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In a way, the musician’s lyrics work as a binding connection between who Javed is and who he wants to be, exemplifying the need to be his own man like his father before him and also helping him to eventually understand his family’s sacrifice to give him a better life. The use of Bruce Springsteen’s music and lyrics is an extension of the film that brings to life Javed’s feelings and experiences. Watching Javed give the speech at the end of the film is a viscerally moving and profound scene that leaves a lasting impression. The first-generation immigrant experience is at the forefront of the film and Chadha handles it with the utmost care and nuance, elevating the film so that it resonates emotionally with the audience. Proud, stubborn, and equally resilient, Malik and Javed also ascribe to two very different immigrant and masculine experiences and Chadha masterfully explores both of these characters without condescension, but with genuine understanding and respect.Ĭhadha most likely understands this experience from a personal perspective, even though the film is loosely based on someone else’s life. When he does, Javed discovers they have more in common than he’d come to believe, both rebellious and seeking better lives, but in different ways unique to them. Their conflict is magnificently portrayed, most especially because the film deeply understands that, while Javed is frustrated with his father in his overall lack of understanding, he is also unwilling to dig deep to fathom Malik’s own struggles. He’s a writer and he’s good at it, but writing doesn’t make money, nor is it worthy of a job in his father’s eyes. However, Javed wants to do his own thing.
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More importantly, he won’t step out of line and rebel against any of these wishes. Like Malik, the expectation for Javed is that he will honor and listen to his family, get a job that makes money, and remember he is Pakistani in a country that isn’t. So even something as small as Javed listening to Bruce Springsteen’s music and not Pakistani music is frowned upon, widening the gap between the understanding of his son and vice versa. There’s also a layered cultural component, with the children often caught between two cultures while the parents are removed from theirs, their traditions fossilized in time and adapted to a new place. This is primarily because it isn’t simply about a generational gap. Arguably, immigrant parents strike an even more visceral feeling in their children. The heightened sense of disappointing the parental unit is one that many know very well, myself included. Parents’ expectations for their children can be high. Probably the most distinctive and complex relationship in the film is that between Javed (Viveik Kalra) and his father, Malik (Kulvinder Ghir). It goes one step further to tackle race, socioeconomic status, and the complexities that come along with wanting to belong-whether in society or your own family-despite the rejection. It’s also corny in the best way. Loosely based on the life of journalist Sarfraz Manzoor, the film intricately ties together the music of Bruce Springsteen with the coming-of-age of a young British man of Pakistani descent who must contend with his very traditional parents and going against their wishes to do his own thing, Blinded by the Light is another shining example of the immigrant experience and how its specificity makes it universal. From director Gurinder Chadha (whose Bend it Like Beckham remains a forever classic) comes the wonderful Blinded by the Light.