Billy Elliot Essay

Intro: Entering a new world can be a difficult process, as depicted in… Furthermore conflict with family The experiences of moving into the world of dancing changes Billy’s maturity and confidence. Initially, he is restricted by the narrow-minded and myopic society. His father’s identity as a miner and ex-champion boxer reverberates the fact that he holds very traditional male values. Billy experiences conflict as he is torn between his affection for dancing shown in the lyrics in the opening scene “I danced myself right out of the womb” and the expectations of his father. Daldry employs cross-cutting between Billy’s dancing lessons and with scenes of his family at the picket line. Billy’s dancing lessons with the girls are filled with bright natural lighting to reflect purity and hope, whilst the darker colors at the picket line reflect the miner’s hopelessness and desperation. This demonstrates that his world of dancing is a source of liberation for the societal reality he lives in. The song “Town called Malice” by the Jam is played in Billy’s main dance sequence. It perfectly captures the anger and frustration Billy feels after the confrontation between his new world and the old one that is continuing to hold him back. Despite his interest in dancing, Billy feels out of place in the female ballet group at Durham as Daldry depicts that even he has the apprehension about the perceived roles in society “I feel like a right sissy”. However, he later puckers the courage and enters the world of dancing, defying his father’s words and society’s expectations. When he attends one of Mrs. Wilkinson’s classes, wide angle shots are used to metaphorically show his world and horizons opening up. In the final scene, the classical song “Swan lake” is used. It has a yearning quality that captures Billy’s change and quest to move into the creative world - a world where he has choices. The slow motion of his leap is a testament to the achievement from escaping the world of social stereotypes and entering the world of dancing. Thus, through his determination, Billy is able to move into the world and mature from his experiences. Initially, Billy’s family is not supportive but eventually, the bond and growth is made more apparent. The movie begins with a portrait of a dysfunctional family. There is a strained relationship between Jackie and Billy due to the death of the mother and the miner’s strike which has led to Jackie’s retreat from the world. Jackie’s views are conservative metaphorically shown through the superimposed metal wire on his face as he overlooks Billy’s boxing lessons. Billy is characterized as an independent boy who has maturity beyond his age. The opening scene shows him assuming the caretaker role for his demented grandmother. Jackie is determined to forge his ideas of masculinity into his son, but later realizes he has let his preconceptions cloud his judgment on Billy’s ability. Jackie changes as he overcomes the stereotypes towards gender roles as he begins to realize the true potential in which Billy possesses, and in turn, forgoes his stance on the miner’s strike. This is shown in the dialogue “Scab, Scab, Scab” bellowed out by the miners when Jackie is on the private bus. He is determined to start working and make sacrifices such as selling his wife’s jewelry in order to fund Billy on his trip to London. By the end of the movie, Jackie is more involved in Billy’s life, supportive of his dreams and reasserts his role as Billy’s father. The mid-shot of them sitting on a brick wall together demonstrate equality and how they have changed to develop a new understanding for each other.

Correspondingly, in Ian Mudie’s poem “My father began as a God”, there is a changing relationship that exists between the persona and his father. Initially as a child, the persona is in awe of his father shown through the Biblical allusion to Moses “My father began as a god ... as if bought down from Sinai”. This depicts how the son perceived the father to hold words of authority. However, Mudie portrays that with teenage rebellion and adulthood, the persona becomes condescending towards his father’s status, revealing the conflict between the views of different generation. This is shown in the derogative imagery “he had become a foolish small old man with silly and outmoded views”. His subsiding importance is demonstrated in the repetition “strange then how he shrank and shrank”. The change in tone from ___ to ___ contrasts to the previous stanza and allows the reader to empathize with the father, once described as a supernatural God, transforming into a small man. The arrogant tone changes once again as the narrator matures in the next stanza, reaching empathy “his faults and his intolerances, scaled away into the past revealing virtues.” Like Jackie who becomes conscious of Billy’s aptitude for dancing, the persona comes full circle and realizes his father’s significance “the deeper [the father] recedes into the grave”. Link back to paternal relationships and into the world “Into the world” is about how people move into new stages of their life. Similarly, the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling, explores the mutual inclusiveness between the attainment of true manhood by moving into the world and the abilities and virtues of a true leader. The poem exhorts the reader to be patient, honest and forthright, especially when faced with opposition and temptation to act in a less virtuous manner. It advises against self confidence that does not allow for the consideration of opposing ideas. In exhorting the reader to both ignore doubt and make allowance for doubt, Kipling creates a paradox “if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too”. By moving into the world, one’s identity is shaped and developed. This is demonstrated in the third stanza were Moving into the world – identity is shaped and developed Poem ends with a sense of growth and maturity