Movies

There are quite a few movies about mixed relationships. Many are romantic comedies, often ending with a wedding. They always depict the problems caused by different backgrounds and different cultures, usually involving a clash between parents, who are still firmly rooted in their "old" traditions, and their offspring.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

This often hilarious American movie is about a girl from a Greek family living in the US, who falls in love with an all-American boy. When the heroine's father hears that she is dating an American chap, he is - at first - very much against: "Is he a nice Greek boy? No, no Greek. No Greek! A xeno!" Her father disapproves; he sees a different future for his daughter, telling her: "Marry a Greek boy, have Greek babies, and feed everyone." But her mother Maria gradually brings daddie around to grudging acceptance.

The main interest of the movie is in the different cultural heritage and value systems. The family-minded, "meddlesome" Greeks and the "distant" and "unemotional" American WASPs.

For a trailer of the movie, click here.

Bend it like Beckham

... is a charming movie (2002) with a curious title, obviously referring to football. David Beckham himself makes a short appearance in it. As Wikipedia says:

Since its release, the film has achieved a mild cult-like status. It tells the tale of a young British Sikh girl who struggles against her family's orthodox mindset to fulfil her dream of playing professional football. The film's title is a reference to the English footballer David Beckham and his skill at scoring from free-kicks, by bending the ball — making it swerve as it flies through the air.

 

The girl's mother and father object to the idea of their daughter running around bare-legged. Fair enough: it can be cold in England. An extra problem is that there is a budding romance between her and her coach, a British chap.
A trailer of the movie can be found here.

Now do Exercise 3 and 4 in your workbook.




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