Movie Small Group Discussion Questions
Billy Elliot
Movie Summary:
Brassed Off meets My Name Is Joe in this gritty coming-of-age drama about a young son of a poor English coal miner who dreams of being a ballet dancer. The film is set during a 1984 miners' strike in Durham county, where angry clashes between picketers and cops in riot gear are nearly daily occurrences. Among the most vociferous protestors are Tony (Jamie Driven) and his dad (Gary Lewis), who nags his youngest son Billy (Jamie Bell) into taking boxing classes. Though the kid can do some fancy footwork, he can't take a punch. One day at the gym, he notices a ballet class taught by hard-bitten Mrs. Wilkinson (Julie Walters), whose young daughter dares him to join. When his father gets wind of this less-than-manly pursuit, he pulls him from the class. Sensing a raw and natural talent, Mrs. Wilkinson offers to teach the lad for free in preparation for the local auditions to the Royal Ballet School. When Tony gets in trouble with the cops, Billy is forced to miss the trials, leading to a confrontation between Billy's pop and Ms. Wilkinson. Though at first he steadfastly refuses to consider his son's desires of going into ballet, he comes to realize that this might be the one shot that Billy has in order to escape the danger and grinding tedium of a miner's life, so he sets out to earn the money by any means necessary to send his son to London.
Discussion Questions:
Prior to meeting in your small groups, select a couple questions from the list below to discuss with your group.
- What is the real nature of the prejudice against ballet shown by Billy's father and brother? What other examples of prejudice are there? To what extent are these prejudices still alive and well in our society? Which are we guilty of?
- How does Billy's struggle parallel, or contrast with, the struggle of the striking miners?
- What does the film suggest about the relative loyalties towards one's community, family and self?
- In the scene after the row between Billy's father and Mrs Wilkinson, we see Billy dancing in the outside WC and along the streets before crashing into a fence. How is Billy's dancing here a metaphor for his situation?
- How do you think this film portrays working-class communities? What does the film suggest is the only way of escape?
- How would you describe the concepts of masculinity within Billy's family and community? How were these affected by the collapse of heavy engineering in Britain during the eighties?
- Billy, Jackie and Michael all have different crises of masculinity. What is the film suggesting through these? How does the film's view of masculinity fit in with today's culture?
- What has Billy gained through making it to the Royal Ballet School? Has he lost anything along the way? Do you think he has really discovered who he is?
- What feelings do the sequences of Billy dancing evoke? How does the photography of these scenes compare with other scenes set in Everington and with those scenes when Billy goes to London for his audition?
- Billy is trying to 'be himself' or discover who he really is. How far does our culture encourage this?
- Billy ends up as a winner. Do you think the film would have been better or worse if Billy had failed to pass his audition? Why? How do you think things would have turned out for Billy in that case?
- Why do you think the church has - in general - made relatively little impact on working-class communities like this? What would it need to do to change this?