Paradoxically, the alleged affair added rather than subtracted from his already iconic status, introducing a dash of devilry and rescuing Beckham from a kind of borderline piousness, and perhaps issuing a reminder that, despite all the affectations, his manhood was beyond doubt.
The whole story is depicted as a car-fueled saga of bravery and manhood, but the reality underneath it is that it plays on the rape culture we all live in.