Bend It Like Beckham and Better Luck Tomorrow
Two movies released recently deal with teenagers and their new role in a changing society. One tries to break out of a strict regiment of culture and family values to pursue her dreams while the other takes advantage of the stereotypes forced upon him to wield power in order to identify who he is. Both are well-done.

In Bend It Like Beckham, Jesminder Bhamra is an Indian teenage girl who idolizes English soccer star David Beckham and dreams of playing in a soccer league one day. Holding her back are her parents, deep with Indian traditions while living in England, who opposes her soccer play and wishes she could focus more on home, family, and her future university studies. One day, while playing soccer with some of her friends, an English girl by the name of Jules likes her play and convinces Jess to join her team. She reluctantly agrees but is forced to keep it a secret from her parents, knowing how they'd react. But like all parents do, they find out and with Jess' sister getting married, they believe this is no time to be bothered by sports and forbids her to go with them. Even so, it doesn't stop Jess to continue on, eventually sneaking out to travel with the team to Germany and develop a crush on the Irish coach Joe. On the other side of the coin, the movie also follows Jules, whose mother is worried she won't grow up to be married and have a family because of her preoccupation with the game of soccer. While both excel on the field of play, the game of trying to convince their parents that soccer will better their lives leads to more arguments than appeasements.

First and foremost, it's a study of individualism and how far they can go until they are restrained. But the story is told with such lightheartedness and humor that it is an enjoyable film to watch. Director Gurinder Chadha gives her film a sense of authenticity by inserting the subtle nuances of the Indian culture and celebrates them instead of portraying them as a hindrance to Jess' dreams. It shows you too can have it both ways as long as both sides give up a little something in return. Sure, the formula for this kind of resolution seems to be a cliche in movies these days, but the execution in this film is nearly flawless and its humor makes it that more enjoyable to watch.

Better Luck Tomorrow has Asian teenagers also following their dreams, but no adult to keep them on the beaten path. It's expected of them to get into the Ivy League college of their choice and become a doctor or an electrical engineer and as long as they get the grades, they're free to do as they wish. And while that may involve playing tennis or joining the math club and devoting all other time to their studies, Ben Manibag and his group of friends decide to break the stereotype and use it to their advantage. What awaits them is a life full of freedom. After writing cheat sheets, dealing drugs, and collecting boxes full of cash, they're on a power high, among other highs. In Ben's case, his life has turned from a guy itching to get a perfect score on his SAT's, being Employee of the Month at the local hot dog shop, and trying to climb the ladder on his basketball team for the sake of his transcript to a life of cocaine, stealing, and sex. It also has brought all of them respect among their peers. Through it all, Ben has developed a crush on his lab partner, Stephanie, who is already in a relationship with Steve, a rich private school guy. Though Ben knows Steve's been cheating on Stephanie, he decides to keep quiet. With all of this stress, it soon catches up with Ben and he decides to get out of it. Instead, he was already in too deep as it was and all the power that he left behind catches up to him, with disastrous consequences for him and all closely connected to him.

With the pressures of schoolwork, it's hard to establish an identity in the world. Asians seem to conform with the expectation that all are educated and expected to be successful in the world. But without direction, young high schoolers like the ones in the movie suffer with not knowing why they are expected to do this. I'm supposed to be a doctor? So what? It's a great coming-of-age film showcasing the dangers of exploiting what they have to offer to the world without first examining the morality of what they're doing. Justin Lin exudes a sense of confidence in his direction, never breaking the pace while also teaching us a few vocabulary words along the way. The constant messages are pounded into us to convey that brutal honesty this movie gets across. But serious issues call for a serious movie, and though bits of humor, like the ones directed toward these Asian stereotypes, are funny to see, at other times, humor is used to break tension in a scene, getting some uneasy laughs from the audience. This humor also hides the troubling message of covering up misdeeds, which they are consistently successful at, including their final crime. A film that prides itself at painting a devastating honest picture on Asian may be stretching their luck a little.

The question trying to be answered is loud and clear throughout the movie: Who am I? The answer given? That's for you to find out.

P.S. If my high school had an academic decathalon club like the one depicted in the movie, I'd certainly sign up.

Bend It Like Beckham: 3.5 stars
Better Luck Tomorrow: 3 stars