Black Swan.

16Dec10

Darren Aronofsky has captured the female struggle.

In “Black Swan,” his genius work paired with Natalie Portman’s performance provides a focused lens on a woman’s self-loathing, desire to be perfect and battle with her worst enemy – herself.

The men around her use her until there is nothing left. Her drive steers her to madness. The male gaze is studied heavily throughout the film. Male power and manipulation articulated in a way I am not sure other directors could pinpoint. Nina is a humiliated, fragile and impressionable young woman with the weight of her mother’s broken dream on her back. The pressure is palpable, the self-destruction violent.

The most telling aspect of seeing this film was listening to the crowd’s reaction. In her most humiliatingly sad moments, the audience laughed. More than once.

And I think this speaks to the message Aronofsky himself is trying to convey about women in society today.

And exactly how society as a whole feels about them.

A devastating film that I know so many women will identify with in varying ways.