Soccer, An Object of Happiness, and the Disconnect between Diasporic kids and their Parents
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The chair of UK’s commission for Equality and Human Rights, Trevor Phillips said, “Multicultural communities tend to be less trusting and less happy . . . people feel happy if they are with people like themselves.” Phillips essentially presented multiculturalism as antithetical to happiness, even a threat to national survival as analyzed by Sara Ahmed in her chapter Melancholic Migrants in her book The Promise of Happiness. Therefore, Phillips believes integration and assimilation into hegemonic white western society for minorities is the only solution and path to secure collective happiness, the utilitarian way to achieve national harmony. It is difficult to believe that the leader responsible for UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commision in 2006 believed neglecting racialized and minority’s right to cultural expression and freedom is the key for society’s ability to function effectively. A way to accomplish integration, according to Phillips, is by sharing an activity like football that can transcend cultural and racial lines and connect communities.
However, Ahmed argues that using football to promote happy multiculturalism is no accident. By encouraging minorities to support national football teams, Phillips is positioning happiness as a reward for loyalty to the nation. In Bend It Like Beckham, football is portrayed as a path to freedom, in contrast to the traditional customs of Jess’s family, which are seen as obstacles to her happiness. The film positions football as a “creative action,” offering personal freedom and the potential to contribute to national pride.
Looking back at Bend It Like Beckham, I now see that the film's deeper message is about assimilation: to be part of the nation and achieve happiness, one must relinquish cultural customs. The film, like Phillips' view on football, suggests that happiness is conditional upon loyalty to the nation, which requires minorities to conform to Western ideals. I now see Bend It Like Beckham as the ultimate "model minority" film. It suggests that second-generation immigrants, like Jess, can achieve happiness by assimilation, abandoning cultural traditions in favor of national values, symbolized by football. This reflects a broader implicit messaging often told to second-generation diaspora: that their parents’ traditionalist ideals can often get in the way of their own ability to collect happiness both as a happiness receiver (through assimilation and aligning with whiteness), and if they are keen enough, as an object of happiness; making the country better through your talent and thus increasing their pride, ultimately increasing your national belonging. However, this message often told to second-generation kids creates dissonance and a disconnect between them and their parents, because then their parents’ cultural ideals then becomes the cost for their ability to achieve happiness.
The tension between first and second-generation immigrants is captured in Nitin Sawhney’s song "Nostalgia," which highlights the emotional disconnect between them. Nitin sings, “ I can feel your dreams (dreams), I can see you, I can touch your memories, But I can’t hear you”. While second-generation children can empathize with their parents' struggles, they often cannot fully understand their experiences, which can not only create a rift in values, but also in empathy and expectations.
