DAVID BECKHAM: THE EPITOME OF SUPERSTARDOM AND SUCCESS
In today’s age, being a Premier League football player feels synonymous with having a personal brand. Whether you’re loud and boisterous or shy and quiet, you’ll ultimately find yourself (or a team) negotiating brand deals, utilising social media, and perhaps speaking to publications in order to craft and grow your image as one of the handful able to play right at the top of the game. However, when David Beckham swapped Manchester for Madrid 20 years ago, the landscape for a professional footballer, even an esteemed one like himself, was a whole lot different.
No surprise then, that his latest documentary released on Netflix, produced by Beckham’s own Studio 99, has been well received, making one of the world’s most famous ex- footballers, even more famous. Rather than assess the numbers, we want to discuss the impact that ‘The Réal Beckhams’ had, serving not just as a form of entertainment, but a manual for the modern-day athlete.
The documentary is introduced by David and Victoria Beckham making the decision to begin an in-house venture, leaving the company that has helped Manchester United’s number 7 generate publicity thus far. What’s really important here is that this decision comes from the couple themselves, although there was no prior blueprint for what was within reach. Their elevated taste allowed them to exist beyond expectations, really merging music, fashion and sport in a way that would still be wildly celebrated today.
Being one of the first generation of ‘Galacticos’ would’ve meant an extreme amount of pressure every time David Beckham put on the famed Real Madrid shirt. But exploring a fulfilled life beyond the time spent on the pitch not only allowed him to potentially alleviate some of that pressure, it also opened the door for his fanbase to grow closer to him. Organic documentation, using a small crew allowed us to see the ins and outs of his life, as viewers we’re able to view a lifestyle that may feel out of reach, through the most authentic lens possible.
There so many reasons why David Beckham is still the icon he is today. There’s no dismissing the ability he demonstrated on the pitch, but his strongest ability was to continuously push the boundaries of what could be expected of an athlete. The level of insight provided in ‘The Real Beckhams’ allows it to stand in a league of its own as an archive of how David Beckham turned from a footballer, to a global and cultural phenomenon.
