#006 Strictly Ballroom (1992)

"Who are you living for? What are you living for?"

       For few moments in my life, I did question myself about this. Am I living for myself, be who I am and getting closer to how I wanted to be, or I am living a life fulfilling others' expectations?

       "Strictly Ballroom" introduced a family of ballroom dancers in Australia that own a dance studio, passionately teaching ballroom dances and actively participating dancing competitions. The father, Doug, manages the dance studio while the mother, Shirley, teaches the dance. Their children, Scott (young adult) and Kylie (school age children) had been training to dance since childhood.

Scott is a talented dancer not only can master perfect ballroom dance, but creatively establishes his personal style of dance steps. However, the Australian Dancing Federation forbids "unusual dance step" other than formal ballroom dance, not to say accepting other dances in Pan-Pacific Grand Pix Dancing Competition.
Scott has a big dream to win the championship in the competition, as told and influenced by his mother and the president of Australian Dancing Federation. He represses his desire to establish personal-styled dance and conforms to the people in the dance studio. He upholds the values and standards of the dance studio and the competition (perhaps people involved such as his mother, the president, judges and audiences) to dance "properly", even though he feels not like to do so.

       Social Psychology explains this situation as conformity, a social influence or group pressure that changes one's behaviour or belief in order to fit it (Myers, 2010). In this movie, all of the dancers in the competition conform to the dancing norms and social norms that "ballroom dance should be like that". Scott, once fit himself into the majority and live a life of "his mother's son" by practice and sharpen the skills to dance Ballroom. Even Scott himself believed that he should do certain things that fit to the expectations of the society to be the best dancer and he would find value in that.


Until he meets Fran, a beginner dancer in the studio who inspires him to pursue dream and who he wants to be. Both of them explored each other's dancing potential throughout the secret-after-class-practice, and Fran's family introduce authentic Spanish pasodoble steps to Scott. Scott enjoys the happiness and freedom to dance and decided to dance with Fran in Pan-Pacific Grand Pix Dancing Competition, uniquely in their ways, and introduce a new dance other than ordinary Ballroom dances.

       The family relationship in Scott's family shows an example of obedience. As compared to conformity, obedience happens when there is an authority figure or person with higher power making an order, one will behave in response to the order made (Myers, 2010). Shirley often orders her husband and children to follow her instructions, her ways of doing things, her approaches to solve certain problems. Doug the husband always obey her to avoid quarrel. Although Scott wanted to dance freestyle, he still practice the formal Ballroom dance and at the end obeys to dance with another dancer in Pan-Pacific Grand Pix Dancing Competition instead of Fran, and win the championship so that Shirley is happy with it. However, after he found out some truths and dark-side about the competition, also with his father's support to follow his heart and dance the new dance with Fran, Scott changes his mind and disobey the order by his mother.

       In my personal growing experience, I tended to live up the expectations of others. I tried to be the quiet girl because the elderly hold the stereotype that a girl should be quiet, while I am an extroverted person. I tried to achieve those achievements according to the adults' definition, instead of my own definition and values of achievement. It did not seem much significant in childhood, until I grow up as a teenager who started to question about life worthiness and meaning. Throughout the experimenting around, I used to conform society norms about beauty, intelligence, behaviours, attitudes and other aspects that are just "not me". Most of the time I struggled because my beliefs and values were not sync with social norms. It takes time for me to understand, embrace and explore to who I want to be. For example, it is perfectly fine if I want to wear T-shirts and jeans to university without make-up, also if I want to wear a dress and put on some make-up just to walk around in the mall, rather than following fashion trends that does not suit me at all. My parents and I grow together as a family, understand the importance of uniqueness as an individual thus they now appreciate the uniqueness in me and be proud of who I am. The changes make me feel safe to voice my opinions and stands whenever there is a dilemma, also make critical judgement in problem solving, not easily fall to conformity, "inappropriate" obedience and compliance.





References
Myers, D. G. (2010). Social Psychology (11th ed.). United States, US: McGraw Hill.



Pictures from Google
https://www.google.com/search?q=strictly+ballroom+1992&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=667&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZ0b3I4pHLAhXBYaYKHVL2CpEQ_AUIBygC#imgrc=9KrFKOzxTQ-RfM%3A

https://www.google.com/search?q=strictly+ballroom+1992&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=667&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZ0b3I4pHLAhXBYaYKHVL2CpEQ_AUIBygC#imgrc=-MrcgUzmkPX5WM%3A