Black Swan, Inspiration of Idealization

Media is one of the main diffusers of any kind of stereotype, what is as well applied in ballet. We can see in several movies how they portray  the anorexic dancing girl. Today, Aronofky’s latest and more fashionable movie ‘Black Swan’, tells the story of a girl who is obsessed with being perfect in every single aspect of her dancing career. This begins, of course, with ballet technique - for ballet is extremely perfectionist in all of its movements - and ends up with their bodies. For achieving this so much dreamt perfection, Nina – the protagonist – lives a life in which there is only space for ballet, rejecting every other item of her life; from social relationships, to food; it is to say, a healthy life. In this movie we can also see the strong negative influence ballet teachers may sometimes have over their pupils. The director of Nina’s company – Thomas – demands her to devote to the role to such extent that she actually transforms herself into the character she is supposed to perform, tha black swan. As the story develops, we can see how ballet starts taking posession all over Nina, driving her to a state of mental insanity that will end up in her own death. As she dies, her last words are “ I felt it. Perfect. I was perfect.”

In ‘Black Swan’,  Nina´s mother gave away her chance to shine after getting pregnant - a most graphic example of a frustrated-ballerina-mother, but intends to live her dream by overcontrolling every single bit of her already grown up daughter’s life, leading her, together with the demanding director of the company and Nina's own inclination to perfection to a pathological state of mental insanity.

This is of course, an extreme exaggeration, but it does encourage the stereotype.