The Thing About Beckham
Exploring the limited series on Netflix about David Beckham, his football career, and why Victoria Beckham is a saint.
I can’t be the only person who started watching Beckham—the four-episode limited series on Netflix—and became convinced Jamie Tart (played by Phil Dunster) in Ted Lasso was at least partly inspired by David Beckham.
A quick Google returned a bunch of subreddits which agreed with me.
Turns out Jamie Tart is an amalgamation of several footballers, one of them David Beckham.
I never knew much about him, to be honest. Only that he’s married to one of the Spice Girls, Victoria “Posh” Beckham, played football, and has four kids.
Outside of the games played in Ted Lasso, I’ve not spent a great deal of time watching soccer. Or as Becks would call it, football.
This year changed it. Like many Australians, my family became swept up in the Matilda’s and their incredible effort during the FIFA World Cup.
During this time, I’ve decided being a sports fan isn’t really for me, I’m more content being a live music fan. When I go to a concert, I feel a rush of adrenaline and exhilaration and overwhelming happiness that I often descend into tears as I am both incredibly happy and feeling everything.
The feeling I don’t experience is anxiety. Except when trying to buy Taylor Swift tickets.
But watching the Matilda’s was anxiety-inducing. I wanted them to win. I don’t know how sports lovers do it.
I didn’t know that much about David Beckham. But I love a good long-form documentary, so I tuned into Beckham, developed by Fisher Stevens in interviews that took place over a period of two years.
There’s a reason David Beckham is so well known.
He is a brilliant football player.
You don’t have to know much about the game to appreciate that.
The clips, starting right from when David was a small child, show immense talent.
Which leads me to what happened in 1998.
1998 FIFA World Cup
When England played Argentina in round 16 of the FIFA World Cup, David received a red card for kicking a player. (I don’t know much about football, but I’d say it wasn’t worth a red card). The game was a draw and went to a penalty shoot-out which England lost.
I repeat: it went to a penalty shoot-out which England lost.
Which means the loss wasn’t on David.
But when the England Lion’s manager Glenn Hoddle did a field-side interview in the wake of the loss, he blamed David, which opened up the floodgates for abuse by both the British public and the press.
It was horrific to watch.
What is it about us as a society that believes we can treat other people this way?
Who hangs an effigy of a TWENTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD BOY because of a football game?
Who actively boo’s someone for months every time they come onto a soccer field?
Who stalks someone and their parents to hurl insults about a GAME?
I genuinely don’t know how he managed to deal with this for as long as he did. It would have completely broken just about everyone else.
The British Public & Press
One thing rang true while watching Beckham—the British public and tabloid media are awful. It lends further credibility to the story shared by Prince Harry and Meghan in their own Netflix doco.
As much as it pains me to quote from the Daily Telegraph, Kerry Parnell summed up my feelings about David within the documentary well:
Much like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his Netflix doco, Arnold, David turns out to be eminently watchable, relatable, reflective and honest. All of which Harry and Meghan hoped to achieve in their documentary, Harry & Meghan.
The biggest difference is David never really blames anyone else, despite suffering many injustices in his treatment by managers, the public and press; whereas the takeaway from Harry and Meghan’s tell-all was everything was someone else’s fault – their family, the press, the British public.
It’s something David and Victoria did well.
They talked about the horrors they experienced at the hands of the press, the British public, and many football managers (none worse than Glenn Hoddle). But they never blamed them.
There is a humility about David, despite his skill and fame, a quietness to him. And that’s incredibly endearing.
His Relationship With His Dad
One of the most interesting parts for me was the exploration of David’s relationship with his dad. There is a great deal of mutual respect between them.
But by all accounts, his dad was one of his toughest critics.
Not that he called him names or was abusive. But like the stereotypical withdrawn Englishman, he wasn’t necessarily forthcoming in praise. He drove David to work hard, always.
I love to be praised but I also know how much harder I work to prove a point.
Would David Beckham have become the football player he was had it not been for how hard his dad worked him? Would he have gotten there without that and with only praise?
His dad’s deep love of Manchester United is what got David into playing soccer in the first place.
There is a mutual respect and admiration between them. David doesn’t seem to view it in a bad light.
Victoria Beckham Is A Saint
The media has spent so long painting Victoria Beckahm as boring and bland. They have done her absolutely dirty. She’s got so much personality and warmth. And so much love for David.
“I love him and I love to watch him.”
I adore his relationship with Victoria. There is such affection Such love. She goes to his games and has never loved football, but you see her cheering from the stands because she loves him.
He keeps her humble by reminding her she’s not from a working-class background.
When you look at David’s career, he was actually treated pretty horribly by the various football clubs he played for all because football wasn’t the only thing in his world. His family, and Victoria, were.
But despite this, Victoria had to put up with a lot. Which leads me to.
(Not) Addressing The Infidelity
One of the main criticisms of Beckham has been the way it skirted around the reported infidelity while he was playing for Real Madrid.
The series portrays David as a family man. The guy would drive hours to spend 20 minutes with Victoria when they were dating. He wanted to be with her whenever he could. But it also shows decisions made for him and his career which Victoria and the kids had no choice but to go along with.
When he was doing a photoshoot with Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce on the same day Victoria was having their third son Cruz via caeserean.
When he moved to Spain. And then to LA. And then played for teams in Italy and France.
While Victoria was trying to figure out schooling for their children and her own aspirations.
Can you reach the heights he did without being at least a little bit selfish?
I disagree with the criticism about not delving further into the infidelity in Beckham.
Because they DID address it in my eyes, just not in a “tell all” way that people potentially hoped for.
For me, it is very obvious he did it. But rather than make it about the affair, they reflected on what it did to Victoria, and what he put her through.
Victoria: “100%. It was the hardest period for us. Up until Madrid, it felt like us against everyone else. When we were in Spain, it didn’t really feel like we had each other either.”
David: “We felt not at the time that we were losing each other but that we were drowning.”
They were honest in this series while playing their cards close to their chest in some areas.
I think it comes down to this.
They have four beautiful children. Children they have worked hard to protect.
Would you want, on the public record, a further exploration into undoubtedly the worst time in your marriage?
Of course it’s already there. But nearly 20 years down the line, I think they spoke about it without speaking about it.
As is their right.
David says he doesn’t know how they survived that. I do.
You survived because of Victoria.
Is Beckham a PR piece? Of course it is. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t truth apparent in it.
It’s also worth noting the Beckhams don’t serve as producers. The choices of what to include and what to leave out weren’t made by them.
The series was focused on his career as a footballer. Yes, their marriage was featured, but it made sense to me that the infidelity was glossed over at best.
Victoria is well known for her fashion line and beauty brands which aren’t even hinted at in Beckham. Neither are David’s ventures outside of the football club he co-owns in Miami.
They kept their children largely out of it.
The series shared a lot, but not everything.
You can’t possibly include everything.
Closing Thoughts
There is so much more I could say about Beckham.
I will watch Beckham many more times over. It was a brilliantly delivered documentary that gave an insight into a side of him I don’t think many people considered.
He’s an incredible football player.
But at the end of the day, David Beckham is a family man, and that came through more than anything else in Beckham.
But my absolute final thoughts:
Glenn Hoddle is the villain.
Simeone was amazing for taking part in this series.
David has had an incredible amount of varying hairstyles.
Low-key annoyed they didn’t talk about all his many tattoos.
David and Victoria seem to have a really lovely marriage.
I want their house.
I wish I was as organised as David.
People should stop saying Swifties are crazy when you see the vitriol grown-ass men have when it comes to a game where you kick a ball.
Oh, and if you can have a wedding with purple outfits and thrones? You absolutely should.
