Preview

What Does Billy Elliot Represent

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
438 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Does Billy Elliot Represent
‘Billy Elliot’

In the film ‘Billy Elliot’, 11 year old boy Billy is bought up into an economically repressed mining town without the care of his beloved mother. Billy lives in a small cramped English house with his bad-tempered brother, out of control father and his delirious grand-mother. All Billy wants to do is dance but Billy is told by his father that “boys wrestle; boys don't dance”. But Billy loves to dance. This disappoints Billy and creates an obstacle for Billy’s dream of dancing. But as Billy gets older his dream of dancing becomes more of a reality, with the help of his ballet teacher, family and friends.

In my static image the hatched swan eggs represents how Billy has struggled throughout his childhood, but now has hatched into a beautiful adult swan. The idea of the swan came from the end of the movie when Billy performs a swan in the Royal Ballet Swan it shows Billy has accomplished his dream to dance. The childhood toys and boxing gloves inside the swan eggs represent the obstacles Billy took to make his dream come true. The boxing gloves stopped him from because of what his father believed “boxing is for boys, NOT BALLET!” The eggs have been printed in black and grey it symbolizes that his childhood is not important to him. The eggs are hatched to represent
…show more content…
But it is also because he has less obstacles in front of his way to becoming a royal ballet dancer. Billy is bright and white because although he has accomplished his dream and is now a Royal Ballet Dancer. He is wearing a men’s ballet leotard with swan feathers attached. The Sawn costume shows that he has hatched out of his childhood problems into a new dream life of a royal ballet dancer. His head is turned to the left because he is looking into a new, fresh and clean. Billy is in a leaping ballet position to show that he is leaping into his new daring future where he makes decisions for

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Since the early seventies, Billy Joel has displayed greatness with his success in music, and has captured America with the sounds of his catchy tunes. Many accomplishments have been made, such as winning five Grammy Awards and many top ten hits in the seventies, eighties, and nineties. Joel has been successful throughout the years, but one thing he is still trying to overcome is his depression, and that is a hard thing to control.…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Give a chronological account of Ailey’s background, training and influences up to the time he made ‘Cry’. Discuss how this may have informed the narrative of the dance in the work ‘Cry’…

    • 1267 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Billy the Kid is a 1938 ballet. This piece is one of Aaron Copland’s more popular pieces. And has been performed worldwide for years. The ballet is known for its combination sound of a cowboy tune and an American folk song. The song and ballet is about a boy’s mother being killed by an outlaw. The boy then kills the outlaw that murdered his mother and goes on the run. For years the boy runs the desert as an outlaw but get but gets caught one day and gets put in jail. He manages to escape jail and returns to his hideout. The law then catches up with him once again and kills him. The ballet ends with the open prairie…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Symbols- Beehives are a key symbol in the novel. They symbolize August pink house. Like humans bees work, live and produce the necessary honey for survival, that’s why they are symbolic. The Black Mary is another important symbol in the novel. Lily carries it around because it is one of the only objects she has of hers mothers. This shows a mother and mother surrogates. This symbol later leads to Lily meeting August.…

    • 158 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Elizabeth Proctor: Elizabeth’s costume is by far the simplest of the girls, relaying her role in the play. She just wants a peaceful life with her husband, but gets caught in the pandemonium. Her costume includes white, meant to show that she is good and wholesome and how she really does care about her husband and others, even though at some times she may not fully display it.…

    • 726 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    All Billy wants to do is dance but Billy is told by his father that “boys wrestle; boys don't dance”. But Billy loves to dance. This disappoints Billy and creates an obstacle for Billy’s dream of dancing. But as Billy gets older his dream of dancing becomes more of a reality, with the help of his ballet teacher, family and only friend Michael.…

    • 758 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    However, Billy’s transition into the world isn’t always ‘smooth running’ as he faces many barriers set out by society- especially in relations to gender roles. When Jackie says ‘lads do boxing and wrestling… not bloody ballet’ demonstrates the stereotypes held in society. Nevertheless it is Debbie that says ‘plenty of men do it [ballet]’ but Billy dismisses them as ‘poofs’. This further reflects Billy’s upbringing and the attitudes of his community. However, as…

    • 882 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dancers in society continue to blossom in today’s society with new talent breaching the world of dance every day. People’s abilities become discovered and pass on their passion amongst those who are willing to learn. A person who has gone by this statement is Bill T. Jones, an artistic director that shares a diverse coverage in being a choreographer, dancer, theatre director and writer. The American prodigy was born in the state of Bunnell, Florida. Though his place of home had been moved to the North to Wayland, New York, as a part of the Great Migration in the first half of the twentieth century. It was from this point on that he was offered the chance and fame to be who he is today by studying in the ‘Big Apple’ and attending Wayland High School. In growing and progressing his academic studies he had moved on to the State University of New York at Binghamton, where he had begun his dance training, studying in the areas of classical ballet and modern dance.…

    • 1330 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wilkinson’s sense of belonging to ballet is shaped through her life experience. During one of the setbacks, Ms. Wilkinson and Billy are waiting on the bridge. When Ms. Wilkinson tells Billy the story Swan Lake, she is implying a metaphor for her own life. She was once a ballet dancer like the girl who was the princess; she was entrapped in the town like the princess who was turned into a swan; she used to have a strong sense of belonging to ballet but now it is dead, just like the wrong ending she tells Billy “she’s dead… it’s just a ghost story.” Her sense of belonging is dead because of her life experience. Through a long shot at bottom angle, the composer shows the magnificent steel bridge, which is like a huge cage exerting a massive depression to both characters. Audience can also experience the pressure, from Billy’s point of view. The bridge is the symbol of the town which entraps both of them. The next shot shows Billy is looking up the bridge like a bird who wants to break the cage, whereas Ms. Wilkinson just smokes and doesn’t even bother looking at anything. This indicates that Billy wants to break the cage and see the outside world, whereas Ms. Wilkinson has lost all motivation to chase her dream and accepts what she has now. Her sense of belonging to ballet is re-shaped by her life experience in Everington where ballet dance is not…

    • 1026 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    PATRICKSWAYZE

    • 1141 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Patrick Swayze was born a fighter. He was born six weeks premature and his mother, Patsy, had a grueling child birth. None of the doctors or nurses knew if he was going to make it, but miraculously – baby Patrick survived. Patsy owned a dance studio in Houston, where Patrick supposedly learned to dance before he could walk. His father, who went by the name of Big Buddy, was a strong Texas cowboy, but wasn’t afraid to play the role of a mother every once in a while. Patrick didn’t strive academically; his true passions were dance and football. His high school football career was cut short when he suffered a knee injury. He was forced to rest his knee, otherwise he’d never be able to play any sport or dance again. Being a true fighter, Patrick wanted to work through the pain, which he did in his acting career later in life. He was brave as a child and very stubborn and persistent about getting his ways. He was also quite popular with the girls in his dance classes. Being one of the few straight male dancers at the time, Patrick was looked up to by the younger girls and boys and was all of the older girl’s crush. Patrick’s childhood affected his adult life tremendously; without Patsy, Patrick wouldn’t have been dancing his whole childhood. Without his parents, he wouldn’t know what the feeling of love felt like. Without his bravery he developed as a child, he wouldn’t have been his own stuntman in some of his action movies.…

    • 1141 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the film of Billy Elliot, Billy, the main character, experiences transitions through his life, taking on challenges and obstacles as he is determined to pursue a career in ballet. This is shown through the quote “I don’t want a childhood. I want to be a ballet dancer” and the relationship between Billy and his father, Jackie. Early…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Word Doc

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages

    With Mrs Wilkinson’s command to her students “feel the music” in the background, Billy transitions from punching the punching bag to swaying in time with it. Billy’s connection to the world of dance was subconscious and soothing.…

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    An individual's willingness to step out of their comfort zone determines the pathway and significant experiences that they face in their transition into the new world. This concept has been successfully conveyed through Daldry’s film, Billy Elliot, which explores multiple perspectives and their response to life situations as they move into the new world. Both Billy and his brother Tony are confronted with a violent and underprivileged life, with the adverse effects of the mining strike among the working class that they belong to. Tony conforms to society's expectations by taking part in the miners strike and has an overall defiant and violent attitude whereas Billy is seen as a sensitive and caring young boy who struggles to fit in the male stereotype put down. This stark comparison is presented effectively in sequence seven during Tony’s arrest where a long shot is seen of the riot police advancing on the strikers. The non-diegetic sounds of The Clash’s “London Calling” which lyrics go, “Now war is declared and battle come down” effectively captures the angst and anger felt by the miners during the strike. This scene is quickly contrasted to billy standing on a brick wall that has him in an elevated position with a low angle compared to his brother who is now lying on the floor being beat by the police, suggesting their different partaking in the strike and overall temperament. Tony’s change only comes about when he decided to accept his brothers dreams by stepping out of his comfort zone and past opinions on gender stereotypes. If Billy didn't have the courage to pursue his dream than the path that not only both the brothers but also Jackie wouldn’t have positively flourished.…

    • 1547 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The following objects represent the symbolism within the title sequence at the beginning of the movie: a drawing of a bird, a harmonica, a pocket watch, a pearl necklace, marbles, and a whistle and this title sequence is from a child’s perspective. The title sequence helps to introduce the story’s symbolism and themes for the audience by focusing on the child’s perspective on life. It does so by having the camera move in, like a child's vision, to close-ups of the various objects, moving from left to right along the row of treasures arranged on the table. There is also a mysterious music and humming of a child to create a mood for the audience. The movie presents these objects from unfamiliar angles, allowing the viewer to rediscover…

    • 835 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Perfectionism In Dance

    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages

    When I turned three, my mom signed me up for my first ballet class, and I loved it. Moving along to the music brought me joy and fulfillment. My liking for it has gradually grown into a passion. But over the years, I have also noticed a stigma for extreme competitiveness and perfectionism. Something that originally began as a form of worship has transformed into a celebration of the superficial and frivolous. Dancing often creates many concerns for young performers.…

    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics