How Does Billy Elliot Create Gender Stereotypes

Billy Elliot Topic: “Societies often create gender stereotypes that set impossible standards for men and women, leading to unhappiness, loneliness and possibly violence.” How apparent is this problem in English society of 1984, as seen in the film, Billy Elliot?

Stereotypes are generalizations, or assumptions, which people make about the characteristics of all members of a group, based on an image about what people in that group are like. For example, in the Billy Elliot, Jackie Elliot had to work in the coal mining to make his son’s dream a reality. His social ranking diminished in importance and son’s dream increased in importance and priority for him. Therefore, stereotypes are defined as fixed impressions, exaggerated or predetermined
ideas about particular social groups based on physical appearance, racial groups, religion, caste, ethnicity, sexual orientation, marital status, social standing or any number of other categories. The English people are stereotyped as inordinately proper, prudish, and stiff.
This refects back to the movie, Billy Elliot. The father of Billy is regarded as a conventional man with anti feminist views. He believes that boys should be tough whereas girls should be more docile. Throughout this film, Jackie Elliot is characterized as a widowed father, grieving over the recent loss of his wife. This movie has an underlying theme of grief which plays a huge role in Jackie’s view of the world, including gender-based perceptions and how these beliefs support his behaviour and projection as a father towards his son. The movie set in the early 80s projects people who do not follow the social norms. They are therefore taunted against, whereas, in today’s society, people are much more independent and tend to value each other’s opinions and beliefs. Billy Elliot had a dream which was ballet; it is how he persevered towards his dream. Billy was not afraid to fight all obstacles, which he encountered on his way, and was victorious in the end. It was not easy for him to do what he wanted and not to follow the social “norm” and to do the opposite of people in his neighbourhood, who had different customs, and to even defy your own family. Billy never gave up attaining his dream, because this was the only
way of achieving success. Stereotypes are usually learned at a young age, and often remain confused with reality.Some common sources of stereotypes include parents, family relations, teachers, peers, media and many more. Stereotypes may be positive or negative in tone. Negative stereotypes result in poor self-image, stress, mental illness, pressure to conform, and ineffective intercultural interactions.

In Billy Elliot, Billy’s grandmother knew that Billy could get nowhere without support and understanding and gave that support to him. She understood him, because this she related back to her experience. She understood what was important and what was not important in life. She understood if she didn’t support him, Billy would relinquish his dream and he would be unfortunate all his life. Subsequently, Billy’s father understood how his son was gifted and supported him selling precious jewellery which belonged to his deceased wife. He crossed the line to join the “scab” labourers (strike-breakers) so that he gave his some an opportunity to attend the ballet academy. The 1984’s minors strike plays a crucial role in the film, Billy Elliot. One of the main points of significance is that it provides extreme hardship after mining families like the Elliot’s, for an extended period (51 weeks). When a family or community is facing the hardships of “war”, the value of loyalty is extremely high. Therefore, familial and class loyalty is a key theme in this film. The mining communities believed that a life of work in mining was their birthright, and families were raised, and the community lived a lifestyle in accordance with this expectation. The “working class minors” culture placed value on endurance, “macho” masculinity, toughness and an antiintellectual attitude. Billy’s innate talent for dancing directly challenges major aspects of this working class culture. One of his main “obstacles” blocking his dream was the death of his mother. Billy had very little support from his family until the end of the film. He was very close to his mother and the letter that Billy read to Ms Wilkinson showed that she loved and adored Billy a lot. The letter was a key factor in his ability to survive the harsh circumstances. We can see this through tears in Billy’s father’s eyes when he attends the premier of Billy Elliot. We can assume that he was crying because he was proud of his son and that he was such a great reflection of his mother. Societies make people uncomfortable and therefore, to break that feeling, you have to have a different mindset and keep an eye on your dream as Billy did in the movie” Billy Elliot”