In fact, the movement of Billy Elliot is toward the eventual integration of those two adjacent but antagonistic worlds. Wisely, Billy Elliot gives us something to root for, a goal in sight, instead of making us despairing witnesses to inevitability. If that makes it more manipulative, it also makes it more cathartic. As befits constructs of masculinity in that milieu, Billy is learning to box. Significantly, he is using his father's boxing gloves, which were passed down from his father.
Masculinity runs in the family.
Yet as they struggle with Billy's determination to dance, they confront their own definitions of masculinity. The way this is articulated in the context of the miners' strike is masterfully done, as is the gentle way the issue of sexuality is handled. Lee Hall's script and Stephen Daldry's direction are marvellous, but they would have come to naught without Bell. His is a performance remarkable in every way, balanced on the cusp of childishness and maturity, teetering between awkwardness and grace. The dancing itself expresses feeling as it would in a musical, though here it disturbs without quite rupturing the naturalistic narrative.