Themes and sub-plots missed at first viewing

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accessmenj
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Re: Themes and sub-plots missed at first viewing

Post by accessmenj »

theme (thm)
n.
1. A topic of discourse or discussion. See Synonyms at subject.
2. A subject of artistic representation.
3. An implicit or recurrent idea; a motif:

A theme is a repeat of an idea that is often expressed by a surprise dialog or course of events. This gives power to the expression. The less obvious themes of Billy Elliot The Musical are the multi-layers of the show. There are more themes left to go.
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Re: Themes and sub-plots missed at first viewing

Post by ALLMIXEDUP »

An implicit or recurrent theme is--
Act now, take a chance, or you will regret it in the future.

Mrs.Wilkinson was asked by Jackie "Is he good enough?". Instead of "Yes", her reply was "Well we'll never know, now will we?". This was the most direct statement of the theme.

But Grandma also wishes she could live her life again without being married. Even "and I never would be sober" shows regret for not enjoying life enough.

And Jackie sings "He could be a star", not "will be a star". This shows that he is willing to take a chance in order to avoid future regret.

Take a chance in life, or you will regret it in the future
accessmenj
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Re: Themes and sub-plots missed at first viewing

Post by accessmenj »

The story of Billy Elliot is all about taking a chance on the future. Billy's "Dad, I've changed me mind" and "I want to stay here" to Grandma are examples of how difficult it is to leave the known and comfortable and take that chance. But that is a theme of the play.
accessmenj
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Re: Themes and sub-plots missed at first viewing

Post by accessmenj »

And a variation in the theme is to take a chance on a route that is different from what others are doing. Robert Frost said it best.

I shall be telling this with a sigh,
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference
accessmenj
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Re: Themes and sub-plots missed at first viewing

Post by accessmenj »

The North American Tour is about to return. Time to do one more theme before turning over the forum entries to news and reviews.

And the theme is the one that causes us all to be inspired by Billy Elliot The Musical.

Courage.

The miners show courage against the government.
Michael shows courage against the world.
Grandma shows courage against abuse.
Mrs. Wilkinson shows courage against Billy's family.
Billy shows courage against society.
Jackie shows courage against fellow Union members.


Courage is the theme that is the core of Billy's story.
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Re: Themes and sub-plots missed at first viewing

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accessmenj wrote:A good example of how Billy needs Mrs. W. in his life is when he asks her to read the letter to him, even though he has the letter memorized. He needs the female voice in order to pretend that it is his mother.This is part of the denial of reality theme. Indeed, the theme of fantasy vs. reality is a major recurring theme throughout the show.
Billy represents redemption (of Mrs. Wilkinson), whereas she is Billy's savior. Whereas Billy has to be his grandma's care giver (reversal of parent-child role relationship), Mrs. Wilkinson manages to put aside her jaded cynicism (which manifests via her sharp put downs) and resignation to her fate and instead rise to the occasion of not only being Billy's surrogate mother figure (she didn't have to be, she chose to be) but also 'saving' a motherless boy from certain artistic death.

Debbie's sexually frustrated quip and Billy's you don't fancy me do you miss querry symbolize budding sexuality from childhood innocents to experienced adults... from the mouths of babes as they say.

Debbie's relationship to a mother that is living is a far cry from Billy's maternal connection to one who isn't. Billy would dearly love to have a mom who would tell him to his face to piss off. Who is the child to be more pitied, Debbie or Billy?
BETM: "the most expensive school play ever."
Lee Hall
in Playbill October 2008
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Eltonjohn
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Re: Themes and sub-plots missed at first viewing

Post by Eltonjohn »

accessmenj wrote:
Wowzell wrote:
accessmenj wrote:Maybe Michael does change. His opinion of ballet is "fooking weird". Yet, in the end, he accepts Billy going off to The Royal Ballet.
But does Michael ever really think the ballet is ''fooking weird'', or does he just do that to 'fit in'? After all, that's the only way he's ever seen any of his supposed role models act towards the notion of a male ballerina. I've never Michael's words as a genuine portrayal of how he feels towards ballet. After all, the amount that his views towards ballet change throughout the show - from thinking it's ''fooking weird'' to wanting to wear the tutu and being very accepting of Billy - is a ridiculously big change for him ever to have genuinely thought it was weird.
Good point, Wowzell. Michael used words against ballet, but his actions were pro-ballet. So his opinion never did change.
Michael is a social outcast due to the village's supposed narrow minded (adult) prejudice (pre-emptive judgement) against gay men. Yet ironically, Michael has yet to learn that by saying that boys dancing ballet are fookin' weird has himself fallen prey to the same ignomy of accepting anti boys-in-ballet stereotypes without questioning the validity of same.

The use of tutus is multiple. When Michael asks Billy 'do you get to wear a tutu if you take dancing lessons' this is merely, besides getting a campy laugh, reinforcing the wrongful notion that males who dance ballet are necessarily effeminent and or not hetersexual, i.e. perpetuates the stereotype image that all ballet guys are poufs. The tutus in the end become a weapon in the war against such prejudicial nonsense in the finale when Dad, Tony and Billy all join Michael in donning the frills.

Billy never kisses his dad, his brother, his grandmother, Mrs. Wilkinson nor even Debbie. He only kisses Michael, but is not confused and all mixed up deep inside about it. It is simpy a peck on the cheek for Michael to farewell.

Billy is a compassionate hero and too young for hubris and fatal flaws in the usual Greek tragic tradition. When Billy loses his temper and 'pushes down' posh boy it's yet another feelin' that he can't control. This is akin to Anikin Skywalker having to eventually learn to tame and master using The Force in the Star Wars double trilogies, that is, learning about himself and more fully understanding who he is becoming.
BETM: "the most expensive school play ever."
Lee Hall
in Playbill October 2008
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Eltonjohn
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Re: Themes and sub-plots missed at first viewing

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ERinVA wrote:In my post in another thread, linked above, I brought up the theme of "hunger" in the show. Billy's hunger for his mother is one example of this. Here's the link again: http://www.billyelliottheforum.me.uk/fo ... =65&t=1905
The most glaringly apparent hunger is that of Michael's yearning for more than boyish affection and for validation of his gender identity. His search for love is one that is unrequited and poignantly so. It eventually does get to be satisfied, but only vicariously or symbolically, when he is given the gift of a tutu by his thoughtful, compassionate best friend.

Billy on the other hand is not so materialistic in outlook (beans, soup, Rubic's cube) but rather more spiritual (letter). A pragmatist, Billy would have to have pilfered the tutu from the dance school in order to give it to his friend as he could never have afforded to purchase one. (In the film, does just Michael or do both of the boys don a tutu in the confronted by Billy's dad scene?)

There is the recurring theme of manhood in the Nutcracker tutu wisecrack by Michael, as well as his accidental below-the-belt blow to his boxing coach. This is taken up again in the second act by the strutting Scottish peacock who leaves very little to the imagination. The stage version is so much campiness in contrast to the movie. That the word individuality has exactly the same number of syllables and the identical sung cadence as the descriptor for Michael's orientation is probably not just a coincidence.
BETM: "the most expensive school play ever."
Lee Hall
in Playbill October 2008
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Eltonjohn
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Re: Themes and sub-plots missed at first viewing

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accessmenj wrote:Closely related to the theme of fantasy vs. reality is the theme of how we perceive ourselves vs. how we really are.
The miners, in "Solidarity", perceive themselves as strong and united. But we later know that they are too weak to win and divided by scabs.
Mrs. Wilkinson, in "Shine", perceives herself as a star in a review. But she is only a local ballet teacher who works for fifty pence per student.
Grandma, in "Grandma's Song", perceives herself as a young dancer, but she is old and suffering from Dementia.
Michael, in "Expressing Yourself", also perceives himself as a star dancer in order to dance with Billy. But he does not take lessons, so he could not be very good.
The whole town perceives itself as happy in "Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher". But it is quickly brought back to reality by "Deep into the Ground".
And, of course, Billy perceives himself as Older Billy in "Dream Ballet", so he can have the skills that he does not yet possess.

Fantasy vs. Reality theme explains why the mood and pacing of the show is constantly changing.
All you gotta do is shine can also relate to the stars shining down on the community's predicament and to the shining headlamps of the minors, as distinct from Mrs. Wilkinson starring in her own review. Her outlook on life is that process (shine no matter what) is far more critical than substance (real dancing ability). But after she encounters true, authentic talent (probably for the first time ever) in one Billy Elliot, she is forced to literally change her tune and nurture this dancing diamond in the rough if she is to redeem herself. This is about more than her merely spotting some kid with the potential to go places. Her career as a teacher of dance to girls is unfullfilling but presumably financially necessary. Yet she prepares Billy for his audition free of charge. (In the movie doesn't Billy get to dance to his teeya-p (tape) at his audition? ). In the end we know that Biily's star will indeed eventually shine, but for all the right, legitimate reasons.
BETM: "the most expensive school play ever."
Lee Hall
in Playbill October 2008
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Eltonjohn
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Re: Themes and sub-plots missed at first viewing

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accessmenj wrote:It has been said that you have to work at understanding great art, and the work makes the experience more vivid(" I get it!").
Remember the line "How come you can remember The General Strike, and you can't remember where you put your pasty?" If you do not know anything about The General Strike,(Non-British and young people do not know about this 1926 event), then you are missing clues to a major theme that everyone seems to want to ignore. I guess everyone is trying to be politically correct.
With dementia, one loses one's short term memory but however retains one's long term and childhood memories. Billy is much too young to realize this and in fact is only just making his own childhood memories. Grandma can relive her earlier days of not being sober and dancing because she can still recall those memories vividly is how geriatric minds function generally speaking. Sausages in the washtub and pasties in the bedroom are textbook signs of old age.
BETM: "the most expensive school play ever."
Lee Hall
in Playbill October 2008
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