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| Issue No 77 |  |
10 November 2000 |
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ReviewBrassed Off With a TutuBy Chris Christodoulou
Billy Elliott, currently a hit at the box office, gives a new twist to the working class rags to riches story.
Powerful, humorous, teary, these are all the feelings and images that you take away after watching this great film. In the same mould as "Brassed Off" this film exposes the devastation inflicted upon the lives of the mining communities under "Thatcherism" in a very light-hearted and liberal way. It focuses directly on 14 year old Billy Elliot a boy who has lost his mother and who just wants to be a dancer. Whilst the plot centres around Billy's attempts to hide his ambitions from his family, the story line tackles the issue of how a very macho miner (father) deals with the reality of the situation that his son's choice to be a professional dancer is a better option than following in his father's footsteps to be a mineworker or boxer. Billy's father and family need to also deal with the issue of whether Billy is embarking upon a career choice or is simply showing some "gay" tendencies. This is handled very tastefully by introducing the audience to Billy's best friend who happens to be a cross dresser and gay. The film deals with the "gay" issue in a tad unrealistic way but nonetheless sends a very clear message to the audience that its not one's sexuality or sexual bias that counts when making decisions on life chances. Every scene in the movie has its own touch of humour, sadness and powerful imagery. Whether it be Billy's first attempts to join the ballet class or Billy's fathers unconscionable act of breaking the union picket line, or the family's agonising two minute wait for Billy to tell them whether he has been accepted into the London Dance Academy it all just gels together into one of the great movies of the year. As movies go this is a 9 out of 10.
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   US Election: Democracy Version 1.0: Time for an Upgrade AmericaThis week the world's greatest democracy is looking pretty rickety. Michael Gadiel reports from the front line. Interview: Crikey! A Corporate CommandoHe may be a lapsed Lib, but Stephen Mayne is making life hell in the boardrooms of corporate Australia. And he might have some clues for unions too. Unions: Class of 2000 Hit RedfernThey're just out of acting school and straight into the union. Tomorrow's stars and today's union members. International: US Cleaners Fast for JusticeTalks between striking janitors and the cleaning contractors who employ them resumed on Tuesday at the Sheraton Hotel in Stamford, Connecticut. History: Racing RadioThe Cup is over, but the races go on, and so does Labor council's radio station, 2KY, as it celebrates its 75th Anniversary. Legal: A Pandora's In-BoxScreening of employee's emails could be in breach of telecommunications laws, according to Minter Ellison lawyer Megan Dixon. Satire: Our Snobs Are TopsTony Moore on why the lucky country has always been a tosser�s paradise. Review: Brassed Off With a Tutu Billy Elliott, currently a hit at the box office, gives a new twist to the working class rags to riches story.
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