Billy Elliot Essay

To start, the film seems like your basic run-on-the mill coming of age tale with a group of teenagers growing up to desire more after they graduate high school. However, there are various more themes discreetly displayed throughout the runtime of the film. For example, one central sociological overtone of this film is Marxism. With this overtone, it becomes possible to view this light-hearted and comedic movie in a

     Ernest Hemingway's "Mr. and Mrs. Elliot" ultimately leaves us with a paradox. From its opening line, the story defines the marriage of Hubert and Cornelia as a marriage of failure: failure to conceive a child, failure to communicate, failure to have good sex. Indeed, the story's opening image seems the perfect metaphor for the marriage as a whole: "Mr. and Mrs. Elliot tried very hard to have a baby. They tried as often as Mrs. Elliot could stand it" (161). The Elliots' marriage is one of unfulfilled desires-of trying as much as one "can stand it", but never achieving success. Nevertheless the story's final line asserts, "they were all quite happy." How can we reconcile the failures of

My views on this heart moving film would be never to give up in life, and with the right amount of determination you can succeed anything. The film tells us the simple, but moving story with a skilled storyteller's voice. The great importance of their

1. What are the main themes, politically and socially, that are portrayed in the film?

One of the themes that stand out the most in the film is the struggle to overcome adversity and push through problems in one’s life that could otherwise get in the way from achieving goals. In the film, many

Why does Holden continuously judge people based on their physical appearance? Could this be a projection of his insecurities or a reflection of his mental health?

particular theme is watch this movie because it develops the struggles of two boys from the

2) What are some of the themes that are central to the film? How have they been communicated?

Billy Elliot explores the concept of identity and how it can shaped and changed through life experiences. It tells the story of an 11-year-old boy named Billy, and his father, Jackie, amidst a mining strike in a town in Northern England during the mid-1980s. Billy creates his personal identity through dance as it is a means of expressing himself. In Billy’s world, strict stereotypes dealing with gender and sexual identity are enforced, which created not only an internal personal battle for Billy, but also an external conflict between him and his family. As a result, he was ashamed of and forced to hide his talent and passion for dance, shown in the quote, “I feel like a right sissy”. The song “Town called Malice” was played in Billy’s main

Billy Elliot, directed by Stephen Daldry, details the life of an 11-year-old working-class boy who is caught up in the poverty and violence of North-east England during the 1984 miner’s strikes. After a local ballet teacher discovers Billy’s raw talent for dancing, Billy decides he wants to be a ballet dancer. Billy had to overcome many obstacles in order to follow his new found dream. Two of these were family traditions and expectations, and social class. Billy also received help to overcome many obstacles, this help came from Mrs Wilkinson.

In “The Story of an Hour” (1894), Kate Chopin presents a woman in the last hour of her life and the emotional and psychological changes that occur upon hearing of her husbands’ death. Chopin sends the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, on a roller coaster of emotional up’s and down’s, and self-actualizing psychological hairpin turns, which is all set in motion by the news of her husband’s death. This extreme “joy ride” comes to an abrupt and ultimately final halt for Mrs. Mallard when she sees her husband walk through the door unscathed. Chopin ends her short story ambiguously with the death of Mrs. Mallard, imploring her reader to determine the true cause of her death.

Although this film is disadvantaging to many people, it is also very beneficial. I think people that come from the lower class or an abusive household can really benefit from this film. The main point of this film is to show people that you can achieve anything you want to do no matter what background you come from, and although it might be hard because of economical/ personal issues you are not less of a person than anyone and you can still be successful. I love the idea of success because it doesn’t really have a set definition. You don’t necessarily need money to be/feel successful. You can work at Subway and still be successful while a twelve time Oscar winning actor can be successful. You sort of carve out your own success and make your own definition for it. This movie will also teach people that they are not on their own. Although you might think nobody is there for you, when you enter a room you don’t know what everyone is thinking or how everyone feels; you might now even know everyone. It is kind of like when you’re putting together a puzzle, you put certain pieces together and you get closer to finishing and you just need to keep trying to solve the puzzle because if you give up you just wasted your money on a puzzle

     The actors are believable in their roles. Steven Martin who acts as George Banks is outstanding in his role, he acts very well, so the audience knows his feelings, and feels sorry for him. The stars are not the main reason for me to see the film, but the title is.

“This scene not only expresses Billy’s rage, it visually represents his childhood. Billy is blocked by barriers of gender, class, and

1. What is the true subject or the theme of the film, and What kind of statement, if any, does the film make about the subject? Which elements and which themes contributed most to addressing the theme of the film?