Blinded by the Light: Establishing a New Identity for the Immigrant Child through Music and Relationships Written by Simran Randhawa 1 Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies,2Department of English, Department of Philosophy 3 Fourth-year undergraduate of New College, University of Toronto British director and screenwriter Gurinder Chadha first brought the perspective of the brown immigrant child adjusting to a Western society in her well-known sports and romance film, Bend It Like Beckham (2002). Seventeen years later, Chadha’s Blinded by the Light (2019) is a similar coming-of-age story where the film’s protagonist, Javed, establishes a new identity that encompasses his British and Pakistani roots through the discovery of Bruce Springsteen’s music. Set in the year 1987 in small-town Luton, England, predominantly populated with Caucasians, Javed and his Muslim family stands out and are often victims of hate crime and racial slurs. As Javed tolerates the relentless realities of his hometown, he simultaneously struggles to fulfill his father’s expectations of him as the only son in the family, one that participates in cultural and socio-economic responsibilities. Fundamentally, Chadha emphasizes the dilemma for brown immigrants between assimilating to Westernized norms while preserving their culture and traditions. The film tells the story of how a teenager confronted with racism, financial insecurity, and obligations finds an avocation that echoes his emotions, shapes his decisions, and reveals the truths about individualism and family.
The Parallel Between Song Selection and Character Development Based on the real experiences of journalist and major Springsteen fan Sarfraz Manzoor, who also had a role in writing the script, the film’s soundtrack includes songs specific to Javed’s external circumstances and inner world. The protagonist first encounters The Boss’s music through Roops, a Sikh-Punjabi classmate who gives him two of Springsteen’s cassettes: Darkness on the Edge of Town and Born in the U.S.A. He only gives these a listen when life takes a turn with his father being laid-off from work and the realization that he will have to financially support the family instead of pursuing his dreams as a writer. The first song that hooks Javed onto Springsteen is “Dancing in the Dark,” which expresses a desire to change from the mundane and routine. The lyrics, “I’m just livin’ in a dump like this,” quickly followed by “There’s somethin’ happenin’ somewhere,” awakens Javed and reveals to the viewer his inner thoughts and emotions concerning his hometown and predestined life.
Screenwriters’ Perspectives Vol. 3 No. 1 2022
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