English Standard: Billy Elliot

[bubblegumbubbles]

Hi there my trials are in a week was hoping to get some feedback on this essay I wrote for a past assessment my issue with my feedback was as it was a multimodal essay so that was centred on the feedback I'm going to try and ask my teacher but there's a point when the English faculty cannot give you feedback and right now might be the point
NOTE
My Texts and Human Experiences essay for the HSC is only on Billy Elliot so please disregard my parts on my prescribed text 'The Hardest Kick of all
and sorry if this is awful I feel my writing has grown since the start of the course

Demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which composers represent the challenges faced by individuals

Composers represent difficulties in life by highlighting how the pressure to conform to society creates adversity for humans who do not belong. This leads to the determination to overcome these challenges which in turn to a discovery of one’s true self. This is exemplified in the texts Billy Elliot and The Hardest Kick of All.  Billy Elliot tells the story of 11-year-old Billy living in small-town Durham during the Miners strike in the 1980s who finds a passion for ballet in a male-dominated society at first he is hesitant with participation and ends up exploring his passion in ballet. The Hardest Kick of All is a memoir about Christos Tsolkas with him reminiscing on his childhood and adolescence with use of the rhetoric and many anecdotes.
Through the individual’s journey of finding their identity, they face the challenge of battling opposing viewpoints. In Billy Elliot When Jackie is informed about Billy being not present at boxing, he becomes curious about Billy’s whereabouts. He finds Billy in his ballet class who is well-adjusted which is shown through full shot filming of Mrs Wilkinson teaching her class where he is in sync with the other dancers until he sees his father whos facial expression in disbelief is shown through the caged barrier which displays the juxtaposed ideas. In the following scene, Billy and Jackie are discussing their clashing thoughts on ballet whilst Billy’s grandmother is observing, this is shown through the editing of shots cutting back and forth between Jackie and Billy’s dialogue. Billy is challenging the homosexual connotations that are associated with ballet during the 1980s by indirectly asking Jackie what he is insinuating this represents he has reached acceptance of himself.  Jackie states that “Lads do football, boxing or wrestling” which represents the society’s standpoint on masculinity which are in addition to homosexual undertones to the feminine sport. Billy’s Grandmother states that she could’ve been a professional dancer which symbolises the lost potential Billy could face if he does not pursue his dreams despite the obstacle present. Billy still continues his pursuit in private without Jackie’s knowledge. This is opposed in The Hardest Kick of All where writer Christos Tsiolkas faced adversity for the discovery of his homosexuality with shame due to his society’s expectations in the 1980s. Tsiolkas narrates his discovery by reminiscing his childhood infatuation with his best friend where he foreshadows his eventual misfortune starting the recount of one of his football companions with “I knew not to touch him” Tsiolkas provides an emotional depiction of his friend who appears to be masculinely juxtaposed to the writer with descriptions used such as “wiry and tough” and he had “boy sweat”. Tsiolkas and the boy kiss in class the teacher then publically ridicule them for their pursuit, stating that they are “disgusting”, causing shame from both parties creating a collective experience. The collective experience changes to individual experience when Christos’s best friend’s response states he is not the homosexual slur “poofter” following the event, he stays consistent with his viewpoint through the exclusion of Tsiolkas which highlights that his masculine personality is reinforced. As a result of this social exclusion, Tsiolkas associates football with his failed friendship this is shown from the emotive phrase showing he had been hurt at the end of his memoir stating he “f--king hated it”. Whereas in Billy Elliot he still pursues his dream of ballet despite societal views. Both texts show the clashing of masculinity and feminity in societal norms Humans facing adversity be depicted as one who stays persistent in their passion or one who cannot.