like the big tournament at the end end all of the guys that she had been playing with in the park show up to that game to watch most of them are like you know very toxic masculinity bros and they're like oh women playing soccer their boobs and oh how do they even do it and they're like just like really over sexualizing and objectifying all the players on the team and uh tony says something like can't you just see them as footballers? Like, again, feminist icon, queer icon. But an earlier scene shows a bunch of Pinky's friends watching the men play soccer in the park

and them similarly objectifying them and like, oh, look at his like six pack and yeah,'d i want to wank him off and then jess calls them a bunch of sluts yeah sorry i did laugh at that yeah she does slut shame her sister's friends which you know is not the best thing that's ever happened it's not the worst thing it feels so bad when you think someone's like on your level of creep. Like there was a hot bartender at the bottom of this theater and I turned to another girl and I was like, that dude is so smoking hot. I would totally

fuck him. And then she was just like, ew. And I was like, oh no! Like, oh no! Literally every time I'm like, I have a crush on someone and then Caitlin's like, show me a picture. And then I do. And then she's like, okay. And picture. And then I do. And then she's like, OK. And I was like, I need to die now.

I didn't know I just run into traffic and get hit by a car. I'm sorry. I've gotten so many tepid OKs from you when I hit you with the visual. It's so, it's so un-chill. We'll post it on our Instagram. No, I don't show. I'm never going to show you anyone ever again.

Ever. Well, you know what? Taste is subjective, and you can like whoever you want. Mine's kind of bad. I'll say it. Mine's weird. It's all over the place. Does anyone have any other thoughts about the movie,

Bend It Like Beckham? Interesting that a movie about women playing sports does have a title where a man's name is in the title. Oh, yeah. Is that really him at the end? The cameo? Yeah, I think so, right? Is it him and Victor? I feel like they get, like like archived footage or something.

Is it a hologram? I don't know. It's a hologram. I do want to say that there is a clip of Mia Hamm playing soccer in the movie. The clip of Mia Hamm playing soccer. Yeah. She and I share the same birthday, May 17th. So we are sisters.

Twins. We're twin sisters. my birthday twin is patrick swayze yeah i guess overall like i i like this movie a whole lot just on a base level of it being like a fun entertaining movie and then also you know watching it through the bechdel cast lens i really enjoy that it explores a lot of different things that we tend to talk about movies not paying any attention to. So the fact that this movie addresses like the concept of femininity and different things about sexuality, different things about racism and all kinds of things that most movies just completely gloss over or don't pay any attention to or don't care about addressing i really like all of that and i like that it's effectively about a woman who is kind of she's

got a struggle where she wants to pay respect to her family and honor them and their wishes but also has the agency to like do her own thing and to she wants to pursue her own goals and make her own choices goals i get it but yeah it's just i think it's a great movie where you know women are driving the narrative um women are challenging different things women have agency women are kicking ass and kicking balls. Ooh, goal. Goal. I did a goal. So, yeah, I don't know. And then really quick, does this movie pass the Bechdel test?

One, two, three. Yes. We don't even need to get into citing specific scenes because it's basically if there are two women talking in the movie, almost every significant female pairing in this movie it passes. Yeah. At one point. And usually, especially between Jess and Jules, passes

significantly because they talk about soccer. They won't stop talking about soccer. Jess and her sister Pinky. Jess and her mom. Jules and her mom. Jess and Jules' mom. Every possible. Lots of combos.

It's great. Yeah. It's great. I'm always on the lookout for movies that pass all four of the following tests. The Bechdel test, the DuVernay test, the Vito Russo test, and the Mako Mori test. This movie passes all four. Wow. Yeah.

That's wonderful. Because you've got a woman of color. Yeah, take us through the test real quick. So, Bechdel test we've already discussed. Wow. Yeah. That's wonderful. Because you've got a woman of color. So Bechdel test we've already discussed. Yes. The Duvernay test requires that characters who are people of color

have fully realized lives rather than serve as scenery for white stories. So this movie passes that test with flying colors. The Makomori test requires that there's at least one prominent female character who has her own narrative arc, which is not about supporting a man's story. Passes that test with flying colors.

The Vito Russo test, the movie passes if it contains a character that is identifiably LGBTQ. So we've got that in Tony. Character is not solely or predominantly defined by their sexual orientation or gender identity which i would say is true for tony too for sure and this is where it gets a little tricky the character must be tied into the plot in such a way that their removal would have a significant effect i think so because yeah he argues for her and that's true yeah yeah he's the one that that makes her at the end of the wedding. He's pivotal to that. True.

Yeah, he encourages her. Right. Okay. Yeah. So it passes all four tests. Hurrah! Best movie ever! Well, with that, let's rate it on our nipple scale.

Well, we rate the movie based on its portrayal of women. Zero to five nipples. I'm going to give this like a four and a half i think i think certain characters and how they handle the topic of queerness specifically jules and jules's mom i think could be handled a little bit better and i think if this movie was rewritten today those problems would be solved because this is an extremely progressive movie and there's also a few i feel like i should have said earlier there are a few um queer slurs that go unchallenged in the movie where i the racial slurs are challenged the queer slurs are not yes and then also like a half nipple off for the fact that the movie

has this love triangle that doesn't need to be there. Yeah, I don't know. I feel like it just kind of cheapens it a little bit. But overall, it's really cool to see a movie about a woman of color. We get all the context of her family. Great movie, great characters. Female characters are very well written and well developed. We so rarely see this. The fact that it's written and directed by an Indian woman is amazing. I'm so glad that this movie exists. And if you haven't seen it, check it out ASAP.

So four and a half nipples. I'm going to give two to Jess, one to Jules, one to Pinky, and a half nipple to Tony. Cool. I'll go with four and a half as well. Let me see if I can do this in sports terms. Okay. I'd say this soccer ball fumbles female queerness, but really dunks in every other regard. Wow.

Uh-huh. Time out. I like this movie. The only penalty would be what I already said was a fumble. In conclusion, in, okay, and now I'm canceling. Oh, we're in overtime now. And overtime, fifth quarter. I would say that, in all seriousness,

when I saw this movie when I was a teenager, demonstrates the importance of portraying every culture possible in film and in mainstream film because I know I for sure didn't grow up around many Indian people at all. And I learned stuff from this movie. And I learned, I mean, it was like this was my first exposure to a culture I wasn't familiar with. And it's done so responsibly and respectfully that I think if more cultures were portrayed in this way in film, the world would just be a better place.

Yeah. I really like this movie, and I'm happy that we can keep watching it and feeling happy about watching it without feeling guilty about watching it. Yeah. So, four and a half nipples, giving two to Jess. I'll give one to Jules. I'll give one to Pinky. And then I'll give my last half one to Jess's mom because I like her a lot. Yeah.

I would say, well, I'm going to be biased, so I'm going to give 4.8 nipples. Okay. Yeah. Love it. I'm going to give it a handicap for the time period just because this is the first movie where I got to see someone represent what it feels like my story on screen. And it was everything to me, you know? Yeah, absolutely.

It was just the coolest movie and I loved it, like, top everything to me you know like it was just the coolest movie and i loved it like top to bottom you know yeah i also want to see your exact story on screen right like that would be such a fun movie to watch who are you giving your nips to um i'll give uh two to jess one to her mom, one to Keira Knightley. How much does that leave me? So two, and then I have

.8. You have.8 left. I have.8 left. I'll give.8 to Tony, you know, because he was like a great character

who like, feminist icon, queer icon, killing it. He's killing it. Give us a Tony spinoff series. Where is it? Yeah. Where is it yeah where is it well

supah thank you so much for being here thank you for having me this was so much fun yay where can people find you online do you have anything you'd like to plug uh you sure they can find me on twitter at at suba s-u-b-h-a-h and my instagram i'm sorry is that subaha it's s-U-B-H-A-H-A you had to do it too I had to was a choice that I refused to take back and Saturday at 7pm there's a show at the Hollywood Improv it's the writers of the Jim Jefferies show

so you should come to that you can follow the Bechtelcast on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook you should come to that oh awesome cool nice great you can follow the bechtel cast on twitter instagram facebook you can go to our website bechtelcast.com you can rate and review us on itunes give us five nips give us a goal score a bunch of goals on us or for us i don't know or dunk on us please don't dunk on us we're trying so hard Basically give us five stars is what we're saying. And you can subscribe to our Matreon. It is $5 a month and you get two bonus episodes every single month. This month we have Incredibles 2 coming out soon.

Yes. So enjoy that. Yes, please do. And otherwise, go. Penalty. Scoring in overtime. Bye! Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist

who on October 16th, 2017, was assassinated. Crooks everywhere unearthed the plot to murder a one-woman WikiLeaks. She exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. Listen to Crooks everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. To listen to new episodes one week early and 100% ad-free, subscribe to the iHeart True Crime Plus channel, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts.

I'm NK, and this is Basket Case. What is wrong with me? A show about the ways that mental illness is shaped by not just biology. Swaps of different meds. But by culture and society. By looking closely at the conditions that cause mental distress,

I find out why so many of us are struggling to feel sane, what we can do about it, and why we should care. Oh, look at you giving me therapy, girl. Listen to Basket Case every Tuesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, fam. I'm Simone Boyce. I'm Danielle Robay. And we're the hosts of The Bright Side, the podcast from Hello Sunshine that's guaranteed to light up your day. Check out our recent episode with Grammy Award winning rapper Eve on motherhood and the music industry. Now, it's a great, amazing, beautiful thing. There's moms in all industries,

very high stress industries that have kids all across this world. Why can't it be music as well? Listen to The Bright Side from Hello Sunshine on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.