The Black Swan - Movie Review Example

Literature review The movie ‘Black Swan’ has sex as its main theme. When Nina Sayers comes close to sex there is a strange thing happening. Sex becomes the focal point for many of the major events in Black Swan. Nina is seen to be passive to her surroundings and cannot shine even when an opportunity presents itself because of her psychological barriers. Sex brings down all of these barriers. Sex also creates a few more barriers for her. For Nina to rip out what is inside her and give traction to her feet she needs to confront the sexuality of people near her and hers too. Tomas the director of the company tries to force himself on her. The boss violates her and what she feels she is. The response that Nina gives is to bite the lip of the boss violently and draws blood. This sexual violation brings a big change in Nina’s life. She is no longer the wallflower that wilts and lives off of her promises but now turns out as the star in the show. Tomas tells Nina to go and masturbate at home (Taleb 2010 p. 30). In that conversation Nina reveals that she is no longer a virgin although she could be a lie to make her appear more mature. It is not clear but also interesting to think about her regression in development after engaging in sexual intercourse. She nevertheless decides to put seriousness in her homework. Another important feature is solo sex since Nina sees it as difficult. She tries it out in the morning in bed but sees her mother near her and stops. Her mother appears like a metaphor that is alive. She carries it to the bathtub but her mind stops her since it is unprepared to go beyond the threshold when she hallucinates in fear. These double moments are just echoes of another earlier moment that has nothing involving sex. This is the scene in which when Lily comes into the room Nina is stopped from finishing her audition as Black Swan. According to the information given the dance through the whole film is sex alone which involves seduction. Nina is a format dancer and does not feel the character’s passion. However she cannot let the dance go to a stiff climax because Lily interrupts in. The sinew that comes between the act of sex and dancing the ballet in the struggle of Nina adds to the theme by increasing the lack of ability to perform to the representations list. Nina’s inability to make her happy and her inability to perform the ballet are going hand in hand. There is a catalyst that has nothing to do with sex but makes a way for it. The boldness in Black Swan is seen it the storytelling and the willingness it has to forego a structure with three acts or at least to make a version of it that is distorted. The movement that takes us to the second act takes place later when Lily gives her the pill. Together with the audience she wakes up in a blur passionately kissing a strange person who disgusts her. The use of drugs makes her to finally stand up to her mother and fantasize about the lesbian act she had with Lily (Taleb 2007 p. 33). Nina later abandons her innocence and her mother as well. She is still in the struggle of becoming a successful dancer when there is lights out in the area of practice and nervously she gets into the main stage. She feels uneasy and after hallucinating Lily and Tomas thrusting inside each other, she breaks psychotically with the reality which makes her have a confrontation with Beth in the hospital, the paintings of her mother and to change into a Swan prior to her black out. Apart from the sexual catalysts discussed above the language in the film is suggestive of sex including the way a woman is talked about. For example a young ingénue blasts Beth as a person approaching menopause. This shows that she is defined in terms of sex. There is also the grist filled world which the insular ballet company has to deal with every day. Beth after the party accuses Nina for taking the starring role since she sucked Tomas’ cock. The word ‘WHORE’ written on the mirror in lipstick is seen while the joyous Nina in the bathroom informs her mother that she has found a new break. The achievements that look most positive are also marred by sexual perversity and that common myth that sex is the only channel to get success. All this may be seen as an application of a theme to a slasher film that in unconventional. Nina happens to be the victim and the slasher but she tends to break the rules when she gives herself to sex and brings the punishment to fulfillment when she stabs herself. Sex becomes the key component to all the major shifts in plot in the Black Swan and it is the one that tears out the insides of Nina and wins her soul (Taleb 2010 p. 05). Triplet of Opacity The triplet of opacity is an illusion of understanding in which everybody believes that he or she knows everything that should be known about all things when in really sense they do not know. It is also the retrospective distortion whereby people make use of the hindsight to give explanations to mysterious and strange things to make others believe that those people are the ones controlling the situations. Triplet of opacity involves overvaluing factual information and the handicap of the learned and authoritative people. It makes us listen and believe in people that seem to be experts but cannot give practical answers. It is normally wise if you know that you do not know. Destructive behavior by humans comes from aggressive ignorance or a certain fear of a person appearing stupid which is greater than the fear of getting something wrong. When a person is asked a question whose right answer they don’t know they may respond through aggressive ignorance (Taleb 2007 p.15). Japanese tsunami Geophysicists say that the undersea earthquake that happened off the Japanese coast was more powerful that what was expected. This is the reason why Japan’s Sendai area that lies close to the epicenter of the earthquake was unprepared for the big quake and the tsunami that followed. The anticipation was that because the ocean floor was very old that is recycled to form the earth’s mantle then mega earth quakes cannot arise. The quake occurred where that is a very old earth’s crust of about 140 million years old which made it difficult to anticipate it. History confirmed that such quakes of a 9.0-magnitude could not occur since an old crust is denser and cooler compared to a younger crust (Kenneally 2004 p. 10). The tsunami widely affected businesses and the various events planned for that period. The tsunami compromised the domestic supply of power and manufacturing companies could not export their products. The tsunami froze important elements in the manufacturing sector of Japan. Honda, Nissan and Toyota automobile plants were closed down in Northern Japan. The tsunami destroyed almost 2,300 Infiniti and Nissan vehicles that were due for shipment. Nissan reported that six of its facilities in Japan had been damaged. With the destruction of shipping ports and roads some companies could not export their products. The automotive industry hailed by economists as a source for economic growth on the globe has been strained. The sector of technology was also devastated. Because of the Tsunami Sony closed 2 centers of research and 10 factories. Toshiba shut down 5 plants while Texas instruments shut down 2 plants to be reopened after 4 months. Key computer, iPad, DVD player, camcorder and television components are produced by the affected companies. The high-tech industry seen by experts as a major source for economic growth was hit with a major shortage. Businesses out of Japan were also affected. Some companies in the U.S and Canada were affected since they could not get their supplies for some time. European companies were also affected especially those dealing in re insurance, electricity and energy (Lambourne 2005 p. 7). The black swan idea is relevant to any business enterprise. Actually is relates to every set up and life of a human being. For a multinational business of medium size the black Swan ideas are very relevant. For such like a business being caught by surprise by events is very dangerous for the survival of the business. Surprises of this nature have a huge impact that hits the business badly. Unfortunate events of this nature which are rationalized through hindsight have the ability of destroying the business. If the main business is rocked by such an occurrence then all its multinational branches will be affected. Customers and other companies depending on the business will be affected and the entire network as well (Macey 2005 p. 11). References Chanson, H. (2010). Tsunami Warning Signs on the Enshu Coast of Japan. Shore & Beach, Vol. 78, No. 1, pp. 52–54 Fradin, J. and Brindell D. (2008). Witness to Disaster: Tsunamis. Witness to Disaster. Kenneally, C. (December 30, 2004). "Surviving the Tsunami." Slate. website Lambourne, H. (March 27, 2005). "Tsunami: Anatomy of a disaster." BBC News. website Macey, R. (January 1, 2005). "The Big Bang that Triggered A Tragedy," The Sydney Morning Herald, p 11 McMenamin, & Mark A. S. (2007). Science 101: Geology. New York: Collins. Taleb, N. N. (2007), The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, Random House Taleb, N. N. (2007) "Opacity: What We Do Not See". Fooledbyrandomness.com. Retrieved 2011-11-09. Taleb, N. (2010), The Black Swan, Second Edition, Penguin, Prologue p xxi Tappin, D; (2001). Local tsunamis. Geoscientist. 11–8, 4–7. Washington, D.C.:National Geographic Society. pp. 42, 43. Read More