Strictly Ballroom Belonging Analysis

Explore how perceptions of belonging and not belonging can be influenced to places.

Perceptions of belonging and not belonging can be influenced by people’s identity and place where they feel they belong or not belong. Belonging is felt by an individual when they are able to gain an understanding of themselves in relation to others. We see this in Strictly Ballroom by Baz Lurhmann and Neighbours by Tim Winton; both show belonging and not belonging and find their own sense of identity where they all feel they belong in one place.

In Strictly Ballroom we see two sides of the dance world that is juxtaposed to the artificial fake world and the non-artificial fake world for eg. Shirley Hastings wears dark bright makeup and bright sparkly clothes to fit in with the artificial fake dance world. Whereas the non-artificial fake world is very dull and ‘daggy’, this is an example of Fran who wears big bold glasses and big white daggy t-shirts this makes Fran feel like she doesn’t belong. This is because she isn’t the same as everyone else and is treated differently because she is known as a beginner and is told that she would never make it in the dance world with her steps. Fran feels more like she belongs when she is dancing the Paso Doble with her family because she is surrounded around her family that make her feels like she belongs dancing with Scott.
The colour red represents love for example when Scott and Fran are dancing on the rooftop next to the coca-cola sign, shows that they are in ‘the moment’, and shows the connection that they have built