Billy Elliot Psychology

Male aggression is all too common in every society, and unfortunately, 85% of all serious crimes are created by men. For the most part, men let their testosterone get the best of them, but lashing out and being destructive. According to the psychology book aggression is, “hostile or threatening verbal actions, such as challenges, threats, boasts, and physical attacks (Rathus).” This is not to say women are not aggressive, but science proves that males show more signs of aggression than females. Aggression affects males in different ways, but in the film Billy Elliot, directed by Stephen Daldry, which accurately portrays how aggression of a father almost ruins a family completely. Billy Elliot takes place in a small town in northeastern England.

First, you have Billy’s father and brother participating in a violent miner strike. The angry crowd of men fighting the cops, yell, push and shove, and throw food to make a point. This can be explained because when men are “done wrong” they react almost instantly because they have hard time controlling their anger (Furtuna). Gender roles make up a big part of this, men are supposed to be the protector and provide for his family, so when that doesn’t happen he cracks (Furtuna). Secondly, in the next scene Billy’s brother wants to do more with the mob so he wakes up early in the morning, grabs a hammer and tries walking out the door. Tony’s father wakes up before he could get out the door and they both start yelling at each other, fighting about the strike, and their dead mother and Jackie Elliot punches his son right in the eye. Men’s testosterone levels make them more physically aggressive making them more like to hit someone or something when angry (Rathus). The most memorable scene was where Billy is practicing alone in Mrs. Wilkinson ballet class. His dad walks into the gym and sees what he is doing. When Billy’s dad finds out he has been going to ballet instead of boxing he blows a gasket, and drags him out of the gym. When they get back home Billy’s father sits him now and scream and yell at him and degrading him. This is an example of dominance, according to our gender roles men having the