Strictly Ballroom (1992)

Dance is an expression of creativity. This movie with a juxtaposed title "Strictly Ballroom" portrays the idea of artistic repression by showcasing a ballroom dancer (Scott Hastings) who is prohibited from dancing his own steps in a ballroom dancing competition. This movie is filmed using the red curtain cinema technique, which has a recognizable plot. Scott's non-conventional steps against the Australian Dancing Federation depict the Bible's story "David and Goliath" while transformation of Fran throughout the movie showcases the idea of Ugly Duckling.

The movie begins with the portrayal of Scott's mother (Shirley Hastings)'s disappointment towards his son's performance during a ballroom dancing competition (Pan-Pacific Grand Prix). The competitive ballroom environment and Shirley's exaggerated expression of Scott's loss in the competition have illustrated a high extrinsically-motivated society. Most of the dancers see winning Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Dancing Championship as their only reasons to dance, including Liz Holt (Scott's partner). Liz leaves Scott for Ken (Scott's rival) when she realizes that Scott is going to dance his own way with no intention to win the competition. This extrinsically-motivated society is in great contrast with Fran's family. For them, dancing is an enjoyable self-expression and it is rewarding in itself. Ya Ya (Fran's grandmother) tells Scott to listen to the rhythm, suggesting that dance is to be lived instead of competitive. In addition, Fran believes that dance should be authentic as she says: "dance from the heart".

The extrinsically-motivated society allows fear to be misused as manipulation. From the evolutionary perspective, survival fear should be functional. However, the fear induced in this movie has created obedience. Shirley is afraid of losing the license to teach dances, thus obeying Barry Fife (president of the Australian Dancing Federation) to have Scott paired up with the dancers that Barry wants. At the same time, Barry himself is consumed by his fear of losing his authority. "If you can't dance a step, you can't teach it, and if you can't teach it - we might as well all pack up and go home" shows that his reason of prohibiting new steps is to protect his own power as the Federation president. With the introduction of new steps and no standardization of steps, he cannot make profit out of his business such as selling his dance video "Dance to Win". On the other hand, Fran stands firm with her belief that "a life lived in fear is a life half-lived". She is courageous enough to volunteer as Scott's dancing partner although she comes from a Spanish family who is looked down by the Anglo-Australian society. Furthermore, Scott's awareness of his own fear leads to his determination to dance the non-conventional way, which makes him different from the other dancers who conform to the norm. 

Extrinsic motivation coupled with fear breeds a society that conforms, complies, and obeys, which lacks creativity and remains "strictly ballroom". On the other hand, if we "dance" the non-conventional way, we can live life to its fullest. Vivir con miedo, es como vivir a medias!

p.s. Here's a video on how fear can shape us and how awareness of fear itself can be an "anti-virus program" against fear. Enjoy!