Billy Elliot - Obstacles And Rewards

861 Words4 Pages
Many individuals, during their life, encounter many obstacles along the way, but they would be rewarded at the end. This is clearly demonstrated in the film, Billy Elliot, directed by Stephen Daldry, and in the poem, The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. In Billy Elliot, Billy goes through many experiences and encounters many obstacles, before he reached his dream to become a ballet dancer, and reaching out into the world. These obstacles and rewards are illustrated in the film through the use of camera angles, motif and symbolism. In the poem, The Road Not Taken, the protagonist encounters an obstacle which forces him to choose between two roads, and by doing that, it has rewarded him with what he has now. The obstacles and rewards in the poem are represented through extended metaphor, and imagery. The protagonists in both Billy Elliot and The Road Not Taken, go through many obstacles to overcome the stereotypes in the world. Daldry uses close ups in the Boxing Hall scene to show the two different worlds between boxing and ballet. Daldry uses the closeups on the boys wearing football boots and the girls wearing ballet slippers to show the stereotyping. Billy encounters gender stereotyping as he slowly moves into the world of being a ballet dancer, despite his family’s disagreement. Similarly, in the poem, The Road Not Taken, Frost uses an extended metaphor to describe the choices we have to make during life. It is stereotypical that people would take the road that most people chose, but the protagonist in the poem chose the road that was least taken by people, as he enters into the world, regardless of what has going to occur in the future. Both of these texts, gives the audience an understanding of the obstacles we go through in life to achieve our dream, and that not everything comes easily to us, we have to go to them. The use of closeups and the extended

More about Billy Elliot - Obstacles And Rewards

Open Document