To some extent gender is the most significant aspect to how films
are viewed, as the most dominant view is created from the male gaze. The male
gaze was a theory created by Laura Mulvey, she believes that we are made to
view women from a heterosexual male point of view, therefore seeing them as
sexual objects. The male gaze is apparent in the film ‘Black Swan’.
The director, Darren Aronofsky’s filmography mainly deals with
thrillers and dramas. Black Swan itself is classed as a psychological thriller
and drama.
The way in how the spectator views cinema, is mainly dependent on
their gender. However this may vary depending on what gaze is presented in a
film. The male gaze is the most dominant approach used to put across a view in
cinema. This gaze explores the viewing of a film from a man’s perspective. In
contemporary cinema, genders are still not equal when being presented.
Studying “Black Swan” (2010), directed by David Aronfsky. The
majority of his films have been dramas, also consisting of many thrillers in which
Black Swan is one of them. Being classed a psychological thriller; it
automatically becomes an intellectual film causing the audience to have to work
out the meaning of surreal happenings. The film is not classed as a spectacle
or emotional movie, although it does strike some distressing scenes. The
alignment of the audience with the character Nina, is dependent on their gender
in some scenes, however she is still objectified in the film from a heterosexual
male view.
The plot of the film presents a clearer meaning when understanding
Freudian theories, both psychoanalysis and the oedipal complex are significant
in how gender effects the way in which the film is viewed. Sigmund Freud's
theory of psychoanalysis is centred around the idea of humans "id",
which is part of the brain that controls and suppresses our animalistic
desires, which are our violent and sexual wants. Nina is introduced pure and
innocent, she wears light colours and lives with her mother. Her bedroom is decorated
in a childish way, implying her virginity. The film follows her through the
collapse of her id. The audience are shown her animalistic side through her
transformation into the black swan. As she prepares to perform for 'Swan Lake',
her desires begin to appear. To begin her mind becomes fractured, jump cuts are
used to suggest her deteriorating boundary between real and imagination. Nina's
sexual desire comes through with both Thomas and Lily. Lily, is presented as
the black swan who Nina desires to be. Nina has various hallucinations in the
film, one of which she believes to be true is the sex scene with Lily. When
Lily denies it happened, the audiences suspicions are confirmed that Nina is
imagining things. Examples of her violence seeping through, is at the end when
she dreams she kills Lily and in fact wounds herself.
Her sexual desire with Thomas has a clear link to Freud's oedipal
complex. The audience are made to assume her father is not around as he is not
shown or mentioned in the film, questioning whether Thomas is a replacement for
her father figure. He is very dominating, which she indulges herself in when
being taught how to be the black swan. Her mother, is very strict, where as
Thomas allows herself to free herself and in turn her id. This is probably why
she goes against her Mother when going out with Lily. A lack of a Father means
that the oedipal complex is directed towards Nina's Mother (Erica), the scene
where Nina licks the cake off her Mother's finger is suggesting phallic
symbolism questioning the lack of a man in both of their lives. Erica being a
strict Mother, mentions having to quit ballet to give birth to Nina, this
suggests that the reason Nina is so determined to be the best is for the guilt
her Mother pushes on to her. The significance of gender is important to the
audience when aligning with Nina, as the male audience may align with Thomas as
they view Nina sexually.
Throughout the film there
are a lot of mirrors located in Nina's home and studio. The mirrors imply her
fractured personalities, as well as this they represent her id breaking a part.
When the mirror is broken in the film it is a clear metaphor of her broken mind,
the audience are given a god like perspective when watching the break down
occur as we are able to see all personalities and hallucinations. Lacan
explored child development and how people relate to their self identity. Nina
is just becoming to identify with her true desires, as they have been
suppressed for so long, making her become animalistic.
Lacan based his theory on men, which may be why we are challenged
to identify with Nina, because the audience are not given a god like power like
in other films but instead only witness what Nina is witnessing.
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