In Billy Elliot, there is a huge contrast between the framing of Billy dancing and that of his father and brother when they confront the scabs in the miners' strike. Look at the wide open space around Billy; on a denotative level, he needs space to leap into during his ballet dancing; on a connotative level, he is taking a leap into the unknown and demanding his right to express his masculinity as he sees fit, not as the footballer, wrestler or boxer that his father sees as masculine. He is claiming new territory for masculinity at a time when masculinity had more rigid and clear cut roles and when these traditional roles, such as men working in heavy industries, were being challenged by the collapse of the mining and steel industries.
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| Billy dancing |
By contrast, his father and brother stand shoulder to shoulder with their fellow miners and brothers in arms during the miners' strike. Both literally (that is, on a denotative level, as they mass together to confront the scabs and try to block their coach entering the pit head) as well as metaphorically (on a connotative level, they are squeezed dry by Thatcher's government, reduced to near starvation and their only strength is in unity), the crane shots of their mass gathering construct them as united but trapped by fate.
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| Crane shot of miners in clash with police |
