Billy Elliot the Forum

angelenroute wrote:Billy basically says (and I'm using the movie which I'm sure the musical follows), "Won't we get in trouble (for putting on women's clothes?)" And he's at Michael's house, so he's referring to Michael's dad. Michael assures him that no, they won't get in trouble, because "Me dad does it all the time."

Will we? Bullocks.
Will we get in trouble? Bullsh**.
Will we get punished for this? No, we won't.

An alternative, more contemporary interpretation (not translation) might be:
No Way!
or
Not!

I hope the following attempt at light hearted humor is not considered inappropriate. Will delete if it is.

Not only is there an Angry Dancer
But there is also a Cross Dresser!

I wonder if Americans know that in the UK, "pissed" means drunk rather than angry? i.e. in Grandma's song.

OliverWaters wrote:I wonder if Americans know that in the UK, "pissed" means drunk rather than angry? i.e. in Grandma's song.

I've probably said this before on the forum, but the one line I wish they'd change once and for all is when Grandma says, "Not him and all" instead of the more American "Not him too!". It's just the type of line that no one would have gotten in rehearsals and someone should have been brave enough to suggest it be changed. If 99% of the audience will be puzzled, why do it?

OliverWaters wrote:I wonder if Americans know that in the UK, "pissed" means drunk rather than angry? i.e. in Grandma's song.

To Canadians, who go both ways (pissing drunk and pissed off), the expression's meaning is context-dependant I think.

(Some Canadians do get mildly annoyed however when, in Europe, they are viewed as 'Americans', as in North Americans.)

angelenroute wrote: I've probably said this before on the forum, but the one line I wish they'd change once and for all is when Grandma says, "Not him and all" instead of the more American "Not him too!". It's just the type of line that no one would have gotten in rehearsals and someone should have been brave enough to suggest it be changed. If 99% of the audience will be puzzled, why do it?

Another puzzling line that I've rarely heard the audience react to is when Debbie tells Billy, "My dad was shagging this woman down at work. But now he's an alcoholic." Kind of confusing as to how one line leads to the other - unless they're just showing how kids' conversations often don't lead logically from one thought to the next. Still, I think the audience is hesitant to laugh at a line about someone becoming an alcoholic.

Todd wrote:

angelenroute wrote: I've probably said this before on the forum, but the one line I wish they'd change once and for all is when Grandma says, "Not him and all" instead of the more American "Not him too!". It's just the type of line that no one would have gotten in rehearsals and someone should have been brave enough to suggest it be changed. If 99% of the audience will be puzzled, why do it?

Another puzzling line that I've rarely heard the audience react to is when Debbie tells Billy, "My dad was shagging this woman down at work. But now he's an alcoholic." Kind of confusing as to how one line leads to the other - unless they're just showing how kids' conversations often don't lead logically from one thought to the next. Still, I think the audience is hesitant to laugh at a line about someone becoming an alcoholic.

Dark deadpan humor.

Todd wrote:Another puzzling line that I've rarely heard the audience react to is when Debbie tells Billy, "My dad was shagging this woman down at work. But now he's an alcoholic." Kind of confusing as to how one line leads to the other - unless they're just showing how kids' conversations often don't lead logically from one thought to the next. Still, I think the audience is hesitant to laugh at a line about someone becoming an alcoholic.

I gather I'm in the minority on this one, Todd, but I've always thought this to be very funny.

I'd like to point out though that we might have skewed off-topic here. This thread is about themes and sub-plots missed at first viewing.

We have another thread called "BETM or general "Billy" related questions" here: http://www.billyelliottheforum.me.uk/fo ... &start=250
It seems to have a lot of the kinds of things we're talking about now.

It's listed under the general topic of "Information/Questions about BETM": http://www.billyelliottheforum.me.uk/fo ... m.php?f=69

Separately, there's also a cool reference table that accessmnj shared and then re-shared here:
http://www.billyelliottheforum.me.uk/fo ... 343#p85343

I wonder if Michael and Debbie are friends, or at least know each other, Billy aside?

When Michael asked if Billy was gonna return to ballet, he asked about "Debbie's mam", which makes it sound like Debbie is his frame of reference to Mrs W?

OliverWaters wrote:I wonder if Michael and Debbie are friends, or at least know each other, Billy aside?

When Michael asked if Billy was gonna return to ballet, he asked about "Debbie's mam", which makes it sound like Debbie is his frame of reference to Mrs W?

Yeah, they seem to all go to school together. In the musical, Michael goes to boxing class, so he sees Debbie across the hall in the dance class too. In the movie, he hangs outside the boxing hall (and dance class) as Billy goes in, plus they jog together in gym class, so they presumably all attend classes together at the same nearby school. I think either way, we get the impression it's a small community all going through the same struggles, so they all know one another.

Oliver, if you haven't seen the film of Billy Elliot, I highly recommend that you see it. It might answer some questions for you, since the scripts of the musical and the film are actually very close.