Practically Everyone Is Wrong About Black Swan But Me

There are a few misconceptions around this film I thought I should clear up. Here are the proper things to think about Black Swan.

1. It is not a film about ballet or the search for perfection.


This is an easy mistake to make. The ballet is just a device. This is a horror film about sex. Everyone who mentions Dario Argento in their reviews is on the money. This film is about ballet the way Tenebrae was about writing novels, Opera was about opera or Suspira was about, well, ballet.

2. The best bits of Natalie Portman's performance are the non-gruesome bits.


So everyone is all like 'N-Ports shows herself in pain and turns into a swan and it's all Oscar bait'. Well,she actually did a really good job in the role, and not because her feet bled or she practised dancing. Her quiet, timid stuff is what sells the film. The show-y stuff was the least convincing. She did a really good job at being a shy, put-upon kid.Good job.And it IS ACTING, unlike what those eggheads over at Slate would have you believe.

3. Again people, it's a horror film. And there's nothing wrong with that.


I like horror films when they're done well. They can be taut and claustrophobic - High Tension, The Descent, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - or they can be operatic and surreal, like the Italian films of the seventies and eighties. Argento again. It is OK to enjoy this without shouting 'Cheesy!' Black Swan is an operatic horror film done well. That is enough. It is not worth arguing about whether it is all right for intelligent people to have a good time watching it. And it is not 'camp' like those eggheads over at Slate would have you believe.

4. Yes it is funny.


Black Swan is ridiculous and ridiculous is funny. That's fine. It's not worth asking 'is it meant to be?' like those eggheads over at Slate.