Black Swan is a tragedy about a mother trying to protect her daughter from falling off the deep end, even through she's partly responsible for her daughter's neurosis.
Black Swan is a coming-of-age tale of a young woman getting in touch with her repressed sexuality, stunted by both her home life and single-minded pursuit of being an impeccable dancer.
Black Swan is a horror movie about a woman's descent into abject madness, wherein the use of mirrors, long a cliché, feels delightfully fresh.
Black Swan is a companion piece to Aronofsky's The Wrestler, another story of an otherwise broken individual that only knows how to live through performing their craft.
Black Swan is the same movie as The Wrestler, except the low-brow "art" of wrestling is replaced by ballet — perhaps the most visual, enduring, and universally accessible performance art of our entire species.
Black Swan is nothing like Aronofsky's previous movie, The Wrestler.
Black Swan is a dark comedy, a drama that is so incredibly over-the-top, with histrionics and music cues, that one can't help but laugh.
Black Swan is Oscar bait for Natalie Portman, who gave one of the most thrilling screen performances in recent memory.
I have no idea what Black Swan was. All I know is that I loved it.
This article was originally written for and published at The Junior Varsity.
