Implications of Modern Hegemonic Society As Depicted In Billy Elliot
Film Review
A movie titled Billy Elliot would seem to be singularly plot driven and focused on one person; in this case: an eleven year old boy—but it’s not just about a boy. Any good coming of age movie can bring perspective to the audience but the distinction between good and great is wide; perhaps the gap can be delineated by how much the audience strains to grasp the bigger picture. Great coming of age movies deliver facets that speak volumes about self, society, values, morals, relationships, etc. Therefore, the movie could have been easily titled The Coal Miners’ Strike of 1984 or Jackie Elliot’s Son and still be great. Though Billy’s life is in the foreground, the tumultuous events that have been enfolding in Durham County, England provide a framework from which we can glean a working commentary on society. If Billy is the protagonist, would the society and the situation it sits in be considered the antagonist? No. Society as depicted in Billy Elliot is a catalyst for change and much more.
Billy Elliot lives in a world that is scripted by hegemonic masculinity, a rigid and seemingly incorrigible precedent defining gender roles (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). Consider the dichotomy that the United Kingdom has been ruled by both kings and queens (Hearn, 2004). Still, an andocentric hierarchy organizes and establishes norms even with governmental influence (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005; Hearn, 2004). Durham County is influenced by patriarchy because of culture. Most of the denizens are coal miners who belong to a volatile union. This culture appropriates a gender biased society because the nature of available work is considered to be male typical employment. It becomes very clear that this movie is not about a town moving towards political correctness; neither is it about the squelching of the female populace because of societal norms. Instead, the audience experiences societal upheavals through the interactions between father and son.
Billy is being reared in a single-parent household. He lives in a very modest house with his widower father, Jackie; hot-tempered older brother, Tony; and his aging, senile grandmother. The home itself provides commentary on this patriarchal environment: the house is cluttered, cramped; space is limited, it is in disorder. The situation at home mirrors the environment outside. The coal miners’ strike is composed of an angry throng of people; seething, cursing. In direct contrast are the police officers who are not only similarly dressed but standing in autonomous lines forming a wall between the protesters and the “scabs.” Herein the connection is made: Jackie wants his son to become a boxer but Billy wants to perform ballet instead—the standard of normalcy found in andocentric life and the rebellion against the gender roles that supposedly hold their ideal life together. However, the ideal remains rooted in the unattainable because of the conflict between father and son which starts out as pre-teenage angst but forges a pure love that is independent of restrictive gender roles and brings an eventual closure that is about heart. The conclusion, however, does arrive after much conflict.
Ballet is not the all encompassing gender blurred stereotyped item at hand. Billy expresses grief over the death of his mother. He plays her piano while staring contemplatively at her photograph. He finds a connection with his mother because she too is distant, albeit literally, from his father (Lancioni, 2006). He is conflicted when his father is forced to use the piano for firewood. Billy knows that dancing is not homosexual, an understanding that he arrives at for himself. Dancing is Billy’s coping mechanism (Lancioni, 2006).
Jackie, on the other hand, is trying to hold on to his construct of reality that is based on hegemonic masculinity that does not hold strong against chaos. He has been engendered by cultural norms that are rooted in sports like boxing (Swain, 2006). He had hopes that his son would excel in the sport. His disdain is found not only in Billy’s lack of boxing athleticism but that ballet has become the alternative. He is a firm supporter of the coal miners’ union which fosters hegemony not only within social class but as a reaction to threat (Swain, 2006). The union represents an example of male defiance combined with power as not merely a construed idea but a construct reflective of the hegemonic dominance that seeks control and change (Hearn, 2004; Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005). While Billy has developed ways to handle grief, Jackie’s coping is confined to acts of violence through the union and against his own children. His repression is what leads to a change that almost eclipses Billy’s literal ugly duckling to swan story. Describing him as broken because of his emotional coming to terms shines a negative light on the transformation that has occurred. He sheds tears over his wife’s piano in the fireplace, he crosses the picket line to support his son, and he even trades in his wife’s jewelry for Billy’s financial cause as well—no, not broken, but heroic. Jackie’s face reminds the audience that he is still the same man consigned to life in the mines which was poignantly portrayed in the film as he is lowered down into the coal mines with his coworkers. His eyes, however, have learned to see things for what they really are, independent of his own perceptions, anchored by love and heart—he experiences his own ugly duckling transformation.
At face value, Billy Elliot is a story of the pursuit of hopes and dreams. The audience who chooses to delve will find connections. Is it human nature that makes us relate to those who live life with chaos all around them? Is this connection foil for our own lives? Are we examining the loss of innocence, comparative to our own? Maybe innocence is the wrong word. Perhaps the idea is that we are asked to make choices in life based on little if any direction. The choices we make don't seem as daunting when the scenes of this life are superimposed on white, with shadows overlapping by distance and perspective, interconnected and layered with purpose, the idea of many making the one.
Is the catalyst for change found in chaos? The happy ending of Billy Elliot, the change, and the progression exists because of a lack of structure. Differing viewpoints would berate this kind of culture and structure to be gender biased. Subjective as the issue may be, it is still order and not anarchy. However, a society that leans towards egalitarian ethics would rather not think of the existence of patriarchy as acceptable for the greater good. The cost of order does not justify the patriarchy—the sacrifice of the female opinion does not warrant the justification. Instead, modern society clamors towards an ideal situation rooted in an unrealistic fairness. A perfectly gender balanced social system will never be a reality because gender roles are so cemented in social and cultural contexts (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005; Hearn, 2004; Swain, 2006). Changes will come but will arrive slowly; tardy and appearing to be minor in magnitude, but it will come nonetheless. Patience is the key but a society that has been subject to a philosophy of instant gratification demands reorganization now. Therefore, this same society is very much willing to tear down gender roles and stereotypes to forsake order for chaos and call it equality. Society cannot exist in a construct devoid of order that is subjected to variations from lack of definitive gender roles.
Ironically enough, it is this state of social disorder that will invoke anomie, a period of time when gender roles become obscured as a result of social change and upheaval. Within the chaos, a person can be forced to develop as a human being and perhaps therein is the lone solution for creating a paradigm for change in people like Jackie Elliot: non-gender in place of gender balance.
Works Cited
Connell, R. W., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender & Society, 19, 829-859. Retrieved September 29, 2008, from SAGE Journals Online Database.
Daldry, S. (Director), & Hall, L. (Writer). (2000). Billy Elliot [Motion picture]. United Kingdom: Working Title Films & Studio Canal.
Hearn, J. (2004). From hegemonic masculinity to the hegemony of men. Feminist Theory, 5, 49- 72. Retrieved September 29, 2008, from SAGE Journals Online database.
Lancioni, J. (2006). Cinderella dances Swan Lake: reading Billy Elliot as fairytale. Journal of Popular Culture, 39(5), 709-728. Retrieved September 29, 2008, from SAGE Journals Online database.
Swain, J. (2006). Reflections on patterns of masculinity in school settings. Men and Masculinities, 8(3), 331-349. Retrieved September 29, 2008, from SAGE Journals Online database.
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