The Australian Film The Black Balloon By Elissa Down

Temple Grandin can be quoted saying this in respond to whether she wishes she was not autistic “If I could snap my fingers and be non-autistic, I would not. Autism is part of what I am.” The Australian film “The Black Balloon” directed and written by Elissa Down, effectively portrays a family struggling with marginalisation and discrimination in a suburban Australia context. As Down clearly suggests to the viewer that it is the result of the actions performed by disabled 17 year old Charlie Mollison (Luke Ford), who is diagnosed with autism and ADHD. In addition, she has successfully done this by utilizing his younger brother Thomas (Rhys Wakefield) as the focal point. As the film explores the effect of his brother’s disability on Thomas’s

Some may critique its ability to portray the family’s struggles, however, these reasons are obsolete and can be discredited by using points that outweigh them. These aforementioned points include: the effective representation of non-verbal critical opinions towards the family, the use of harassment directed at the family, effective use of symbolism to represent their marginalisation.

Down effectively presents to the viewer not just the verbal opinions, but also the non-verbal opinions of the general public towards the family. This effectively portrays the marginalisation of the family as it can tell the viewer how usually the other characters and extras feel negatively towards them. In addition, with the inclusion of somewhat transparent, non-verbal expression of opinion via facial expressions, etc. it can make it less one dimensional and realistic, whilst still showing the family’s marginalisation. An example of this includes the scene at the checkout of a local grocery store that includes Charlie, Simon and Thomas; in which Simon has insufficient funds for his groceries, thus has to put items back. Consequently, Charlie has a

An example of this includes the scene in which Thomas is at swimming practice presumably part of a program at his school, and he is the only one wearing board shorts. Down and Baker effectively utilise a low medium-shot that highlights the contrast between Thomas and the other boys in regards to swimwear, which can be interpreted as symbolism that states that Thomas does not fit in and is marginalised. Some may interpret this differently, and may suggest it does not symbolise anything. However the use of similar symbolism is scattered throughout the film, including an obvious scene at the beginning of the film that utilises different coloured balloons as a metaphor for difference that highly suggests others are intentional. In conclusion, the use of symbolism is used in such a manner it seems intentional, and is commonly used to state the difference between family members and that of the rest of the