Beckham

[DanaK]

Netflix 4-episode doc series about soccer star David Beckham that premieres October 4

Edited September 28, 2023 by DanaK

[Straycat80]

Not a soccer or Spice Girl fan but David and Victoria are such a famous couple I had to watch this. Very interesting, David was such an athlete and lucky he had a supportive family. It was disgusting the way the English fans and media treated him for the one mistake he made at the game against Argentina. Getting death and kidnapping your baby threats! No wonder Victoria wasn’t smiling sometimes in media film and photo’s. They treated her like crap too. 
I’m glad they are happy and have a good marriage and family. 

[Roseanna]

16 hours ago, Straycat80 said:

David was such an athlete and lucky he had a supportive family.

From today's POV, his dad wasn't supportive at all but demanding and harsh: he grilled his son mercilessly and nothing was ever good enough. He even confessed that he fulfulled his own dreams through his son.

Sure, with countless repetations Becks learned his superior skills and perhaps he even survived from the fans' abuse after the World Cup because his dad had treated him in the same way as a child. 

Becks was lucky that he loved footfall and wanted nothing else than to play and that he had such a strong character. It's likely that almost all other children would have been crushed by his dad's methods.  

[Roseanna]

18 hours ago, Straycat80 said:

It was disgusting the way the English fans and media treated him for the one mistake he made at the game against Argentina. 

Unfortunately that kind of things happen when the sport becomes the most important thing in the world and is connected with the national self-image: Becks was either an idol or a traitor. 

It was interesting that the Argentinian footfaller admitted that he had played to been hurt and the red card, had been a wrong judgment. The British media should have written about it and put the blame on him! Also, usually in that kind of matters the good team and the good manager stick together because anyone can make a mistake - today you, tomorrow me. 

I was wondering whether Victoria's announcement about pregnancy just before the game influenced on Becks in the good or wrong way?

Edited October 7, 2023 by Roseanna
correcting two letters

[Roseanna]

18 hours ago, Straycat80 said:

No wonder Victoria wasn’t smiling sometimes in media film and photo’s. They treated her like crap too. 

Yes, she seems very retreating in public, not at all like when she was with other Spice girls.

All in all, she was wonderful in the series. Very brave from her to admit that she has never cared for football that is so popular in England, she only liked watching Becks whatever she did. Very human and relatable to admit that she had been angry at Beck's decisions to move to other football clubs in a diffents countries. And what a good sense of humor she has!

[memememe76]

I enjoyed it too even though I don’t follow soccer too. Victoria was my favourite part. His parents are divorced, right? 
 

I am very impressed at how tidy he is. That sock drawer!!!

[mledawn]

16 hours ago, memememe76 said:

I am very impressed at how tidy he is. That sock drawer!!!

I agree but he has OCD so it's less of a choice.

After watching 3/4 of the show, the interviews with the two pap brothers about the photos taken after Brooklyn was born were interesting. Literally the day Princess Diana died, they're part of an aggressive mass of paps taking intrusive photos. "We wouldn't do that today" and yet even her death didn't change behaviours.

As a young Man U fan I remember so many of these events. The kick in the Argentina game at the World Cup was huge but I didn't live in the UK and was young - I didn't realise how horrible everyone was. People forget the game went to penalties and they still had a chance to win.

He's been very vulnerable in the show, revealing the personal side of all the things that happened in the news. I've always appreciated Beckham for his dead-ball skill (and his hairstyles always set trends), plus he has always appeared to be a really good dad. He and Victoria also really seem to have an equal, loving relationship.

[ErinV]

I never really knew much about them personally, but love them both now!  The British fans and press are horrible.
His Real Madrid teammates were a delight!  
 

[Shrek]

4 hours ago, ErinV said:

I never really knew much about them personally, but love them both now!  The British fans and press are horrible.
His Real Madrid teammates were a delight!  
 

Can you not include the Welsh, Scottish & N Ireland fans in your comments about being horrible please. From what I remember most Welsh fans wanted to buy him a beer after England went out. 

I haven't seen the actual footage yet but I presume you're being sarcastic about RM. 

[Artsda]

I thought it was really well done.  Learned a lot about his moves from team to team.  Victoria and David were both natural and real. I laughed at her saying Posh was pissed off over the Posh/Beyonce/JLo photo. 

Interesting to learn he had no interest in really going to LA until RM treated him so bad over just being at a lunch meeting. 

The telling him he won't play, the benching him all over a lunch offer he turned down. 

The cutting from scenes from David to Victoria over the LA and Milan was so funny & realistic.  

 

[Roseanna]

On 10/9/2023 at 2:00 AM, mledawn said:

I agree but he has OCD so it's less of a choice.

After watching 3/4 of the show, the interviews with the two pap brothers about the photos taken after Brooklyn was born were interesting. Literally the day Princess Diana died, they're part of an aggressive mass of paps taking intrusive photos. "We wouldn't do that today" and yet even her death didn't change behaviours.

As a young Man U fan I remember so many of these events. The kick in the Argentina game at the World Cup was huge but I didn't live in the UK and was young - I didn't realise how horrible everyone was. People forget the game went to penalties and they still had a chance to win.

Apart from the death and kidnapping threats, I think the constant abusive screams were most horrible because Becks had to listen to them when he was playing. You can in some measure avoid tabloids' headlines - you see them only when you go out. But when he played, he had to continue to play and behave as if he didn't care at all as showing hurt or anger would have been a victory to abusers.

[Shrek]

Real Madrid had & still has a history of treating their players like pariahs once they decide they have been wronged in any way even on the slimmest of rumors & their supporters are even worse. They treated Gareth Bale the exact same way once their manager decided not to play him, thankfully he is now out of there but has never been the same since and retired 6 months later, at least he didn't let them hound him out of there and he ran down his very costly (for RM) contract.

Edited October 13, 2023 by Shrek
There,their,they're fk up

[SourK]

I'm half-way through, and I am so mystified by the idea that people got so mad because he didn't do a good job at his sportsgame. Like, you would think that Argentina won Buckingham Palace.

 

[TrixieTrue]

I'm not a football fan, but I was really impressed with Beck's talent, ability, and drive. I never got the hype back when he was playing, but now I can see why. 

One thing I was curious about...several of his teammates interviewed, like Gary and Ole were around the same age as him. Did they retire before him, after, long after? In terms of length, how did his career compare to other players? 

Edited October 22, 2023 by TrixieTrue
Edited for grammar

[SourK]

I'm finished now.

I know this is not the focus the documentary chose to take, but I found it really interesting that:

• David was one of the best players in the world, but the price to get there was that he basically had to be a robot that did nothing but learn soccer for his whole childhood and then, once he was an adult, it's not clear to me that he actually felt fulfilled by playing soccer.
• The soccer teams get a bunch of talented kids right as they're transitioning to adulthood and then continue to treat them like children and exercise a weird amount of control over their lives. David was able to resist because he was so famous, but most people wouldn't have that option.
• Being one of the best players in the world wasn't worth very much once he was on a team with people who weren't at the same level -- like, David got the glory for a lot of games he played in, but it was the team that won.
• There is definitely a pattern where David gets restless and then his life blows up and then he moves away and changes his appearance. (I relate to this.)