The dancing is incredible! But I was confused about the story. After the beating I expected to see a lot more bruising because the beating was so brutal. I wondered why this young man was targeted for such violence, especially since he seemed to have such shame afterward. When we see him in front of his mirror, slender, slightly feminine, wearing a cut off shirt and a nose ring...I thought, maybe he was beaten due to a hatecrime because he was wearing that outfit in the wrong neighborhood. Also, the way the mother ignores her own son with almost a feeling of hate or dislike, I assumed she was also dealing with her own homophobia until we find the letter? James' interactions with his cat seemed to be his only connection to tenderness, which is typical in isolated LGBTQ youth. When the girl at the dance studio showed interest in James, I thought, maybe this piece is a comment on finding one's self as a bi-sexual in the dance scene? James' masculinity comes out in his dancing