Kalila Martinez
Prof. Catherine Perry
ENG 2100
Literary Analysis Film Essay: The Black Swan
“Perfectionism erases the sense of self” (The Take 15:27). Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 dark psychological thriller film Black Swan is a bold expression of the extreme lengths people may go to in their pursuit of success and perfection. Aronofsky prominently features a sequence of characters to encourage the theme of the film: obsession. A primary example of perfection erasing the sense of self appears in the main character of the film named Nina who is a ballerina placed in the once of a lifetime role as the Swan Queen, who is both the white swan and the black swan. As the film progresses, it’s later revealed that Nina struggles to embody the black swan due to her infantilized personality that her mother created in her. Additionally, alongside Nina’s constant fixation is Nina’s hallucinations that destroy and distort her body image. As a result of all of her struggles, Nina dies at the cost of her perfected performance. This film is important to me because it reminds me to not mistake obsession for passion when it involves artistic brilliance. Furthermore, its overall message to me is, to transcend from perfection one must let it go.
Nina isnt resposible for the madness of her perfectionism, her mother is .It appears in the film that Nina’s mother Erica controls her ,and paralyzes Nina’s development by manipulating her environment through placing childish decorations or toys in Nina’s room to discourage her from growing up and becoming independent. As well, Erica monitors and studies Nina’s skin and appearance in order to fit into the perfect ballerina stereotype. For instance, when Erica spots the scratches on Nina’s back, she exclaims, “What’s this? I knew it would be too much for you” (The Black Swan 2010) and proceeds to forcefully trim her nails, as if Nina is helpless and unable to care for herself. We get a better view into just how invasive and narcissistic Erica is due to the fact that she takes control over Nina’s body, restricting her from personal expression. Furthermore, it’s become apparent that these restrictions and toxic notions of perfection serve as the backbone of Nina’s withdrawal from personal freedom as a woman in her mid-twenties. It’s this in depth and lingering trauma since childhood that leads over achievers like Nina to feel as though their only purpose is to satisfy those above them.
In contrast to the white swan and Nina’s stunted personality, the black swan in the film is characterized as this liberating, destructive, promiscuous, and mysterious entity that is metamorphosed in the later acts of the ballet. However, this role seems too complex for Nina to meet, leading to her anxiety and stress increasing from the pressure of her mother who sets high expectations on Nina and from the pressure of satisfying her ballet director, Thomas. Aronoskys depiction of the severity of Nina’s anxiety takes the form of her compulsive disturbing hallucinations. This depiction can be analyzed through the Psychological Theory from psychoanalyst, Carl Jung. For instance, the Psychological theory mentions the connection between symbolism and the collective unconscious ( 21 qtd In Purdue). This appears when Aronofsky symbolizes the decay in Nina’s consciousness through the motif of a mirror being present throughout the film. The archetypal myth that Jung mentions in his theory that is in contrast to Nina’s state of mind is The Shadow. The shadow is a hallucination that Nina sees whenever she’s in tune with her resisting, tense, and fragile ego that is foundational to her. The shadow destroys Nina’s skin and disorients her self-image overall, posing as a symbolic and literal reflection of her innocence stripping away. In the real world, it is evident that in a review about the Black Swan from the New York Times mentions about real scenarios that relate to the movie“ Dancers often spend more of their time in front of the mirror than before an audience, and it’s in the mirror that they see both the ideal versions of themselves they hope to show the public as well as their own failings” ( Macaulay 3). But it’s obvious that in this case it’s the opposite for Nina; she only sees this alter ego consume her sanity.
It’s this shadowy expression that dissolves the presence of Nina’s innocence when people like Lily, Nina’s rival, or her ballet director, Thomas amplify her awakening shadow by drawing her into the world of sex. For instance, Thomas believes that in order to guide Nina into her dark feminine side for the black swan role is to introduce her to lust and seduction. He tells her, “That was me seducing you, it needs to be the other way around” (Black Swan 2010). Somebody who also intensifies her development in gaining empowerment is Lily who exudes lust naturally as the black swan would. Lily is considered to be the girl that could easily replace Nina as the Swan queen. Nina is then heavily influenced by both her internal and external lives that conlfict each other to the point of causing her to have intense hallucination of killing Lily behind stage. This obsessive and harmful action became her last one just before her ultimate transecdence. Her transcendece – On stage in full hallucination her wings and scale-like skin expose itself to signal to the viewer that the black swan fulfillingly embodied. The shadow self becomes heroic in disguise for achieving a successful performance that not only stunned the audience but also her director who she unapologetically kisses at the end of her shameless performance. It’s the passion that was under Nina’s skin the whole time, which explains why her shadow had exposed itself throughout the film. Nina comes to find that it was herself that she killed and not Lily, when Ninas blood seeps through her dress.
Her last words after gracefully wrapping up her performance “It was perfect”. It wasn’t her precise expertise that was perfect, it was her channeling of the role that was perfect. The cost of becoming the best the world has ever seen is a price that you cannot undo. We see how Nina undergoes a series of unhealthy experiences and habits that result in her tragic death. This poses as a projection of how many artists who are fully convinced and obsessed with perfecting their art end up losing themselves. There are artists that have spent decades developing work for perfection purposes in desperation of gaining recognition while others wholeheartedly complete effortlessly that get the most recognition. Addiontally as Thomas beautifully claims, “Perfection is not just about control. It is also about letting go. Surprise yourself so you can surprise the audience. Transcendence. Very few have it in them” ( Black Swan 2010). Perfection does not look like excessive correction; it looks as simple as accepting metamorphosis and embracing change.
We can see her metamorphasis in this scene being accepted as Nina’s shadow portraying as her true self . Ultimately revealing that this true self hence shadow self has been shrouded by her mothers narcissim and Ninas fear to break through. It hints at the viewer that Ninas black swan ego had existed this whole time. And her obsession and intensity speaks for itself. However, a New York Times analysis essay on Black Swan says that “Nina is just not a great role. She’s too much of a victim the film makes her helpless, passive to be seriously involved” (Macaulay 3). Its real objective to use Nina is meant to represent those who persevere despite how mentally straining it can get, and that itself is willpower. In the film, Nina prominently rebelled against her mother when she realized how overbearing Erica was when she tried keeping Nina in her room instead of performing. This scene is the most overlooked because in contrast to many of the other shocking scenes this one represents what many of us girls feel or want to do when we want to release all of the unnecessary control that’s been placed on our backs. The film is more than the victimization that viewers like Macaulay perceived, the film underscores the importance of change and why it is essential to personal expression. The cautionary signs that Aronosky sends throughout the film suggest that obsession does more harm than good, as we can see the consequence of Nina’s action by accidently killing herself, taking metamorphosis too seriously.
Ultimately, the film is a very complex psychological story that will change the minds of many viewers and leave them wondering about the wonders of letting go. As a artist, this film resonates with me in the ways I’ve felt like I can relate to Nina when she subconsciously creates this opposing version of herself that she continually resists. It’s as though it is natural for all of us to create an alternate version of ourselves in order to complete a performance. A performance of socializing or dancing, it’s become a natural mechanism to create a second impression of yourself. But it isn’t healthy to have to create something that isn’t you but rather to embrace whichever it is that exists within you. As a society it is important that we remain accepting and welcoming.
Works cited
Purdue Writing Lab. “Introduction to Literary Theory//Purdue Writing Lab.” The OWL at Purdue, Purdue University, 2018. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/literary_theory_and_schools_of_criticism/index.html
Macaulay, Alastair. “The Many Faces of ‘Black Swan,’ Deconstructed.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 9 Feb. 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/arts/dance/10swan.html.
“Black Swan Quotes.” Quotes.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Web. 6 Dec. 2023. <https://www.quotes.net/mquote/1216990>.
“Black Swan – a Cautionary Tale about Perfectionism: Watch: The Take.” Black Swan – A Cautionary Tale about Perfectionism | Watch | The Take, 17 Sept. 2021, the-take.com/watch/black-swan-a-cautionary-tale-about-perfectionism.