Analyse af 'Billy Elliot' filmen og romanen

Billy Elliot is a novelization by Melvin Burgess (also known for best-selling novel JUNK) based on the film of same title. It takes place in the late 80’s in a small industrial mining town, deeply affected by, former British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher’s wishes towards the privatization of Great Britain. Basically the story is about a young boy, Billy Elliot, and his fight to become a ballet dancer in an environment, where prejudices blossom, and where money is rare. We hear how his father and brother go on the picket line every day to strike against the closing of the local mine – a part of Margaret Thatcher’s plan, and we are indirectly shown how changes of a country’s structure can affect and change the local societies and how these changes in the local societies affect small families and how these changes in the family’s way of living affect each family member. It is obvious how Billy is naive, brave and not yet ruined by the harsh environment, whilst his older brother Tony has been toughened and seems very rough - maybe because he has never dealt with the sorrow of losing their mother, just two years earlier. The two boys are living with their grandmother and their father, Jackie, who is doing his best to make ends meet in the house-hold.