How do we define identity? Identity is about what it means to be you. It is shaped by several aspects. Family, friends, interests, and the surrounding environment and culture are all factors that shape a person's identity. As a person ages, they are affected by all of these factors. Family, culture, and environment can affect a person's integrity, morality, and sense of responsibility, while friends can influence their interests and humor. These factors can also affect the same elements and are not static. As an example, both influence their interactions with others. Depending on the factors at play, they will impact people differently. In the film Billy Elliot, we see how an eleven-year-old boy deals with his identity in terms of masculinity, class, and culture. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Billy Elliot addresses the subject of masculinity through the art of ballet. When we look at the way we generally think about dance, we may find that the first thing we think of is not male ballet dancers. This is the great fight of history and it is what moves the story forward. The society we encounter in this film generally does not accept a young boy's decision to start with ballet when his family is made up of boxers. The fact that they are creates pressure on him to become more masculine in people's eyes. So when his father, Jackie Elliot, finds out that Billy has skipped his boxing classes and is going to ballet instead, he is furious. He believes that ballet is for “beanbags” and that boys should do other things like “football and wrestling” (Daldry, 2000). Here we see a great contrast between Billy and his family. Unlike his father and older brother, Billy views ballet as something empowering, liberating, and boundary-breaking. It's his way of showing his masculinity and expressing his emotions. Billy Elliot also addresses the topic of class and status. We see him throughout the film in his family and his environment. His family is traditionally a miner. His father and his elders show it through their work and their hatred towards the “yellows”. The miners, who continue to work despite the ongoing strike. This is why Billy decides to do ballet. He creates his identity and breaks his family's expectations and breaks the family tradition of being a minor. Generally, we view mining as something manly and related to the lower classes. For this reason, his decision defies his class by attempting to do something else. This breaks certain norms of the culture and strengthens Billy's identity. Instead of doing what someone of his class is supposed to do, he himself does what he wants and behaves regardless of his status and class. Additionally, Billy Elliot deals with the subject of culture. It does this by using many of the same approaches as with status and class. The culture seen in this film generally does not see people associating strongly with people of other classes. The film shows this to us in a scene where Billy's father, Jackie Elliot, meets his ballet teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson (Daldry, 2000). In this scene, Jackie becomes aggressive when talking to Mrs. Wilkinson. This happens because she has a higher status than him. This shows us that different classes that meet can have aggressive feelings towards each other. Additionally, it shows us that the culture here is divided. That