Good Example Of Essay On “Black Swan” Thesis

In terms of both our vocations and hobbies, we often aspire to become great. What happens, however, when this very desire consumes and overtakes us? The 2010 film "Black Swam" starring Natalie Portman as a high-profile ballet dancer, shows its viewers that unchecked ambition can be a dangerous and ultimately deadly thing. This message is achieved primarily through the film's use of detail-heavy camerawork, its character depiction, and its embrace of magical realism and distortions of reality.  The film's camerawork often becomes consumed with details in a way that is strange or even unsettling for a viewer. One of the first scenes in "Black Swan" shows Nina (played by Natalie Portman) practicing for a coveted dance audition alone in her room. She hurts her toe, and we later see a fracture in her toenail. This itself isn't outstanding, but the filmmakers chose to stay on a shot of her bloodied nail for a seemingly inordinate amount of time is unsettling.  Similar instances happen at multiple points throughout the movie as well. While in costume at the dance studio, Portman's character wears a shirt with a revealed back. Glancing at her own reflection, she notices a laceration beneath her shoulder, and again the camera stays on this wound for some period of time. Toward the end of the film, when Nina is changing her costume between scenes, her toes become stuck together. We are forced to watch the lengthy process of her unsticking each one from another. All of this focus on grotesque detail becomes jarring. As a viewer, it forces us to see the gritty and disturbing reality behind the star's ambition, and it forces us to see this ambition as something harmful.  Another way in which "Black Swan" exposes the negative side-effects of unchecked ambition is through its characterization of Nina. When we first meet her, the film's protagonist comes off as meek and quiet. We soon learn, however, that her quest for fame and success has left her in a far worse place than simply shy. Portman's character has been reduced to a child. She lives with her over-reaching mother, and spends much of her time behind the doors of her room as would an angst-filled teenager.         Even more bizarre and noticeable are some of the details of Nina's residence. At the film's beginning we are shown an extended scene of Portman in her bed, distraught. Her mother hovers above her: not only does she assume the position of a mother dutifully looking after a child, but she is physically tucking Nina into bed during this stretch. Additionally, the sound of a child's music box can he heard throughout the course of "Black Swan". This happens both when the film's protagonist is caged away in her room but also, and perhaps more tellingly, when she is outside of it. These details demonstrate how, despite the fact that she is in her middle 20's, the character has been crippled and continues to act like a child. Her pursuit of success (which in the end quite literally kills her), becomes mortally dangerous.         Perhaps the most unique aspect of "Black Swan" is the way it utilities distortions of reality. At the beginning of the film, these are minimal: Nina thinks she passes herself on the street; she overhears conversations that may or may not actually occur. As the film goes on, however, these become more and more severe. The reflections of characters in mirrors will often turn and look independent of their actual bodies; Nina begins to hear a flurry of voices that do not exist. By the end of "Black Swan", the movie has progressed into episodes of full-blown magical realism. One of the film's final scenes shows Portman onstage with her arms transformed into the fully-feathered wings of a swan. All of these distortions show the viewer just how deranged the character of Nina has become: we see that her high drive for success has at times completely cut her off from the real world, causing great pain to both herself and others.