conjuring up a story which I thought was an extreme and unlikely metaphoric tale, only to find time after time that it was true. The boys who we discovered were real life Billy Elliots. And I can recognise in them the pure straightforward enjoyment of what they do that I had discovered in Newcastle. Their pleasure is simple, uncomplicated and unpretentious; to them what they do is the most natural thing in the world because they have found a way of expressing themselves. If Billy Elliot is about one thing, it is that we are all capable of making lives for ourselves which are full of joy and self-expression. Whilst we might not all become ballet dancers, we are capable of finding moments of real profundity and creativity whatever our circumstances. But more than that, we have a duty to ourselves and each other to create a society where this possibility in all of us is nurtured and can flourish. We owe it to the next generation to create a world where it is possible for the Billy Elliots, as yet unborn, to have a chance to succeed and flourish, rather than be fed to the machine which grinds us into identical pieces only fit for consumption. If Billy Elliot conveys any message at all, I hope it is that it is possible to fight back and resist and it is possible to move on, without forgetting where you came from. ‘I know that we can produce a society where man will cease to simply go to work and have a little leisure, but will release his latent talent and ability and begin to produce in the cultural sense all the things I know he’s capable of; music, poetry, writing, sculpture whole works of art that, at the moment, lie dormant simply because we, as a society, are not able to tap it.’ Arthur Scargill, leader of National Union of Miners, 1982. 11
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