The Dark Double of Sexual Repression in ‘Black Swan’ [Horror Queers Podcast]

Lezzy Wet Dream.

After a February spent looking at Mitchell Lichtenstein’s horror comedy Teeth (listen), one of the “good” Amityville entries – that would be Amityville 1992: It’s About Time (listen) – and Robert Weine’s classic silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), we’re kicking off a themed month of ‘Doppelgängers and Deception’ with a fresh look at Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan (2010).

In the film, sexually repressed ballet dancer Nina (an Oscar winning Natalie Portman) struggles to convince company director Thomas (Vincent Cassel) that she can handle the emotional complexity of playing the dual lead roles in a new production of Swan Lake.

Her overprotective mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) worries about Nina’s ability to handle the stress, which isn’t helped by the arrival of a new rival named Lily (Mila Kunis) who embodies all of the sexy confidence that Nina doesn’t have.

As Nina’s vivid hallucinations escalate and opening night fast approaches, will the novice be able to deliver the perfect performance she dreams of? Or is she doomed to end up like maligned and cast aside just her predecessor Beth (Winona Ryder)?

Break in your ballet shoes and for God’s sake, let this girl climax (!) because we are talking about Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan.

From Natalie Portman’s Oscar winning performance to this stacked cast to its immersive handheld camera, Black Swan is a big fave, even if Nina’s passivity can be frustrating to watch.