There Is No Unmarked Person

The Black Swan: a psychological thriller-horror film in which Natalie Portman transforms into the innocent, professional ballerina Nina. Throughout the movie, Nina goes through a metamorphosis from fragile to “damaged” to achieve the perfection—the black swan—that she desires so much, leading to her imminent death. On both sides, the white and black swan, Nina becomes marked.

The white swan represents the innocence and perfection that Nina already holds. Up until now, she has never experienced the “adult” things—lust, lying, and addiction—that are supposed to bring out the opposite nature that she holds. The pink room and her name serve to trap her into the grip of her scrupulous mother, bent on coddling her through adulthood while also restraining her from growing up because of her jealousy of seeing Nina become the professional ballerina that she never was. Thomas, the director, constantly criticizes her need to follow everything exactly and never letting go. As with all children, Nina is marked by her innocence; she is seen as babyish and neurotic. This torment forces all children to grow up and transform into a damaged version of themselves to achieve the carefree, effortless, and imprecise personality.

The black swan represents the greed, thievery, resentment, blame, and vengeance that comes with growing up and facing the evils of reality. Nina subjects herself to having sex, lying to her mother, and taking ecstasy to succumb to the black swan that she desperately wishes to become. It is in the final scene where Nina allows her inner darkness to shine by stabbing Lily, the backup dancer that has already achieved the black swan. However, in reality, Nina only stabbed herself which metaphorically allowed her to shed the outer perfection and engulf herself with evil. Despite achieving this status, Nina has inadvertently marked herself. Beth, the dying swan who was replaced by Nina for the role of the swan queen, represents the tarnished nature of growing up. Even though Beth has subjected herself to the horrors of the world, she is rejected by Thomas because of her old age and corruption. Becoming the black swan means marking oneself as dirty and corrupted—addicted to sex, drugs, and loose morals.

Similarly, children who subject themselves to this cycle of abuse are marked by society as deplorable; they become rejected by everyone, which leads to internal torment. Even without growing up to the extreme parts of society, children mark themselves in that they should be more responsible and a role model for other younger children. This unachievable balance between the white and black swan leads people, especially Nina, to internal torment and self-harm. The innocence that society values yet despises and the corruption and growth that society values yet despises creates no alternatives: “there is no unmarked [person]” (Tannen 556).

*Ms. Valentino: we should watch The Black Swan after the AP because there are so many symbols, motifs, and deeper meanings within the movie that we can discuss!