Billy Elliot Quotes Flashcards
How is breaking gender stereotypes shown in the film billy Elliot
Gender definitions and divisions are shown in the gym where boys box and girls attend ballet lessons. As Billy’s father simply puts it ‘ lads do football, boxing, or wrestling, not frigging ballet’.However Billy wants to dance. Through a beautifully conducted tracking shot of the dancers feet, the different genders are clearly presented.Not only can see his masculine, stumpy feet, but the choice of colour, the pink ballet slippers for girls in the blue box and shoes for Billy, the pics the stereotypical colours of both genders.
List examples of close minded ness in a quote form, said by Jackie
‘Ballet is for girls, not for lads billy, lads do football or boxing or wrestling- not frigging ballet’
‘From now on you can forget about the fucking ballet, you can forget about the fucking boxing’
What’s a quote that symbolises the burden left on the family after the mother’s death?
‘Leave it billy’
‘Mum would’ve let us’
‘Shut it Billy, she’s dead’
A quote that illustrates how billy feels regarding dance
‘I sort of disappear. Like I feel a change in me whole body. Like there’s a fire in my body. I’m just there.. flying..like a bird. It feels like electricity, yeah like electricity’
Jackie’s character undergoes significant change in the movie and these changes are deeply relevant to the storyline and underlying themes. How does act at the beginning of the text?
. At the beginning of the film Jackie Elliot is established as a middle-aged, archetypal Northern English working class man, who struggles to care for his sons Tony and Billy after the death of his wife. Due to the miner’s strike, Jackie isn’t actively working and therefore experiences increased financial difficulties, which provokes deep frustration and despair. He is introduced to the viewers in the early scenes of the film in the Elliot family home. During these scenes, he comes across as a passive, despondent man with traditional beliefs around gender roles. His stereotypical convictions are on full display when Jackie first finds out about Billy’s passion for ballet, in the ‘Not for lads’ scene. We can see the extreme disappointment and hostility he feels towards the prospect of his son doing ballet, as the director uses several close-up shots to allow us to read his sullen facial expressions and body language. His dialogue makes it abundantly clear how he feels too, when he states “ Ballet is for girls, not for lads, Billy. Lads do football, or..boxing, or…wrestling. Not frigging ballet.”.
Jackie’s character undergoes significant change in the movie and these changes are deeply relevant to the storyline and underlying themes. How does act at the middle of the film
During the middle of the film, he film, another side of Jackie is shown, when Christmas comes. Too poor to afford firewood he smashes his deceased wife’s piano to keep them warm; it’s then that Jackie becomes emotional and reveals his vulnerable side. A mid-shot is used to show Jackie and his family sitting around the fire in the next scene, each wearing a paper hat. He is trying to make Christmas celetrabory regardless of their poverty. Despite his efforts to create a nice environment, the weight of their poverty and grief over his wife causes him to break down later on – as they sit to eat something he begins to cry.
Jackie’s character undergoes significant change in the movie and these changes are deeply relevant to the storyline and underlying themes. How does he act at the end of the film.
Yet during the middle of the film, another side of Jackie is shown, when Christmas comes. Too poor to afford firewood he smashes his deceased wife’s piano to keep them warm; it’s then that Jackie becomes emotional and reveals his vulnerable side. A mid-shot is used to show Jackie and his family sitting around the fire in the next scene, each wearing a paper hat. He is trying to make Christmas celetrabory regardless of their poverty. Despite his efforts to create a nice environment, the weight of their poverty and grief over his wife causes him to break down later on – as they sit to eat something he begins to cry.
Why was Jackie’s individual change important through the film?
Jackie’s individual change was important throughout the film, as it shows the influence our environment and setting have on our personal perspectives and beliefs. The director uses the setting to get the film’s main themes across, such as struggles with gender stereotypes and social class structures in Northern England in the 1980s. Being set in this time, beliefs regarding gender stereotypes were traditional, people during that time period were conventional so things men and women could do were strictly divided in the community. It shows the influence our environment and setting have on our personal perspectives and beliefs. Because of the traditional environment Jackie was raised in, he has strict social rules regarding gender roles in his family, he doesn’t approve of Billy’s interest in dance; resulting in more conflict between them.
Themes that Jackie portrays
- the dangers of holding a narrow mindset, but that it’s possible for someone to change their ideas for the better
- the influence out environment and setting/upbringings on one’s perspectives
- a narrow mindset is like a form of entrapment (toxic masculinity)
So whats it like here? -B
What whats like- J
London-B
I don’t know I have never made it past Durham
It shows Jackie’s lack of understanding of the outside world, leaving Durham is symbolic of him leaving his narrow mindset behind (mid shot)
‘Billy hit him!’
Places him behind the bars, shows how invalid he was in Billy’s decision to take up ballet (mid shot)
Why does Jackie’s individual change hold importantance in the film?
Another reason Jackie’s individual change held importance throughout Billy Elliot is because it shows the social class structures during that time and the restrictions that came with it. The film is set amid the turmoil of one of the darkest times and British history, the 1984 coal miners strike, and event many working class community members were involved in like Jackie and Tony.
Where is Billy Elliot Set?
Durham, Everington 1980s
North East England
What is the movie called and who is it directed by?
Billy Elliot, Stephen Daldry
