Belonging

Explore how perceptions of belonging and not belonging can be influenced by connections to places.
Kyra
Belonging and not belong are important in prescribed film “Strictly Ballroom” by Baz Luhrman and related material “noughts and Crosses”   written by Malorie Blackmore, as they both highlight perceptions of belonging which are connected by places. Belonging involves a degree of acceptance or alienation within a society; it involves both self acceptance and the wider acceptance. In both the text and film, belonging is about being comfortable with the people you interact with and the environment you find yourself in. Both Luhrman and Blackman demonstrate this through structural film and language techniques.
Throughout the film “Strictly Ballroom” we see the development of the protagonist Scott Hastings the open amateur ballroom dancer, who is a member of a community that uses a hierarchy to determine who belongs and who doesn’t. In Scott’s search for belonging he finds himself stuck in the middle of two drastically different worlds; the Strictly Ballroom Dance Federation which oppressed, superficial and focused on hierarchy, in contrast to Fran’s Spanish community that embraces culture, freedom and expressiveness. Fran the “beginner” helps Scott break away the barriers that affect his sense of belonging through her connection to place in the Spanish community.
Scott’s importance in the hierarchy of the Dance federation is revealed through the mockumentary that Luhrman with the use of black humour portrays Scott’s sense of belonging and important to the federation, but it also highlights the consequences Scott will face if he doesn’t dance Strictly Ballroom. Scott begins to question his place in the hierarchy, especially when he asks Liz and Wayne “how they thought he danced on the weekend “and they both reply “I don’t think you didn’t win”. Liz and Wayne’s blind conformity to their place in the Federation alienates Scott from belonging.   In the scene where...