Case in point.
It's a little too close to certain bleedy Black Swan scenes for my comfort level though, haha. Dora, Jo, Kat, and I saw the film yesterday after stuffing our faces full of pasta. Natalie Portman's performance was exquisite and Mila Kunis was definitely Golden Globe worthy. It's one of those films that clings to you after you leave the theatre, looking over your shoulder, forgetting to breathe, analyzing what exactly 'happened'. A day later, I'm still turning it over and over in my head and drawing my own parallels.
I think extending beyond "what happened", there are obvious strong themes within the film-- desperately seeking perfection and finding it unattainable. I know about that, I think. I used to wonder about my imperfections and found it difficult to see the perfectionist Virgo in me. I think that's almost my main problem though. For some things, mostly in scenarios where I perceive Expectation, I don't want to do them unless I know things will turn out Just So. Perfectly. I'm terrified of falling short peoples' (or society's, or my own?) expectations sometimes. Natalie Portman's character drives and drives and drives and drives herself (to insanity) to achieve this perfection, where as I'm the type who won't even try for fear of failure. In both cases, perfection is unattainable-- so why cripple yourself? But we do.
(In other cases, in situations where there is no pressure, I'm sloppy and I like it.
"Watch the way she moves. Imprecise, but... effortless. She's not faking it.")
On another note, I think the film expresses dualities (black swan, white swan) within ourselves. In order to achieve perfection, Nina's character must channel her inner darkness/imperfection. I think that's very true to life. Sometimes in order to achieve an end or to become... or realize yourself... you have to release a certain "darkness"? I'm still thinking about this one a lot, and I can't eloquently express it. But I'm drawing parallels there too-- how easy is it to balance the Black Swan and White Swan dualities in actual life? How much 'dark' can you release (and of course darkness is subjective) before you can't get the innocence/purity back? Everyone's a little of each, yes, but sometimes we must become something to achieve something else, and if you're not pretending then you're changing and it isn't always reversible. But I'm rambling.
It was an exceptional film though-- and this coming from a girl who was almost too chicken to see it to begin with.
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