Stephen Daldry’s film, Billy Elliot, attempts to challenge the audience’s assumptions about

motivation and/or conflict through evident ideas presented in the film. Within Billy Elliot, we are
able to see Billy’s motivation to pursue his passion for ballet as well as the inconsistencies of
human behaviour represented through the characterization of Billy’s family and also the way
Billy’s father, Jackie, develops as a character.

Billy’s anomalous motivation to pursue his passion of ballet challenged our assumptions about
individuals' motivations being determined by societal expectations, in this case gender norms.
When JAckie first discovers Billy had been using the 50 pence allowance for ballet rather than
boxing, he angrily commented on his objection toward the sport. Jackie then expresses his
disapproval of ballet as it was considered a “feminine sport” and that Billy should be doing more
manly activities such as football, boxing and wrestling. The gender norms of 1980s England
proved to be highly against the LGBT community and the ideas of males doing feminine
activities and vice versa was frowned upon. Not only Jackie but also Billy’s brother, Tony,
seemed to also disapprove of Billy’s choice in passion. In the scene where Mrs Wilkinson and
Tony were fighting about Billy’s future, Tony yells “and you, fucking ballet!” Suggesting that he
does not approve of Billy’s decision to pursue this passion. This dialogue paired with the
following high angle shot through Billy’s perspective captures the tension felt between the
parties. As it was irregular for males to do ballet, Tony assumed that Mrs Wilkinson had more to
gain out of it and as a result decided to defend Billy, being oblivious to the fact that Billy had
been wanting to do ballet from the start.

The inconsistencies of human behaviour through characterisation of Billy’s family, challenges

our assumptions about conflict through the way his family expresses the disapproval of him
pursuing ballet which is then further contradicted by the fact that they were willing to make
sacrifices towards the end of the film in order to get enough money to send Billy to the Royal
Ballet School. Jackie and Tony’s disapproval has been evident throughout the film with Jackie’s
first discovery of Billy attending ballet and Tony’s fight with Mrs Wilkinson over Billy’s future.
After Billy dances for his father, Jackie has a change of heart and goes to visit Mrs Wilkinson
where he asks her “how much is it gonna cost” referring to the audition for the Royal Ballet
School. The long-shot of Jackie as he runs to Mrs Wilkinson’s house shows the juxtaposition
between Jackie’s working class status and the neighbourhood’s middle class look.

Our assumptions of how conflict is simple and based on clear distinctions of good and bad is
challenged through Jackie’s character and how his circumstances caused a change in values
for him. Realising he doesn’t have enough money for the audition, Jackie decides to oppose the
strike and go back to work in order to make enough money in order to let him. Whilst previously
actively attending he strikes as shown in an earlier scene with Tony, Jackie now has changed
sides for the greater good of his son. When confronted by Tony, Jackie angrily observes, “Look
at the state of us man! What have we got to offer that poor sod,” referring to Billy. The close-up
shot of Jackie’s face captures his struggles and the tension of the situation. Jackie’s comment
suggests that he knows what he is doing is wrong but he is left with no other choice as this is his
one opportunity to give Billy a better life. This is complimented by Jackie’s breakdown from the
conflicts faced by not being wealthy enough to send Billy to the Royal Ballet School and having
to oppose the strike in order to get the money to do so.

To conclude, Billy Elliot’s challenge about assumption towards motivation and conflict is
encouraged with how Billy and his family respond to the idea of a male doing a stereotypical
female sport. This was shown with the way Jackie and Tony disapprove of him doing a female
activity as they believe they are protecting him. The paradoxes in human behaviour is also
shown with Jackie’s change of heart after seeing Billy dance and ultimately allows him to pursue
his passion for Ballet. Conflict is also represented in Jackie’s change in values as his
circumstances force him to choose providing the right support for his family or going against his
morals of the strike.