Practice question: How do the texts you have studied explore the influence of social context on the ways individuals interact and communicate?Introduction: Thesis, introduce text, points. Black Balloon, a film directed by Elissa Down, explores the influence of social context on the ways individuals interact & communicate. This is visible through the perspective of a teenage boy, with a brother who is severely disabled, getting through high-school that revolves around social interactions with his peers, his brother and his family. Arguments for this thesis include how a interactions within a social context can change a person’s behaviour perception, how water is the key to acceptance throughout the film ; different interactions within the home transforms the audience’s attitudes & perceptions.Firstly, water being the base idea of acceptance throughout the film shows how this texts explores the influence of social context on the ways individuals interact & communicate.
In Black Balloon, water is a motif for acceptance. This is evident in Thomas’ character development where his inability to swim provides a reason for why he is not able to gain the respect of his peers. This is seen through the the close of a the girls unimpressed expressions which represents the rest of his classmates perception of Thomas. However, when Thomas learns how to interact with water, he also learns how to interact with Charlie ; understand things from his disabled point of view. Jackie teaching Thomas how to swim is the catalyst of Thomas accepting Charlie’s disability when he emphasises with the “fuzzy” lens with Charlie & how he perceives of the world.
