Billy Elliot Analysis

Moments in Billy's life change instantaneously, not giving Billy a clue to where he will end up next. In one moment, he is sitting in his home typing a letter to the local newspaper about his experience with the Tralfamadorians, and in the next he is a lost soldier of World War II running around behind German lines aimlessly without a coat or proper shoes. He then became a child being thrown into a pool by his father and afterwards a forty-one year old man visiting his mother in an old people's home. In the novel, changes in time are made through transitional statements such as, "Billy traveled in time, opened his eyes, found himself staring into the glass eyes of a jade green mechanical owl." p.56 In the movie there is no such thing and different moments in Billy's life happen instantaneously. Because scenes are continuous as times change, the movie better displays the author's attempt to capture in the notion of being "unstuck in time." On the other hand, the novel does help the audience follow these time changes better by setting it up for the next scene, offering a background of Billy's experiences before they begin through these transitional statements.

All through Billy’s life he ran into obstacles that obstructed his free will. As a child Billy’s father lets Billy sink in the deep end of a pool so he could learn how to swim “because his

The process of transitions has the power to allow individual to seek new pathways in order to allow new opportunities to arise, challenging perspectives and stereotypes, while ultimately growing as an individual. However, it is only through overcoming challenges, that a transition empowers the individual to overcome hardships, gaining a deeper understanding of self, while developing strength and integrity. The film Billy Elliot positions the audience to perceive hardships that individuals must overcome in order to successfully achieve their ultimate transition, challenging gender stereotypes and societal “norms”. Tracey Chapmans song Fast Car, outlines obstacles that the persona and the audience relates to, however it is through the melody

The use of doors is a reoccuring symbol representing new worlds or barriers between worlds and used throughout the film. Billy’s initial glimpse of the ballet class through the door, and the way he enters the class hesitantly symbolises a new world opening up to Billy. Billy’s determination is one the key elements involved in his eventual transition into a different world. Realising that his father would not allow him to pursue ballet, he attends lessons in secret and practices extensively in his bedroom, the bathroom and wherever else he can have some privacy. The door motif is again prominent with Billy’s father physically holding Billy back from pursing his pathway into a new world. Many of the doors are shut and he must fight to break these barriers down. For Billy, dance becomes a means of escape from his surroundings, a refuge, a form of self-expression and, ultimately, a way out of his closed community and into the larger world. The limited use of colour reminds us that the family world is collapsing just as new horizons are opening up for Billy. Billy is determined to go against the rules and traditions of his family and forge his way into a new world.

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

Once Billy becomes capable of time travel and comes into contact with the Tralfamadorians, he simply goes through the motions of life but avoids falling into a defeatist attitude. Under the tutelage of the Tralfamadorians, Billy fashions a brand new perspective towards society and enhances his natural persona, “When Billy accepts the Tralfamadorian philosophy, the passivity that he has displayed his entire life—from wanting to drift quietly at the bottom of the YMCA pool after his father throws him in, to begging Roland Weary to leave him behind—is justified. If the future cannot be changed anyway, why even try?” (Farrell 9). Though the interaction with the Tralfamadorians seems to allow Billy an outlet to construct his own ideals upon the universe, he nonetheless continues along the same path as before. Billy becomes an extremist towards passivity in life rather than utilizing the experience to impart a strong impression

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake was first performed at the Sadler Wells Theatre in London in 1995. Bourne's version of Swan Lake is the longest running ballet in London’s West End and on Broadway. It has been performed in a number different countries such as United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Israel and Singapore. Mathew Bourne’s rendering is best known for having traditionally female parts of the swans danced by men. Graeme Murphy version of Swan Lake is not so much a battle between Odette (Good) and Odile (evil), which is presented through the original Swan Lake. But it examines love and betrayal, and other elements of the original story. Through comparing and contrasting Acts 2 and Act 4 of Graeme Murphy’s rendering of Swan Lake and Mathew Bourne's Act 2 and Act 4, this essay will interpret and evaluate how each choreographer portrays movement and non-movement components throughout their piece.

Travis Wall’s contemporary company, Shaping Sound, performed at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts on October 14, 2016. Utilizing this theater's large space and lighting components; Bohemian Rhapsody danced to Queen’s iconic song “Bohemian Rhapsody,” drew the audience into this intense and playful performance.

Danny Torrance is a clever five year old boy. He loves his father, Jack, and often times waits for him to return from work for hours at a time. Danny, despite the love he has for his father, is isolated from feeling loved by Jack.  Jack has physically abused Danny many times in Danny’s short life. The first instance was when Jack dropped Danny on his head as a baby while Jack was heavily intoxicated. According to studies done by John M. Grohol, Psy.D.,  head trauma at an early age can be the beginning of mental illness and can initiate psychological issues in the future. “Psychiatric issues, including hallucinations and delusions, are certainly more common after

He knows this is not really accepted in society or in his family so he keeps it as a secret. This proves my point that stereotypes in society provide a safety and a sense of belonging. This lack of safety explains why the father cannot unconditionally love Billy unlike the mother in “Mother loves your sons” When Billy Elliot’s father finds out he is doing ballet, he bans him from his passion and says “Ballet is for girls not for lads Billy, Lads do football….. Boxing…..or Wrestling, not friggin Ballet”. This enforces that Billys dad will not love and support him because he is breaking the teenage boy stereotype “I'm busting my ass for those 50 pences and you’re…”. This makes Billy feel he will not belong in his family or peers if he continues ballet but his teacher pushes him to pursue it in private. Once he becomes good he creates himself a new stereotype of success and his father regains an unconditional love and acceptance. This is shown when he goes back to working in the mine when the town is on strike to be able to make money for billy to go to the Royal ballet school audition in new

During Billy’s boxing lesson, he discovers that he has a passion in ballet dancing. The close ups of the ballet shoes when Billy is concentrating

Billy Elliot while still not a perfect example of the coming-of-age genre, fits much better into that category compared to Ma Vie en Rose. In the beginning of the film there is a scene with Billy, our protagonist, preparing breakfast and guiding his dementia-stricken grandmother back home. It is in this way the film aims to show that despite his age, Billy has been thrust into maturity. One of the over-arching struggles that forced Billy into this maturity is his family’s participation in a coal-miner’s strike. Financial strife is not an uncommon component one would expect to see within this genre. Similarly to Ma Vie en Rose, there is a reversal of the typical gender roles when Billy gives up on boxing to pursue ballet. This interest causes

In this shot we see Billy Bates lying in the boot of Henry Hills car from a high angled shot with Jimmy, Tommy and Henry standing over him. This shows How Billy is in a weak position thus making him inferior to his murders even though he’s a “made man”, someone who is meant to be untouchable. His face in completely covered in blood and wrapped in white tablecloths.The effect this giving Billy the look that he is dressed in robes which is religious symbolism comparing him to figures such as mother mary; giving him the effect of looking innocent, which makes the murder harder to watch as the viewer no sympathise with Billy. adds contrast to the nonchalant attitude towards violence and killing. In this scene we also hear Billy say “no, no, no”

Billy Elliot – Film Assessment “Billy Elliot shows us that it is important to remain true to yourself and to not conform to society’s expectation.” Settings – How do they reinforce the main messages of the film? Steven Daldry picks the settings in his movie carefully, in order to emphasize and reinforce the importance of remaining true to yourself, and to remind us as an audience that it isn’t always about conforming to what society wants.

“I don’t get it,” Billy said, scrunching up his eyebrows and squinting his eyes. He looked about as pensive as a ten year old could, leaning forward as he sat on the blue trunk of the Honda. The brick school building off in the distance held his gaze as it blocked his view of the sun fading into the horizon.