Shattered Dreams*

Spoiler Alert ! if you haven't already seen Black Swan, don't read ahead*

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Dreams are "the royal road to the unconcsious," Freud is known to have said.  Taking on the psychoanalytic perspective, (I just had to--it's raining & I feel like writing), determinants of behavior are a combination of conscious and unconscious forces.  Hence, the unconscious psychological forces are dominant indications of an individual's motivation. The psychoanalytic theory provides explanations of positive achievement with the manifestation of instinct forces.  This brings us to Nina Sayers' character, played by Natalie Portman, in the film Black Swan (2010).  Darren Aronofsky directed Black Swan to transcend the audience deep within the disturbing psyche of a troubled yet highly competitive ballerina playing the dual role in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake production. What was known to be the height of Nina's dance career, was actually the intrapsychic conflict of her mental state. Determined to flawlessly capture the White Swan and Black Swan dances, Nina becomes self-imposed in her rigorous fight for perfection. 

The film begins with Nina's dream which transitions into a nightmare when a haunting creature begins to dance with her.  The manifest content of the dream ominously represents Nina's upcoming psychosis which progresses in the film.  Portman plays a fragile and self-conscious character who has a purging disorder to further illustrate her despairity to become perfect. Who is she exactly trying to please? Thomas, played by Vincent Cassel, contributes to Nina's pressure as he casts her for the Swan roles, replacing Beth (Winona Ryder) because she is "too old" according to ballet standards. Boundary-crossing between teacher and student, becomes a pivotal point in exposing Nina's sensuality, a vital trait for the Black Swan.  Making sexual advances, Thomas urges her to pleasure herself, become seductive and be in tune with her libido, to capture the essense of the Black Swan, which comes naturally to Lily, played by Mila Kunis. This is where the Jungian psychonalytic perspective can be applied, to interpret Nina's and Lily's characters--or dual character?  Lily's "shadow" traits include sexual and aggressive impulses, while the socially acceptable traits of ambition and vulnerability represent Nina's persona.  The wholeness of Nina's personality is further disrupted when it clashes with Lily's hedonic habits to let loose, drink, and have sex, disregarding the worries of tomorrow.  Ironically, as it disrupts the White Swan qualities, Lily's shadow-like qualities also mediate between Nina's consciousness and unconscioussnes.  Nina's moral conflict is also a result of her mother's past as a ballerina, which subconciously torments her to accomplish what her mother was not able to.

Throughout the film, the mirror serves as a reflection of Nina's worst critic--herself. She gazes at the mirror after replacing Beth for the role of the Swan, and collects some of her personal belongings.  Nina's motive was to become as perfect as Beth, which she has placed on a petestal. To become "the little princess," as Thomas referred to Beth, would mean letting go of herself completely.  The final production of Swan Lake becomes the climax of the film, where Nina's hallucinations are magnified center stage. Backstage, the drama unveils between the clashing Swans, as Portman's character is seen to be fully submitted to the dark and vulgar side that Thomas has been urging her to become.  She thrusts Lily against a dressing room mirror, shattering it to pieces, and stabs her with a shard of glass. This symbolizes Nina's shattered mental state, which is perfectly impaired. In actuality, Nina's white dress is drenched in her own blood, as she delivers a perfect performance in the final act. Synonymous with the storyline of the Swan Lake, Nina gracefully falls and ironically utters that it was perfect as she dies. The fatal finale displays her self-destruction as a result of perfection.

xo Maria

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Reference

Cloninger, S. (2008). Theories of Personality: Understanding Persons (5th ed.). Upper Saddle     
               River, New Jersey: Pearson Education.