Billy Elliot Belonging

Moving into the world is a notion which encompasses transition and change. The concept explores how both choices and consequences can alter an individual both physically and emotionally. Billy Elliot, a film directed by Stephen Daldry (2000), is a film with a powerful message about venturing into a new world. It explores the themes of maturity and growth as well as gender conflicts. The choices and consequences endured by the characters of the film are used to highlight the positive and negative factors of escaping an old world and entering a new one. The article ‘Just a girl into the world’ written by Paul Chai (2012) similarly challenges the ideas and expectations of society and through the choices and consequences made by (insert name)
– be specific- they will mark you down for this!! Say for example the film opens with etc. and uses it again at this scene and which ever other scene.Shots of police and background sounds of police sirens reinforces the political and economic context and the impact it has on mining families. In the scene where Billy and Debbie walk home, the responder can hear her casually dragging a stick against the wall which is suddenly replaces by another wall but this time it is made up of riot police Perspex shields. This is a confronting visual image that shows that the police presence has become so much a part of community that she doesn’t even notice them, or even break her stride. Although they form a threatening presence, Debbie is not bothered because she is so used to it. This reinforces to the viewer the signifigance of the political context of the film. (explain here what the signifigance of this is to into the world
Riley was biologically born a boy, although even at the young age of 3 her parents noticed that she did not like anything that a typical 3 year old boy would like. “For Riley’s parents, one of the first giveaways was the tea towel. At 3 years of age, riley would shape it onto her head like a pair of pigtails and flick it from side to side”. Riley says “being a boy simply never made sense”. She made the choice to “transition” which means that she presents herself outwardly as the sex she feels she is. Similar to Billy Elliot, Riley feared what the outside community would say and think about her, what their expecations and opinions were. In the early stages of her transition riley would secretly wear bras under her school shirt as well as wear make up. Soon enough it lead to her wearing the girls uniform, which she felt more comfortable in. Riley’s parents Carol and Chris have always been supportive of Riley and the choices she decides to make about herself and her life. This is constrasted with Jackie and Tony who are the parental figures in Billys life. They were not supportive of billy which made his pathway into a new world even more difficult. Riley says “People get confused as to which one I am”, this shows how important her family is when no one else is there. Riley also like billy falls into the cracks of society, she feels isolated and