Imagine you are a fly on the wall at a meeting between the three (male) writers and the (male) director. Some sample dialogue.
1. "Those dancer chicks sure are hot."
2. "Except the old ones. They are not so hot. Let the camera linger on that one's wrinkly back. Gross. Also, the mother is over 40, so she is really not hot. Light her super harshly."
3. "Psycho dancer chicks are really hot. But not when they act frigid. Let's have the dude in charge seduce Natalie Portman! To loosen her up! Also, make her masturbate as part of her job description. That's hot!"
4. "It's really hot when psycho dancer chicks lose their minds and stab themselves to death."
5. "How about a sex scene between hot ballerinas! Let's put Natalie Portman in bed with another chick! OK, I think we have a movie."
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This is exactly what I thought (number 5 in particular) when I saw the previews, then it came out and everyone started saying how great it was! Haven't seen it; don't plan to.
ReplyDeleteThank you for saving me $13!
ReplyDeleteDid we watch the same film? I think the last thing I was thinking looking at Portman's ribs, backbones, throwing up, and gaunt face was how "hot" she was. As for the masturbating and lesbian scenes, I didn't find them gratuitous or purely voyeuristic ....much of the film has a coherent if somewhat simple psychological narrative that I think was the intriguing part. Just because there are sexual elements doesn't make it sexist. I thought it was amazingly done and recommend it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. Girl from HK, I see what you're saying. Lots of people liked the movie, obviously. But it bothered me that every single female character was evil (the mom) weak (Nina) or crazy (both of them, plus Winona Ryder's character). I don't see how the throwing up scenes make all that other stuff ok.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to see this as (well, I really have no interest) and one of my gf's pretty much told me the writer(s) have no clue what women are like. From what I've read the story is a cliche after another tired cliche. Enough madgirls in the attic... and my respect for Portman (pretty much nil after her famous "Allure" interview) has pretty much disintegrated altogether.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agreed on all points. I went to see Black Swan on opening weekend in L.A. at a fairly chi-chi theater where you can pick your seat when you buy your ticket, and they sell gourmet coffee and expensive water. In other words, not the kind of movie theater most hetero guys might think of first. Yet, I was surprised at the number of straight couples I saw in the theater, since Black Swan is not exactly a 'date movie' like 27 Dresses or some other 'rom-com.' Once I saw the sex scene between Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman, though, I understood. They must have heard about it online, which is why they came out with their girlfriends on opening weekend to see it.
ReplyDeleteNot to sound *completely* jaded, I'm sure there were some guys in the theater with their girlfriends who truly wanted to see the movie, and/or maybe they're Aronofsky fans, saw the Wrestler and really loved it, etc. But I just can't believe all of them were there for those reasons. I'm sure there were ulterior motives for some.
I haven't seen a ballet - themed(?) centered(?) picked-on(?) movie I've liked yet. Altman's "The Company" was pretty good, if a little un-focused. They all seem to follow the same clichéd pattern; girl finds pointe shoes, girl obsesses with pointe shoes, girl obsesses about weight re: pointe shoes, girl has bad self image/lack of confidence/controlling mother who wants pointe shoes, girl can't find love vs. pointe shoes. Feh.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget "Let's tell the lead actress to act like a brittle piece of glass with absolutely no depth to her personality." I wish Natalie Portman nothing but luck, but I think this Oscar talk is kind of ridiculous. She was not given meaty material to work with -- all she did was run around looking terrified and speaking in a shakey voice. I think some women are latching onto this film because it is one of the few of the season with a woman in every frame of the film, but that does not make Nina a strong female character.
ReplyDeleteI actually found the script itself to be feminist, but not necessarily in a positive way. It focused a lot on destructive female relationships and the constant demands placed on the young.
ReplyDeleteI just can't over the director dude's little (ironic?) mustache. To me, it sums up how I feel about Black Swan...it's like the filmic equivalent (creepy, but not in the good way, trying really hard).
ReplyDeleteThank jeebus for you. This movie is sooooo The Emporer's New Clothes! Why is everyone acting like it wasn't cringingly ridiculous?! Natalie Portman, quivering and fingerbanging her way to an Oscar!
ReplyDeleteExactly! It IS the Emporer's New Clothes. Because if you don't like it, then it's *yeah, that IS a difficult film* implying that your sense of taste is really just your own inability to "take it." I think his films are shallow sensationalist drivel.
ReplyDeleteI am a guy and that's exactly what I thought at the end of the movie: a male fantasy. That's the real weak point of Black Swan.
ReplyDelete