Even North Koreans Bend It Like Beckham

Korean Bend It.jpgYou have to wonder… In a country like North Korea where the nation is stuck 1950s time warp and Western influences have officially not been allowed in… Why the 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham? Why now?

The 2002 film starring Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Myers and Parminder Nagra aired Dec. 26 — a break from the regular programming of news, documentaries and soap operas in North Korea, where Western films are largely off limits.

“This was the first Western film to be broadcast on North Korean TV, and as well as football covered issues such as multiculturalism, equality and tolerance,” British Ambassador Peter Hughes told The Associated Press from Pyongyang, where his embassy helped arranged the Boxing Day broadcast.

Britain has been seeking to reach out to North Koreans through football, a sport that has connected the two nations since North Korea first sent a team to the World Cup in England in 1966. [yahoo]

I get it. Soccer can unite the world, teaches sportsmanship, crosses boundaries of nation states, blah, blah, blah. I can understand why the British government would choose this movie to develop ties with North Koreans. What I’m curious about is the South Asian hyphenated identity and pop cultural references. I would think that in a nation sheltered the way North Korea is, that a lot of these subtle nuances would be totally missed. In a nation where immigration simply doesn’t exist, how much of the immigrant experience story line did the North Koreans actually understand?

But typically of the censoring Communist state, eight minutes were cut from the 112-minute show….The Boxing Day screening was a rare treat in a country whose TV normally focuses on docum­entaries about farms and others glorifying its leaders and Army. [mirror]

Of course, they had to censor something. But I wonder what exactly those eight minutes of censored scenes were in this fairly PG rated movie. Was it when the girls were at the club? Religious references? Who knows. All I can say is thank goodness they chose this movie instead of Bride and Prejudice.

This entry was posted in Film, Identity, Politics by Taz. Bookmark the permalink.

About Taz

Taz is an activist, organizer and writer based in California. She is the founder of South Asian American Voting Youth (SAAVY), curates MutinousMindState.tumblr.com and blogs at TazzyStar.blogspot.com. Follow her at twitter.com/tazzystar

7 thoughts on “Even North Koreans Bend It Like Beckham

  1. I would think that in a nation sheltered the way North Korea is, that a lot of these subtle nuances would be totally missed.

    i don’t think that matters. look at the old testament/hebrew bible. there are many subtle cultural nuances and pointers which people miss today; shout outs to poems, epics, etc., in common circulation in the oral culture of the time. but it is still considered great literature by most people. this isn’t principia mathematica where inter-cultural invariance of perception is important. it’s a work of art, and so if the north koreans like it they’ll reinterpret it through their own lenses and make it relevant in that manner.

  2. I wonder what exactly those eight minutes of censored scenes were in this fairly PG rated movie.

    Maybe the parts where Kiera Knightley’s character’s mom thinks that her daughter’s a lesbian and secretly dating Parminder Nagra’s character. I would imagine that Three’s Company-type sitcom humor involving homosexuality and dating would cause a lot of confusion in North Korea.

    If I remember correctly, that sub-plot wasn’t particularly necessary to the story, nor was it very long.

  3. I’m sure the image of Kiera Knightly was a great comfort to them. They now know there are other starving people in the world.

  4. I just realized that what I wrote was the first Sepia Mutiny post of the year 2011. Yay me! And no one will see it.

    And this is the second post of 2011. I’m on a roll.

  5. i don’t think that matters. look at the old testament/hebrew bible.

    Good reference, especially considering the volume of mistranslations and subsequent misconceptions. I expect an even greater mistranslation quotient on the DPRK’s side.

    There are a few places they could make cuts: club, the reference to “juicy, juicy mangoes”, the mistaken lesbianism, etc.