Bend It Like Beckham was a classic soccer movie with one very worrying relationship

"Seem dramatic? It isn't. Though Bend It Like Beckham brilliantly tackles issues around racism, gender norms, homophobia, culture, immigration, and feminism with an endearing comedic twist, a core point of the plot rests on an adult coach pursuing a romantic relationship with a teenage player. In 2025, after multiple high-profile instances of inappropriate player/coach relationships have been reported in women's soccer, and after the harm inherent in those relationships has been exposed, the normalization of one in a celebrated film is hard to ignore."

"Narrative conflict between Jess and Jules erupts when the girls realize they're infatuated with the same man their charming coach, played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who would be close to a decade older than the girls. Do you like him? Jess asks Jules. Nah, responds Jules. He'd get sacked if he was caught shagging one of his players. So there is at least some awareness of the problem here."

"For those who came in late, Bend It Like Beckham tells the story of Jess (Parminder Nagra) and Jules (Keira Knightley), two London high schoolers who love soccer. Jules has talent, plays for a seemingly high-level local team (Hounslow Harriers), and dreams of playing college soccer in the United States. Jess, too, loves soccer, has talent, and pins posters of David Beckham on her bedroom wall."

A celebrated film presents two London teenage soccer players forming an infatuation with their adult coach, who is roughly a decade older. The coach-player romantic subplot normalizes an inappropriate relationship that mirrors real-world harms exposed by multiple high-profile 2025 reports of player/coach misconduct in women's soccer. One player comes from a middle-class Punjabi family and faces cultural barriers to pursuing soccer, while both girls dream of college play. Onscreen dialogue acknowledges risk but the narrative fails to show institutional consequences. A sequel should confront the abuse directly by revealing and enforcing a lifetime ban on the coach early.

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