Human resource management has evolved over time due to critical events in our world’s history. The movie, Billy Elliot, touches on one of those main events in time, the Coal Mining Strikes of 1984-‘85.
The following is a summary and discussion of the main characters that were impacted by the strikes. This includes comparing and contrasting the working conditions and the way individuals were treated at that time and currently. There is also a discussion about the way the movie has impacted the improvement of human resource management, personal life and society at large.The final section refers to the title choice, Billy Elliot, and other creative possibilities that could have been used.
Movie Summary The movie Billy Elliot takes place in England during the 1984-1985 Coal Mining Strikes. Billy’s father Jackie and his brother Tony are both on strike during the movie. It starts with Jackie sending his son off to boxing classes coached by George Watson. Billy enjoys boxing, but wonders if he would have passion for something more when he notices the ballet classes taking place on the other half of the gym.
One day after boxing classes, Billy decides to join the girls in their ballet routines.Georgia, the ballet instructor, realizes his talent and encourages him to return to ballet classes. Billy is undecided and torn between his talent and what people might think. A few days later he decides to continue to go to ballet classes instead of boxing. Billy’s friend Michael is the only other person who knows about his dancing.
After a few weeks, Jackie discovers Billy has been missing boxing classes with Mr. Watson. This upsets him very much and leads to the finding of Billy taking ballet classes instead. Jackie is appalled by this discovery and forbids him from returning to ballet classes.Georgia knows Billy has a real talent for ballet and offers to give him free private lessons.
She knows of the Royal Ballet School in London and believes he has enough talent to go to school there with hard work and dedication. Billy is unsure if he truly has what it takes but has confidence in Georgia and continues dancing behind his father’s back with the support of Michael and Georgia’s daughter, Debbie. Meanwhile the Coal Mining Strike is getting out of hand. This strike involves his family very much, because it is putting his brother and father out of work.When the day has finally come for Billy to audition for the Royal Ballet School, his brother ends of getting arrested.
Billy realizes the importance of his family and misses the audition. Georgia is very upset with this and informs Billy’s father, brother and grandma of the mishap. Her visit upsets the Elliot family very much and Billy decides to put his love for ballet aside for a while. This phase only lasted a little while for him. A couple weeks after the arrest of his brother, Billy decides to show Michael his talent of dancing. During this performance, his father stumbles upon him dancing and realizes Billy’s gift.
Jackie’s feelings turn and he becomes supportive of his son’s dream. He is now determined to see his son audition for the Royal Ballet School. After discussion with Georgia on the costs to audition and the costs to travel, the Elliot family brainstorms ways to find the money. Jackie realizes they don’t have enough money to afford this and that he must return to the mine for his son. Tony stops Jackie from crossing that line and believes with his father that Billy has a great dancing talent. Since going back to the mine wasn’t an option anymore, they family had to find the money elsewhere.
Billy contributed his savings and George Watson contributed the money he had remaining from coaching boxing. The family was still short and Jackie saw an opportunity that would close the deal. He gathered his wife’s gold jewelry and went to the pawnshop. It was hard to let go, but Jackie new this is what Billy’s mother would have wanted. With the sufficient amount of money, Billy and Jackie were off to London for his audition into the Royal Ballet School.
The place was amazing and his father new this is where his son should attend school.However, Billy’s audition didn’t go as well as he would have liked so the whole family was nervous for the result letter to come. The family was on edge as the days went by until that day when the letter arrived. Billy had gotten accepted and the whole Elliot family was ecstatic.
While all this was happening the Coal Mining Strike was ending. When Billy is getting sent to school his family, friends and coaches are sad to see him leave, but know he will do great things. His brother and father are also excited to be able to return to work and regain stability at home. The end of the movie skips ahead when Billy is much older.He is still attending the Royal Ballet School and is currently performing in front of an audience.
Tony and Jackie rush to the show to find Billy’s friend Michael in the stands as well. It sends tears of joy down their faces to see Billy performing so wonderfully. He truly has a beautiful talent for ballet dancing. Main Characters Billy Elliot is a young boy who has a love for ballet.
He gets over looked and judged by his family. Billy is a loving and caring individual who eventually gains respect from his family overtime with the realization he has been blessed with a unique talent. Jackie. Jackie Elliot is Billy’s father.He is very close minded throughout the movie until the end when he finally cracks.
He is very depressed since the death of his wife and has a lot of unexpressed emotions inside of him. During the movie, Jackie is very angry with the strike, Billy’s love for ballet and his mother. Georgia Wilkenson is Billy’s dance coach. She is very dedicated to their dance lessons and optimistic of Billy’s future with ballet. Georgia believes that he is talented enough to attend the Royal Ballet School in London.
She is an excellent teacher and really cares for Billy and what is yet to come for him and his family.Tony Elliot is Billy’s brother and Jackie’s son. He is also angry with the strike and is a rebellious during this event. He is very daring and pushes the police force to the point of getting arrested.
Tony is very opinionated with Billy’s life and gender roles in society. He believed that his brother should not perform the art of dance let alone be encouraged to do so. Grandma Elliot is Billy and Tony’s grandma, as well and Jackie’s mother. She is very quiet but is very confident in Billy. She is a mother-like figure to Billy and supports him with whatever decisions he makes in life.
Sometimes Tony and Jackie think Grandma Elliot speaks out of place and doesn’t understand the issues that are currently presenting the family. Michael Caffrey is Billy’s friend. He is a homosexual who is secretive about his sexuality except with Billy. He is very supportive of Billy’s dream and cares about his future.
Michael is different than others and believes uniqueness in an individual is important. Debbie Wilkenson is Billy’s friend and Georgia’s daughter. She is young like Billy and participates in ballet with him. She is encouraging of Billy’s talent and supports his goal to study at the Royal Ballet School in London.
Debbie is very friendly and nice to people she meets. When Billy first joined ballet, he didn’t know anyone. She approached Billy and encouraged him to continue dancing. George Watson is Billy’s boxing coach and a friend of his dad’s. He is outgoing and enjoys having fun with friends. George is hard on Billy because he wants to see him become tougher and able to stand his ground.
At first George doesn’t agree with Billy dancing but realizes he has a talent as well. He gives the Elliot family part of the money to attend the audition in London. History Overview The 1984-1985 Coal Mining Strikes began because of the Margaret Thatcher government.They threatened to close down 20 coal mines which would eliminate 20,000 jobs throughout the coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Many picket lines were created throughout this strike. The striking workers lined the streets to create public awareness about the struggles they were facing.
These strikes were very violent at times and created many hardships for mine workers and their families (Aspden, 2007). Working Conditions Working conditions and the way individuals are expected to handle and react to situations has been continuously changing over time.Many circumstances and the way that individuals lived were significantly different compared to the way life is lived today. It is clear that violence was more prevalent in this time period. The wide spread strike across the coal mining industry in the UK attracted nationwide recognition and caused a large up roar.
This was due to the high level of violence that mine strikers and the police force created. The picket lines were very dangerous causing six deaths from this strike (Aspden, 2007). There was no laws enforced prohibiting the pickets from the use of violence, so people were acting out of character.In the movie Billy Elliot, Tony Elliot is beaten to the ground and covered in blood. After all this action from the police force, he is then taken to jail.
There were no public limitations that the law enforcement or pickets had to follow. This is something that would never happen in this day and age. There are many limitations that are highly enforced concerning picket lines. No criminal law tolerates the use of aggressive or threating words, deliberately getting in the way of other people or vehicles attempting to enter or leave premises being picketed.
Some more include possessing offensive weapons, damage to property, causing or threatening a breach of peace, to obstruct a public highway, or to prevent/attempt to prevent a police officer from carrying out their duties. Police may be present in a picket line and can take any measures they feel necessary to ensure that picketing is peaceful and ordering. People participating in picketing are liable for any breaches of criminal or civil law they may commit or incite others to commit while picketing (Workers’ Liberty 2011). In Billy Elliot, people are not liable for their actions and get away with outrageous and reckless behavior.
Some effects from strikes still remain the same as they did in the past. Many hardships come hand in hand with strikes such as loss of income, loss of benefits, and high stress levels throughout the families affected by strikes. From the movie it is clear that the families involved in the strike were under very high pressure during this time (Shakeshaft 2009). When people don’t have income it is hard for them to provide for their families with essential everyday needs like food and wood to heat their homes. This in return causes very high stress and tension within families.
This is still true in the present day as it was in the past.Situations Today A strike such as the coal mining strike would be handled very differently today. The picket lines would not have been so violent or dangerous. There is now a law regarding mass picketing and it is currently illegal in the United Kingdom. It was outlawed in the mid-1980s by the Margaret Thatcher government.
This law was one of the policies that were influenced by the negative outcomes of the coal mining strike. In the United States mass picketing is legal, but when there are 20+ people in a picket line it is considered to be a mass picket and the police can use Special Forces.These forces can disperse picketers if it is likely that serious public disorder or property damage could occur. Strikes and picket lines are still used today to effectively raise public awareness, influence employers to make a change that will benefits employees, or cause employees to strike together as a union.
Today, strikes are done in good faith through collective bargaining and are done peacefully. It is illegal to commit any criminal acts during a strike just as it would be at any other time. Violence of any kind is not prohibited resulting in peaceful strikes (US Legal 2011). Improvement to Labor RelationsThe evolution of civilized picket lines and strikes has greatly improved Labor Relations as a whole.
The policies and laws that have been made due to the struggles in the past have helped improved the overall process. Striking will continue to happen as things change and opinions want to be expressed. Picket lines will become more civilized and effective with the new laws and policies. It offers the opportunity for people to express their feelings in a safe and just way. Strikes also offer people the chance to stick up for what they believe in and what they want to change (Encyclopedia of Business 2011).
