Didn't he feel anything for her? That's weird for a boy his age...
Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever. - Felicity
I suppose he just wanted to concentrate on ballet. His sexuality remains ambigous 'til the end, in fact at some point he says "Who's better *insert female personality name here* or *insert female personality name here*"? (sorry, can't recall actual names).
I don't think it's a question of "weird" (he was only 11 and she was the kid of his ballet teacher), I think we WEREN'T told WHY he didn't want her on purpose by the director. That's my view anyhow.
"So are you Friend or Foe?
'Cause I used to Know..."
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Um.. he was 11. I don't know any 11 year old boy that has been interested in girls or sex. Debbie only appears to be that way for attention because of her home life. Plus it was set in 1984. Sexual activity in teenagers then was quite rare and somewhat taboo
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STEPH ¤§º
www.myspace.com/j20a
BURNING BRIDGES DAY! Dec. 4th!
"in 1984. Sexual activity in teenagers then was quite rare and somewhat taboo"
WHAT?!
Please tell me -- just WHAT "1984" did YOU grow up in?
Sweet Jeebus, I don't know in what alternative universe you inhabited back then, but here on planet earth in 1984 teenagers were having as much sex as teenagers always had. Yeesh.
______________________________
Adversity does not build character. It *reveals* it.
Yeah, that was a pretty funny comment. 1984, the Dark Ages, before teenage sex.
shareHe wasn't a teenager, he was 11.
share[I suppose he just wanted to concentrate on ballet. His sexuality remains ambigous 'til the end, in fact at some point he says "Who's better *insert female personality name here* or *insert female personality name here*"? (sorry, can't recall actual names).]
It was Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers... They're dancers/actors. Amazing.
Father: I blame the Americans.
Wladyslaw Szpilman: For what, for my tie?
Holy crap he is only 11 years old. Girls were not really on his mind at that point. i'm sure he had a little thing for her but his main focus was ballet and his homelife at the time. and when people are saying he's gay because he kissed michael is silly. he only kissed him becuase he knew michael cared for him alot as a friend and more.
shareand how exactly do you know that? you see, no one knows anything for sure. perhaps it was a friendly kiss or maybe more. i think the director left the issue about billy's sexuality open because it wasnt the main focus.
"I wish I knew how to quit you"-Jack Twist
One thing that (some) Americans may not have realised is that when Debbie says to Billy "Do you want to see me Fanny?" she is not offering him a view of her backside - Fanny is a slang term for Female genitalia in the UK. Billy refused, but this still doesn't mean that he is gay - he is just a young lad who is not really interested in that sort of thing yet, and anyway Debbie is supposed to be younger than him in the film and he just may not be interested in a younger girl, especially the daughter of his teacher.
sharethere was that one scene where he is alone with Debbie in her room and that just really makes it look like they're into eachother, but i do agree--he's only 11 and (im 21) i dont remember any guys liking girls at that age the same way the girls liked them. well, maybe one or two, but you get my point. also, i think it was supposed to show that the more focused he got on ballet and the more family problems he had, the less and less focused he was on anything else other than his ballet (you can even see this in the school scenes, where he is always staring off in the distance).
shareIt was left unclear/undetermined for the viewer what Billy's sexual orientation was (as has been made clear from this discussion), and this is because Billy WAS 11. There are very few if no boys of that age who are certain of their sexuality, and particularly very few homosexual boys who are open or even recognizing of their sexual feelings at that age. Michael is definitely the exception, and whether Billy was gay or not it would make perfect sense that he would initially be taken aback by Michael's openness about his orientation- that's what society would have always told Billy to do. It also would make sense that he would have his 'moment with Debbie' in her room whether he was straight or not. That scene wasn't any indication of feelings they had for each other; it was an indication of the confusion young 11-year-olds go through sexually as they grow up. It also makes sense that Billy wouldn't ecstatically agree to seeing Debbie's fanny- it would be abrupt and rather unrealistic if he did.
We can't know from the movie what Billy's sexual orientation was. Personally, I think he was gay, but that's just my impression. He could easily have been either. More than anything, he was a child who was much more interested in dancing than anything else.
FYC: Helena Bonham Carter- The King's Speech
Possible Spoiler Alert
Regarding his kissing Michael:
Micheal first kissed Billy to show him that he really cared about him; which Billy seemed to understand and appreciate, although his reaction also seems to indicate that Billy is does not have homosexual tendencies. Remember the scene where Billy goes to Michael's house and Micheal is wearing a dress? Billy is confused, but does not reject his friend.
Later at the gym when the two boys dance Billy brings Micheal a tutu. Why? Because he knew Michael would like wearing it. This is part of Billy's emerging character; he does things to please others, to make them happy.
When Michal sees Billy leaving, he call out to him: "Hey dancing boy." Billy runs to him and they face each other, hands in pockets, and nervously shift weight from foot to foot. Billy suddenly kisses Michael. The significance of this simple kiss on the cheek is deeper that the assumption that Billy is homosexual, which is is not.
Billy kissed Michael because he knew that this is the best way to show Michael that he loved him and that he appreciated his friendship and support. He kissed Michael because he knew his would make him happy. He knew a kiss was something Michael would appreciate more than a hug or a handshake or a stated thank you. This was Billy's gift to Michael. It was a difficult gift for Billy to give and therefore meant a lot Michael, just as Billy knew it would.
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I think the character of Billy clearly tells us he is not gay. He tells his teacher " I feel like a right sissy" and she replies "well then don't act like one". He seemed to me that he did not enjoy feeling like a sissy. Dance class was so vastly different than boxing that I'm sure it made him feel that way at first.
When he talks to Michael about dance class Michael ask if he wears a tutu. Billy says he'd look like a dickhead. Michael says he thinks he'd look wicked. Billy gives him a look like he knows thats not an appropriate statement for a boy but he chooses to just ignore it. I think Billy knows Michael is gay long before Michael tells him. I think they are friends because they are both outcasts in a way. Besides Michael is the only person Billy can talk to about this new interest.
When he finds Michael in girls clothing, he clearly is uncomfortable even going into the house. He stands by the door and is hesitant to advance further into the room. Michael ask him to join in but he refuses. If he were gay I feel like he may have taken the opportunity to try. I grew up with a boy who was gay. He was always trying on his sisters makeup, jewelery, nail polish and clothes. He had few friends who were boys, only the girls in my neighbohood were close friends with him.
As for him kissing Michael goobye. He was his only friend and he knew he was leaving him all alone. Michael had said he didn't want him to go. It was Billy's way of saying - I'm still your friend.
I think he is not interested in Debbie because he is eleven. I don't know any eleven year old boys who are interested in girls. But I know of lots of eleven year old girls that are interested in boys. My son is twelve and the girls at school make advances but he gets embarrassed by them and is not interested.
To me it didn't even occur to me that people would think Billy was gay. I thought it was so clear that he wasn't.
totally agree with pmaczoni .
Tis All About McFly.
not all gay people act feminine nor enjoy wearing girls clothing. way to punch a mis-interpreted stereotype right on the nose...
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To those who think 11 year old boys are too young to be interested in girls or sex -- sorry, but what world do you live in??
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I agree! When I was 11 (I'm a girl btw), boys were OBBSSESED with sex. One boy tried to finger me in Maths once which I was NOT happy about. They were always grabbing girls arses.
As for Billy, you could tell he thought about the offer but i honestly think hes confused by his sexuality (not that hes gay or straight but the emergence of sex into his thoughts at all). He's a young boy who has grown up in a world of machoism and wanting to live up to his 'hard man' brother(who is really good looking lol) and dad. He's afraid of being a 'poof'. When he kissed Michael on his cheek, I think he was reciprocating the previous kiss, trying to make him happy.
All in all, Dancing is his main priority, not girls or boys. I know what its like to grow up in a tough Northern town where labouring is the only route for a lot of boys and being a housewife for the girls. Its hard, so Billy would be grasping the oppurtunity with both hands and refusing to let go.
Adored the film!
For a sec I thought he might be bc he didn't want to see debbie's fanny lol...but then there was that scene in her room. So I figured he just wasn't interested or he thought she was weird.
My cousin who hasn't seen the entire movie kept telling me he was gay and i was like noooo he's not.
He didn't want Debbie because he's only ELEVEN! What would he do with her anyway, he's just a kid.
And besides she was the daughter of his teacher and he had to focus on his ballet.
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He's prepubescent, for God's sake. It's highly unlikely that he's going to have the physical or emotional urges to have sex or a relationship. Most kids who have sex at such a tender age do so because they've succumbed to peer group pressure. I remember when I was in Year 8 at school, a boy and a girl in my form, both aged 12, (allegedly) had sex with each other just to regale all the other kids with accounts of it.
shareBelieve it or not, a LOT of boys do have the beginnings of emotional (and even sexual) interests at 11.
shareThe previous poster is right! Eleven is the age or even 10 when kids start developing emotions like love. Billy seemed kinda disturbed by Debbie which weirded me out. I think that (on purpose) the director made it seem like he wasn't into Debbie (or girls for that matter) to leave the choice of his sexuality open, then the message being that u don't have to be gay to like ballet ?
shareI don't think it's that Billy didn't have sexual feelings or stirrings toward Debbie at 11; the problem at 11 is not that you don't have those feelings but that you don't know HOW to deal with them. He wasn't "weirded out" so much as he was scared and freaked out. Older boys like to come off as totally confident about sex, but hardly any of them really are, and the younger ones are often completely lost. And there's nothing wrong with that.
shareTo be honest, being asked "Do you want to see my fanny (crude term for vagina)" isn't exactly the most romantic or classy come-on, particularly for a 10-year-old girl.
sharehe didnt want debbie purely for the fact he didnt want her.
sounds stupid, but yeah :)
fans to nicole: can you say thats hot!!?
nicole: no, thats humiliating.
Personally I don't think he was gay and him kissing Micheal was just saying goodbye on Micheal's terms. I also think that he did like Debbie but maybe he didn't want to hurt her or to compromise his place at the RBS (no not the royal bank of Scotland!) because he knew she was trying to get him to stay. Also on the 11 year old note: my sister is 12 and the only reason she had a boyfriend was for popularity. There wasn't even the slightest chance of anything more.
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