D he Beckhams are masters at curating their public performance. Of all people, her eldest son Brooklyn, 26, has now destroyed the branding as a successful, emancipated, autonomous, gender-equal, good-looking, likeable and loving extended family. He let it be known on Instagramthat he had no plans to reconcile with his family and accused his mother (Spice Girl and designer Victoria) of torpedoing his marriage to the American billionaire’s daughter Nicola Peltz Beckham.
Like Prince Harry, Brooklyn didn’t just say: Bye-bye, I do it my way. No, the departure was staged as a forced move by a victim who had no choice but to publicly accuse her parents of being more interested in their brand than in their children.
The internet was particularly excited by the accusation against his mother that she had stolen the bride’s wedding dance at his wedding and danced “inappropriately” with the groom, i.e. him. Hundreds of memes about the “inappropriate” dance went viral. Even people who would otherwise be outraged by any form of discrimination against women joked, laughed and joined in. Apparently everyone agrees that Victoria Beckham is a badass and deserves to be made fun of.
Astonishing. A few months ago people imitated Victoria and David’s dance from the Netflix documentary and thought they were both really great. Now memes show freaking women in aprons who show anything but skillful movements in slapstick style. It was probably exactly the bet that Brooklyn (or his PR consultants) made: An ambitious over-50 mother opposed to the young, pretty, rich competition on the dance floor? That can only be embarrassing.
The monster in law
Many on the internet jumped over this stick. Victoria, the nasty mother-in-law who won’t tolerate any other woman, especially a younger one, next to her. The proof? A 15 second video snippet from the photo shoot at the premiere the Netflix documentary “Victoria Beckham”. To see: The Beckhams and Victoria Beckham, who moves into the foreground, whose movement ensures that her daughter-in-law has to stand a bit on the sidelines.
Well, maybe there is a more elegant way. But why should Victoria, the documentary’s main character, make way for an actress best known for being twice nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress and for being the daughter of an American billionaire who boasts of having set up Elon Musk and Donald Trump?
In the “documentary”, in which Victoria herself worked as a producer, she portrays herself as a loving wife and mother, but also as a woman who wants nothing to do with dishes, making jam, planting tomatoes or baking bread. The message: We are a modern married couple in which daddy does the housework and mom does the career.
The trap of emancipation
However, that is also the truth. Victoria aka Posh Spice was a global star long before David Beckham and, unlike the footballer, has built a second career as a designer. It cannot be ruled out that the ambitious Victoria’s emancipated story will now fall on her feet. Maybe because Tradwives are more popular than Spice Girls at the moment. The role of David Beckham is hardly an issue in the debate. The argument there revolves around the mythical primal conflict: Which woman drove poor Brooklyn to despair: the millionaire mother or the billionaire It girl?
After David and Victoria, Brooklyn is now likely to get its own Netflix documentary.