Matilda and How She Belongs Essay

The film Matilda is a clear representation of the concept of belonging, the ideas that are conveyed in the film are relevant to belonging by how they are displayed. The ideas of belonging in Matilda are that Matilda doesn’t belong in her family, Matilda finds a sense of familial belonging with Ms Honey, Matilda finds a sense of familial belonging but with classmates and that the catalyst for belonging is the personality of Ms Trunchbull, it creates a sense of unity for the class – giving them a purpose. These ideas of belonging are described by the use of camera angles, tone, quotes and the use of narration. From the start of the film you come to realise that Matilda doesn’t relate or is able to connect to her family. This relates to belonging that Matilda doesn’t belong to her own family she doesn’t connect, this is demonstrated in the quotes â€Å"Are you in this family? † â€Å"Mmmm†¦ â€Å"Hello? † â€Å"Are you in this family? † â€Å"I’m fed up with all this reading! You’re a Wormwood, you start acting like one! Now sit up and look at the TV† this quote is telling us that she loves reading but her family love watching television so the father questions her daughters belonging in this family. Throughout the movie the use of tone and colour with what Matilda and her family wears indicates the separation between her and her family, an example of this is that Matilda wears articulate clothing like the bow in her hair and the violet dresses but her family wear suits and cocktail dresses like those that wear on the television which are superficial that they idealise so much. So there are clear differences between her and her family. Matilda finds a sense of familial belonging with Ms Honey. When Matilda first enters her classroom she gets a strong sense of belonging with her teacher Ms honey, because she is drawn in by her warm kind hearted nature. Matilda finds a sense of belonging through the shine that Ms honey exudes, she also relates to Ms honey and the Choice of clothing is very similar. Matilda and Ms honey have a relatable childhood with them both having a barbaric narrow minded parent/guardian. The catalyst for belonging is the personality of Ms Trunchbull, she creates a sense of tyranny for the class and the school. Her demeanour and insidious punishments for children makes the average school life a living hell, this hatred and ill-behaviour towards the children gives a unity to over throw her. This is demonstrated through particular scenes. The scene where trunchball holds an assembly for Bruce Bogtroter stealing some of her chocolate cake, so she tries to set an example, but that foolishly backfires when the school unites and cheers on Bruce. This scene and the use of uplifting music, the constant repetition of â€Å"Bruce! and that Trunchball gets no response makes her feel powerless and now the children are all working together and that scares Trunchball. So the children strive to get rid of trunchball and it works there by their common goal brought them together. Matilda is a great example of belonging and not-belonging, its ideas about it and how they are represented make it a good piece for my analysis. So the concept of belonging can be found anywhere from simply being different to your family or to strive to see your principal overthrown, so what go you belong or not belong too.