Week 4: Strictly Ballroom

Strictly Ballroom is a 90s witty movie about courage and personal freedom. Personally, I would not choose to watch the movie due to all the too-good-to-be-true events, especially the ending. Not only that, this movie uses a lot of exaggerated emotions, however, I appreciate the write-up and the moral value portrayed in this movie.


In my opinion, although some parts of the movie are exaggerated, I could relate to some of the situations. For example, Shirly's obedience to Barry, the authority figure is a cowardly act because she believes Barry could significantly impact her family's personal life. As a woman, I am often concerned about my beloved feelings more than myself. This is especially portrayed by the woman that I look up to- my mother. As a mother, she is willing to do things out of her control and boundary just for her children to have the best. Although her definition of 'best' may not be similar to her children's (this is where conflict often happen). Nevertheless, I could definitely see where Shirly comes from.

In my opinion, it takes guts and courage for a person to go against an authority who is as strong and influential as Barry. Not to mention, he has been doing his 'dirty work' for a long time, thus he has more power now than before. This political game is similarly portrayed in our current lives. Sports politics and country governance politics (ahem.. Trump and our beloved) are just some of the examples that could be easily related to the movie.

Fran, in my opinion, is the underlying hero in this movie. This is because she was the one to push Scott and step up during the hard times. She was not only true to her beliefs throughout this whole movie as opposed to Scott who is still vulnerable and easily influenced, but she was also forgiving towards people (which is too nice to be true!). If it were not for Fran, I wouldn't think the political game could come to an end.

This reminds me of a time in high school where I was involved in a club's political game. I identify myself as Fran in the situation because I was a newcomer. I took me a while to gain courage and speak up to what's happening but unlike the movie, the ending was tougher in real life wherein it really is tough to go against an authority figure and there were consequences and many failures. The process itself is tiring and exhausting towards my mental well-being. Thus, I understand why some people like Shirley would result in being obedient and comply with the authority.

Other than that, this movie showcases a lot about the struggle for freedom and rights. Dancing itself is, in general, an expressive art that is unique towards each individual. Having steps, routine and strict rules makes dancing more of a sport rather than an art. I love the fact that this movie focuses on the dancer's life as dancing is a very intimate, social bonding and strong art that majority enjoys. Thus, I think it is smart for the director to use something common, yet also trendy at the time to showcase the moral of the story as well as the audience.

Similar to real life, each individual is unique and different in their own ways. Some of us are even still finding ourselves, like me. As babies, we were brought up with our parent's routine, our parent's value, and our parent's footsteps. These are all set and influenced by the majority of the people's value. Having these standards allows people to be able to control their environment and predict the future. Without a sense of control and predictability, stress is at risk. Thus, I understand why the board of the dancing committee wanted to keep things the same. They were probably avoiding stress and much more amount of workload. Not only that, they also face the danger of losing their job because how would you judge something that is unpredictable?

This goes for all human beings- change could cause stress. However, it needs to be noted that growth comes with change. As a person like Barry who is already comfortable with his current state, Scott is a threat to him. I could relate to Barry, regardless of how he is portrayed as the 'evil' character in this movie.

In primary school, I was the president of the Yellow House. Although the teacher mostly does the planning, I was given the chance to be involved in it. After a year, it was time to give up my position and give it to another person. The previous plan worked well for my teammates and we won first place. However, the new president came in with new unusual ideas that I wasn't sure and comfortable of, thus I tried my best to convince my ways because I knew we tried my way and it worked and his way was unpredictable. But, I put my hope in him and realized that sometimes change is necessary to make things better and it is good to take risks.

All in all, although this movie is funny and fun to watch. Deep thoughts and analyzing is need to fully understand the meaning of it. Unlike all the previous movie that was explicit, this movie's moral value was implicit.