Research Paper On Billy Elliot

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.

Billy's tension starts to build when he realises that there are no coats, umbrellas, and hats displayed near the front door. This is very strange considering it's at a boarding house where you would expect to see visitors each day. However there are more extraordinary happenings that go on as the story unfolds.

Self belief is shown through the realistic dancing of the Spanish community and Fran’s family compared to the exaggerated and unreal images of the ballroom community, dominated by flashy costumes and insincerity. At the Toledo Milk Bar the earthy and sensual colours of reds and browns allows us to feel the real spirit of dancing. When Rico, Fran’s father challenges Scott to dance the Paso doble, Scott is laughed at by the way he dances. “What is so funny about the way I dance?” Fran’s Family and the Spanish community soon teach Scott that the real value of dancing comes from the heart and Fran’s grandmother shows him where he needs to really feel the rhythm in his body.

Herrick shows that a relationship has ‘centred’ Billy. His life has direction, routine and meaning. Billy’s identity at first was seen as a loner, he was isolated and a rebel. His mother was absent and his relationship with his father was intimidating. The lack of connection to family extends to Old Bill, whose daughter and wife died, and to Freya and Danny, who do not have the guidance of responsible adults. Herrick symbolises his disconnection and loneliness in ‘I didn’t go inside for hours./I looked through the back window/watching him/reading the paper/in front of the television/as if nothing happened’. Billy’s sense of belonging allows him to reforms his identity. Herrick shows this by juxtaposing Billy eating like a hobo in the first person narration in ‘And wait for the family of five to leave. / I can see dessert/ waiting for me’ and later eating like a refined mature adult via the descriptive language in ‘with a white tablecloth/and napkins/ and proper cutlery and plates.’ Comparatively, Freya grows up after Danny helps her deal with her miscarriage. This highlights that a person’s identity is defined by their connection to others. Both composers show an understanding of each other, allow them to nourish one another.

Billy Elliot was a story of adversity and struggle. It follows a young boy who becomes a great success at ballet after he starts attending dance classes instead of his boxing classes. The play uses parallel storylines of the struggle for coal mine workers’ rights and Billy’s struggle to become a great dancer. It takes place in an impoverished town in the UK during the 80’s but it was performed in 2017 at the Berkeley playhouse. The play is impactful because it satires gender stereotypes and advocates for the payoff of hard work.

Fife’s vehement antagonism to anything that is not “strictly ballroom”, is challenged by Scott's scandalous, experimental steps in the film's opening scene. Barry Fife, the manipulative and lecherous President of the Australian Dance Federation, exemplifies a passive aggressive nature towards Scott due to his fear of losing his power and influence if Scott's innovative style of dancing was to become popularised. Moreover, Fife’s passive aggressive discouragement of innovation forces Scott to consider his option: “Well of course you can dance any steps you like! But that doesn’t mean you’ll…win.” Fife’s villainous persona is characterised through his wig and the unflattering, extreme close-ups of him, which encourage the audience to take this negative view of Barry Fife from the first moment we meet him. Consequently, through Scott’s rebellion against Fife’s dance restrictions, the notion of living life to its fullest is

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

Through the use of symbolism, tony grab Billy and put him on the table between Mrs W and Tony, the use of high angled shots shows that Billy has less power, it also shows his dreams were crashing and he was in pain. This scene highlights the pain people go through after making a choice to change. The soundtrack A town called Alice ’started playing while Tony and Mrs W were fighting, Billy escape from all the negativity, he expresses his anger, stress, sadness and he just wanted to run away, through dancing. Throughout the film, there is a strong connection that is being portrayed through the boy and dance as he pursue his dreams. The film indicates that with determination, belief, and love it is the key ingredient for your own success in life. But life is not as easy as it sounds.

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

Psychosocial development addresses the interaction between psychological and social factors. Billy was in Erickson’s psychosocial stage—Identity versus role confusion. In the beginning, he seemed confused about his identity, and he did not get along with Norman. This indicates that he lacked someone to identify with. Later on, the time he spent with the couple on Golden Pond and his relationship with Norman made him progress

Growing up in Washington D.C. for Marvin Gaye seemed to be a joke, he lived in a ghetto surrounded by large buildings and major monuments that represented American freedoms. Not unlike any other children growing up in Washington D.C. he was taken on field trips to all of these places. Marvin Stated “I remember visiting the Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson memorials at different ages. I could appreciate the grandeur of the architecture. But I had the distinct feeling that these marvelous treasures belonged to white people.”(Ritz 34) By his mid teens, Marvin began to take notice of the world that surrounded him. He began to question the discrimination that Black Americans faced. During Marvin’s coming of age, the schools, movies, restaurants and even public playgrounds were segregated in Washington D.C., this made it difficult not to be cynical about

Growing up in a tight knit community means Billy is constrained to follow the traditions upheld by the men in his family, these include stereotypical male activities like boxing and mining. Due to Jackie, Billy’s fathers, status in the community people look up to him as a masculine figurehead, this role is soon jeopardised by Billy’s new-found passion for Ballet. One scene shows Billy coming home after ballet and running straight to his room in an attempt to hide his ballet shoes under his bed, his father walks past and asks what he is doing, Billy then hides his shoes and says he has lost his boxing gloves to which Billy’s father replies “They were my dad's gloves. You better take better care of them, okay?” This suggests Jackie wishes for Billy to continue the boxing tradition. The traditional violence of boxing is carried across into Jackie and his eldest son’s, Tony, activities. The two are seen as trailblazers for the frenzied

Overall, it is evident that throughout Bob Dylan’s life, he went through a variety of different experiences. These experiences ultimately shaped him to be the person he is today, and gave him the opportunity to work on becoming a better person. Many of Bob Dylan’s songs hold hidden meaning to different experiences he went through in his life, and these experiences relate closely to Jewish ethics. Kindness is something that we should all strive for in life, however, this is much easier said than done. It is evident that Dylan tried to achieve kindness, as he most certainty was not born with this trait. However, whether it be his personality, or being caught up in the music industry, Dylan struggled to be kind. And not just to be kind to others,

“Billy initiates the music in his life. He has the potential to triumph over his environment. The lyrics of the soundtrack are also noteworthy, as they imply that Billy is a born dancer.” (Lancioni, 2006, 718)

“Its cool to be different and just who you are and shock people in a good way”