Making History Personal in 'Billy Elliot': Social and Cultural Upward Mobility under Thatcher’s Government Alejandro Martínez Fernández College

Billy Elliot is a British film, released in 2000, by director Stephen Daldry, which tells the story of a miner’s son who suddenly discovers that he enjoys ballet more than boxing. Set in Northern England, in 1984, with the political context of the miners’ strike in Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government. Both, Billy’s father and brother, are miners and participants of the strike, as we see in a number of scenes in the film. However, the political conflict that affected many mines in England during that time and divided the public opinion is not the main focus of the film. The screenplay is more interested in the emotional conflicts and mindsets of the characters, as well as to give an accurate portrait of the situation for a working-class family, rather than in the political perspective of the conflict.

In any case, Billy Elliot is still a very representative depiction of that particular moment in British history. In fact, in focusing in a single family, the film takes a more humanized approach than doing a precise historical account of the events. It does have few but shocking images regarding the strike, like when Billy’s friend walks with a stick hitting the wall and then this wall becomes a line of police shields, but...