Token Gay of the Day: Tony om "Bend Like Beckham"
Contents:
- 'BEND LIKE BECKHAM' IS THE GAYT LOVE STORY NEVER TOLD
- TOKEN GAY OF THE DAY: TONY OM “BEND LIKE BECKHAM”
- Q&A: KEIRA KNIGHTLEY ON GAY DIRECTORS, A LBIAN SEQUEL TO 'BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM' AND HER DRAG-INSPIRED SUGAR PLUM FAIRY
'BEND LIKE BECKHAM' IS THE GAYT LOVE STORY NEVER TOLD
All the while, she is enuraged to follow her passn whout hibn by her narrative foil, teammate and other half of an credibly homoerotic iendship, Jul (Keira Knightley, “Anna Karena”). There is the character of Tony (Ameet Chana, “Unhallowed Ground”) who explicly out as gay, as well as direct referenc to Queerns, like when Jul says, “Beg a lbian isn’t that big of a al. But the real straw that broke the proverbial gay mel’s back was seeg the elements tied wh a narrative that propos that all the societal l I felt bound by, the very factors that ma me so vehement about clarg I wasn’t like other girls, uld be subverted.
As is, gay reprentatn is held up by poor old Tony, the bt iend of lead character Js. This queer dg is magnified by their fai’ fears of them never settlg down wh a man, and even outright fears of their child beg gay.
TOKEN GAY OF THE DAY: TONY OM “BEND LIKE BECKHAM”
The fear that Js’s fay has about her possible homosexualy is more unrstated than that of Jul’ fay, and foc more on the fact that she won’t end up wh a hband rather than the fact that she may end up wh a girl.
Her fay is steeped tradnal Indian culture, and one scene particular highlights the stggl of beg queer an Indian fay, when Tony out as gay to Js. The exchange reveals that to be gay would be unacceptable their fai, and that Js is all too aware of this fact. But both Js and Tony know there is an expectatn that they marry an Indian person of the oppose genr, and that to e out as gay would e more ser nsequenc even than Js’s fay disverg that she’s datg a whe man.
Q&A: KEIRA KNIGHTLEY ON GAY DIRECTORS, A LBIAN SEQUEL TO 'BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM' AND HER DRAG-INSPIRED SUGAR PLUM FAIRY
Pla’s fears regardg her dghter are culmatg this moment, when she believ her dghter is gay. Clearly, spe earlier claims, Pla is not okay wh her dghter beg gay. It’s likely that neher of the girls’ parents would have been happy to fd out their dghters were gay.
The fact that the film is mored to origally be gay highlights this, pecially due to the fact that the director was worried about offendg and alienatg Indian dienc. Recently, Knightley lled to talk about her special nnectn to gay directors such as Wtmoreland (and Jam Kent, who directs her the forthg "The Aftermath"), her enthiastic rponse to a "Bend It Like Beckham" sequel where bt iends Jul and Jse are lbian lovers, and her sperate plea to drag queens.
Is there a special relatnship between gay directors and female actors such as yourself that helps tellg a story like this one? When to the male gaze, is there a difference havg a gay director direct a sex scene? Are there any other films you've worked on where you felt havg a gay director helped dog the story jtice?