READING AND RESPONDING
ENGLISH ASSESSMENT
PRACTICE ESSAY
‘The character of Thomas learns to accept his brother and his family in The Black Balloon. How does Elissa Down show us this?’
Throughout the film, The Black Balloon, the Mollison family have to cope with an autistic teenager, Charlie. Thomas, Charlie’s younger brother, learns to accept his brother and family over the course of the film, with the help of his parents and his new-found-love Jackie. Elissa Down, the director of the film, explores Thomas’ tolerance of Charlie through most of the scenes, and with the use of symbols and music. At the beginning of the film, Thomas is ashamed and embarrassed of Charlie’s presence, but as it progresses, his family and Jackie help to change Thomas’ view of his brother and change his relationship within the family.
At the beginning of the film, Down shows the audience that Thomas feels a great deal of shame and resentment about having Charlie as his brother. There are many examples of this, but one of the clearest is when Jackie shows up unexpectedly at the Mollison house to return Charlie’s monkey ears he left in her bathroom after running out of his house. In this scene, Jackie knocks on the door whilst Thomas is taking care of Charlie when their mother, Maggie, is bed-ridden. Just after he opens the door and says hi, he shuts her outside to hide Charlie. This incident shows us that Thomas feels embarrassed by Charlie and doesn't want him around, especially when Charlie could ruin his friendships and relationships. He is humiliated and unwilling to let anyone get close to him because of his brother. The director further demonstrates this when, later on in the film, their father, Simon, takes them to the supermarket to do their grocery shopping. When the supermarket charges more than what Simon has in his wallet, Simon has to return some items. This upsets Charlie, who goes on to have a tantrum in the shopping centre. Thomas reacts to...