‘the Black Balloon, ’ Is Principally About Acceptance
Elissa Down’s film, ‘The Black Balloon,’ is set in a rural Queensland city, NSW, in the early 1990s. It is the story of the Mollison family, who are struggling with the stresses of raising an Autistic child. The film deals with issues such as the difficulties of moving house, changing schools, growing up and change within the family. Underlying all of these issues in the need for acceptance: acceptance into a community, a new school and within the family itself.
The Mollison family finds it hard to cope with raising an autistic child. Charlie has autism and ADHD, this makes it hard for people to live with him. These problems make it hard for him to communicate to others and for them to communicate to him. Charlie gets set off by small things and doesn’t know how to control his anger. When Thomas gets angry and breaks the Nintendo Charlie doesn’t know how to react and instead of getting his mother or father to tell him off he attacks Thomas, he bites, spits and throws. Another example of this is when Russel doesn’t want to perform on stage, Charlie spits on his face because he is angry with him. The parents and teacher try to calm them down and get them to cooperate, but Charlie just spits again. These are some of the reasons that Charlie isn’t accepted, because he is different, and this is why the film refers to acceptance often.
In ‘The Black Balloon’ acceptance is a key issue that it is focused around. For the characters in the film this means becoming part of the group or community. Acceptance is the most dominant part of the film, because everyone in the movie either accept people, they need to learn how to accept individuals, or they just treat others as if they are outsiders. The main theme is acceptance but most people in the film don’t include others, so those ‘others’ do struggle to feel like they belong. The people who are rejected from society are Thomas, his family and Charlie. Thomas’s Family aren’t accepted by the community around where they
The Mollison family finds it hard to cope with raising an autistic child. Charlie has autism and ADHD, this makes it hard for people to live with him. These problems make it hard for him to communicate to others and for them to communicate to him. Charlie gets set off by small things and doesn’t know how to control his anger. When Thomas gets angry and breaks the Nintendo Charlie doesn’t know how to react and instead of getting his mother or father to tell him off he attacks Thomas, he bites, spits and throws. Another example of this is when Russel doesn’t want to perform on stage, Charlie spits on his face because he is angry with him. The parents and teacher try to calm them down and get them to cooperate, but Charlie just spits again. These are some of the reasons that Charlie isn’t accepted, because he is different, and this is why the film refers to acceptance often.
In ‘The Black Balloon’ acceptance is a key issue that it is focused around. For the characters in the film this means becoming part of the group or community. Acceptance is the most dominant part of the film, because everyone in the movie either accept people, they need to learn how to accept individuals, or they just treat others as if they are outsiders. The main theme is acceptance but most people in the film don’t include others, so those ‘others’ do struggle to feel like they belong. The people who are rejected from society are Thomas, his family and Charlie. Thomas’s Family aren’t accepted by the community around where they