http://happysantika89.wordpress.com/2011/10/19/female-sexuality-and-freudian-theory-the-black-swan-movie-discussion-2/
Freudian Theory of sexuality has involved so many controversies during the development of psychoanalysis. The theory of sexuality was being considered as an outrage in the Victorian era when Sigmund Freud developed his theory about psychoanalysis (Anonyms 2008). Moreover, Sigmund Freud theory of sexuality has been walked alongside with the Jacques Lacan theory of sexuality. The theory of sexuality itself can therefore be applied to The Black Swan movie and its relation to the Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan theories.
The Black Swan movie tells the story of Nina Sayer (Natalie Portman) who is a dedicated ballerina and devotes her life into dancing. She is a perfectionist as a person and she also wishes for the greatest achievement in her career. Therefore, she decides to take an audition for the main role in Swan Lake. Nina as a typical sweet and fragile woman is perfect for the White Swan role. However, her personality is not suitable for the Black Swan. As a ballerina who has devoted her life into dancing, she has made so much effort to make her role as the Black Swan went out smooth. She practices every single day until she felt obsessed with the role itself. She cannot even separate between her real life and her stage life thereafter (The Black Swan 2010).
In her daily life, Nina has also dealt with so much drama. Her mom who is a former ballerina tends to be overprotective towards Nina. Her mom knows everything about ballerina life and therefore she protects Nina so that no one can defect Nina’s career. Her attitude has been too much according to Nina herself. She cannot run her life with her own will. One of the examples can be shown when Nina should perform on her performance in Broadway and her mom avoids her to enter the stage because her mom felt that Nina is sick (The Black Swan 2010).
At the end of this movie, she feels that Nina is unable to fulfill her role because her mom thinks that it is her obsession to become the famous ballerina and not her. Her mom is also disappointed with her pastime when she cannot take the role in Swan Lake and she has then decided to give birth to Nina at that time (The Black Swan 2010). From this situation, it is shown that her mom has experienced the melancholic situation. According to Lacan (as cited in Zizek 2006), melancholic exists when we eventually obtain the desired object, but are disappointed with it. This reveals that Nina’s mom is disappointed with her pastime and she encourages Nina not to make the same mistake as she did. However, Nina has a different thought. Nina thinks that her mom encourages her to feel the kinship as well as her mom fail to make her performance in the Broadway (The Black Swan 2010).
Furthermore, Nina’s mom is being overprotected towards Nina. For instance, her mom does not like to see Nina scratch her back until her back is bleeding. Therefore, she shows her resentment with anger and cut her nail forcefully. The action from ‘cutting nail’ can even be conducted by Nina but her mom does it for her. Subsequently, her mother has always accompanied Nina when she is sleeping. Nina cannot even take her own time to be relaxed in the bathroom. It is because her mom will check out for her if she is in the bathroom for quite long. Consequently, Nina feels insecure on it and she becomes rebel to disapprove over her protection (The Black Swan 2010)
From this standpoint, Nina’s mom treats her as a child and she is showing the rebellion upon it. According to Freud (1932), when the girl enters the maturity to choose her love-object, she will be show resentment towards someone who prevents her in doing free sexual activity. This can be shown in mother-daughter relationship in the Black Swan movie. When the mother take up the duty of protecting her daughter chastity, the mother opposes masturbation and this will give a motive to her daughter for rebellion (Freud 1932).
Moreover, the rebellion from Nina is shown with regards to sexuality. The sexual outcomes were first derived by the fantasy. Base on Lacan (as cited in Zizek 2006), fantasy teaches us on how to desire and the role of fantasy hinges on the deadlock in our sexuality. This can be illustrated when Nina tries to portray the role of Black Swan. The character of the Black Swan itself is seductive and Nina is lack of seduction for this role (The Black Swan 2010).
Therefore, she approves the advice from her mentor (Thomas Leroy) to touch herself. Her mentor (Thomas Leroy) has also trained her with seduction. Thomas Leroy seduces her with kisses and grabs her thighs so that Nina is capable of revealing her seductive side. This approach seems to be successful and Nina becomes more seductive in the role of Black Swan. In her daily life, Nina is also engaged with sexual activity. The movie illustrates that she enjoys on touching herself in the morning before going to her Ballet studio. According to Lacan (as cited in Zizek 2006), he accepts that every subject must discover a fantasy of his or her own ‘private’ formula for the sexual relationship. This can be seen that the provate formula for Nina is her mentor who trains her to touch herself and she approves it. Lacan (as cited in Zizek 2006) also adds that if it is the relationship with the woman, it is possible to only inasmuch as the partner adheres to this formula.
In addition, Freud (as cited in Zizek 2006) also recalls on fantasy by illustrating it from the fantasy of eating strawberry cake and this is to form an identity (of the one who fully enjoys eating a cake given by the parents) so that they would satisfy her parents and make her the object of their desire. This can be related to the Black Swan movie when Nina enjoys on touching herself during her daily life. The satisfaction is obtained from the feel of achievement itself. This means that Nina has succeed to be more seductive as the Black Swan and she is able to portray the role as perfect as the story tells.
Subsequently, Lacan (as cited in Zizek 2006) clarifies since the sexuality is the domain in which we get closest to the intimacy of another human being, it is fully exposed ourselves to him or her and something traumatic in its breathtaking intensity is yet impossible in our senses. It can be shown when Nina is hanging out with her ballerina friend Lily in the night club. Lily has the opposite personality than Nina. Lily can embody the dark side of the Black Swan more appropriately than Nina (The Black Swan 2010)
In the story, she asked Nina to visit the night club. The ambience of the night club make Nina kisses so many guys in the movie. The music in the night club also supports her to do the passionate kisses with so many guys. Lacan (as cited in Zizek 2006) also reveals the reason why a sexual relation has to be screened through some fantasy in order to function. This proves that the music and the ambience of the night club is the function to screen through the sexual fantasy.
After the night club scene, there is also an activity that can be described in the theory of sexuality. Nina does not notice that she goes home by herself. In the story, she only notices that she goes home with her friend Lily. She was arguing with her mom while she was arriving at home. Since she still believes that she asked Lily to come with her to home, Nina drags her to her bedroom. Nina is fantasizing about making love with Lily at that time (The Black Swan 2010)
The story continues in the morning. Nina came late to the dance studio. Then, she talked to Lily and Lily was not there in her house. Therefore, this is only Nina’s fantasies. According to Donald Rumsfeld (as cited in Zizek 2006), he clarifies the relationship between the known and the unknown. Donald Rumsfeld (as cited in Zizek 2006) explains that there are known knowns which mean we know what we know. This can be explained when Nina did not notice that she was making love with Lily.
However, Donald Rumsfeld theory should be reviewed at this point of view. According to Zizek (2006), he forgot to mention ‘the unknown knowns’ which disavowed beliefs and suppositions that are not even aware of adhering to ourselves but which nonetheless determine our acts and feelings. It can be described that Nina has experienced the unknown knowns when she did not realize that she fantasizes Nina came to her home and making love with her.
The complication of fantasy has brought the sexuality to the crucial effects. Based on Zizek (2006), he implies that we can encounter the traumatic Real which means that dreams are for those who cannot endure reality, reality itself is for those who cannot endure. This has been illustrated in the scene when Nina reached the point of hatred with Lily’s attitude. Nina thinks that Lily want to take over the role.
Once again, Nina dreams on having a conversation with Lily and this conversation ends up with fight. She is very upset with Lily until she breaks the glass and use its glass shattered to stab Lily. All of these are only existed in Nina’s dream. The fact that she did not stab Lily and she stabs herself made her Nina’s condition become worse. This shows how the traumatic Real cannot endure the reality and it makes Nina sad and injured at the end of this story.
In conclusion, female sexuality is derived from the concept of a drive. This drive can be aimed as an active or passive base on particular situation. According to Sigmund Freud (2008), a drive with an active aim may turn into one whose aim is passive. For instance, the desire to master one’s beloved can turn into the desire, passively, to be mastered by her. Sigmund Freud (2008) revealed that the concept of a drive as follows:
Freud, S 1932, Female Sexuality, The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, pp.281-297
Freud, S 2008, Sexuality and its Vicissitudes, Sigmund Freud: The father of Psychoanalysis, pp.36-56
The Black Swan, 2010,Motion Picture, A News Corporation Company, United States,
Zizek, S 2006, How to read Lacan, Granta Publication, United Kingdom.
Freudian Theory of sexuality has involved so many controversies during the development of psychoanalysis. The theory of sexuality was being considered as an outrage in the Victorian era when Sigmund Freud developed his theory about psychoanalysis (Anonyms 2008). Moreover, Sigmund Freud theory of sexuality has been walked alongside with the Jacques Lacan theory of sexuality. The theory of sexuality itself can therefore be applied to The Black Swan movie and its relation to the Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan theories.
The Black Swan movie tells the story of Nina Sayer (Natalie Portman) who is a dedicated ballerina and devotes her life into dancing. She is a perfectionist as a person and she also wishes for the greatest achievement in her career. Therefore, she decides to take an audition for the main role in Swan Lake. Nina as a typical sweet and fragile woman is perfect for the White Swan role. However, her personality is not suitable for the Black Swan. As a ballerina who has devoted her life into dancing, she has made so much effort to make her role as the Black Swan went out smooth. She practices every single day until she felt obsessed with the role itself. She cannot even separate between her real life and her stage life thereafter (The Black Swan 2010).
In her daily life, Nina has also dealt with so much drama. Her mom who is a former ballerina tends to be overprotective towards Nina. Her mom knows everything about ballerina life and therefore she protects Nina so that no one can defect Nina’s career. Her attitude has been too much according to Nina herself. She cannot run her life with her own will. One of the examples can be shown when Nina should perform on her performance in Broadway and her mom avoids her to enter the stage because her mom felt that Nina is sick (The Black Swan 2010).
At the end of this movie, she feels that Nina is unable to fulfill her role because her mom thinks that it is her obsession to become the famous ballerina and not her. Her mom is also disappointed with her pastime when she cannot take the role in Swan Lake and she has then decided to give birth to Nina at that time (The Black Swan 2010). From this situation, it is shown that her mom has experienced the melancholic situation. According to Lacan (as cited in Zizek 2006), melancholic exists when we eventually obtain the desired object, but are disappointed with it. This reveals that Nina’s mom is disappointed with her pastime and she encourages Nina not to make the same mistake as she did. However, Nina has a different thought. Nina thinks that her mom encourages her to feel the kinship as well as her mom fail to make her performance in the Broadway (The Black Swan 2010).
Furthermore, Nina’s mom is being overprotected towards Nina. For instance, her mom does not like to see Nina scratch her back until her back is bleeding. Therefore, she shows her resentment with anger and cut her nail forcefully. The action from ‘cutting nail’ can even be conducted by Nina but her mom does it for her. Subsequently, her mother has always accompanied Nina when she is sleeping. Nina cannot even take her own time to be relaxed in the bathroom. It is because her mom will check out for her if she is in the bathroom for quite long. Consequently, Nina feels insecure on it and she becomes rebel to disapprove over her protection (The Black Swan 2010)
From this standpoint, Nina’s mom treats her as a child and she is showing the rebellion upon it. According to Freud (1932), when the girl enters the maturity to choose her love-object, she will be show resentment towards someone who prevents her in doing free sexual activity. This can be shown in mother-daughter relationship in the Black Swan movie. When the mother take up the duty of protecting her daughter chastity, the mother opposes masturbation and this will give a motive to her daughter for rebellion (Freud 1932).
Moreover, the rebellion from Nina is shown with regards to sexuality. The sexual outcomes were first derived by the fantasy. Base on Lacan (as cited in Zizek 2006), fantasy teaches us on how to desire and the role of fantasy hinges on the deadlock in our sexuality. This can be illustrated when Nina tries to portray the role of Black Swan. The character of the Black Swan itself is seductive and Nina is lack of seduction for this role (The Black Swan 2010).
Therefore, she approves the advice from her mentor (Thomas Leroy) to touch herself. Her mentor (Thomas Leroy) has also trained her with seduction. Thomas Leroy seduces her with kisses and grabs her thighs so that Nina is capable of revealing her seductive side. This approach seems to be successful and Nina becomes more seductive in the role of Black Swan. In her daily life, Nina is also engaged with sexual activity. The movie illustrates that she enjoys on touching herself in the morning before going to her Ballet studio. According to Lacan (as cited in Zizek 2006), he accepts that every subject must discover a fantasy of his or her own ‘private’ formula for the sexual relationship. This can be seen that the provate formula for Nina is her mentor who trains her to touch herself and she approves it. Lacan (as cited in Zizek 2006) also adds that if it is the relationship with the woman, it is possible to only inasmuch as the partner adheres to this formula.
In addition, Freud (as cited in Zizek 2006) also recalls on fantasy by illustrating it from the fantasy of eating strawberry cake and this is to form an identity (of the one who fully enjoys eating a cake given by the parents) so that they would satisfy her parents and make her the object of their desire. This can be related to the Black Swan movie when Nina enjoys on touching herself during her daily life. The satisfaction is obtained from the feel of achievement itself. This means that Nina has succeed to be more seductive as the Black Swan and she is able to portray the role as perfect as the story tells.
Subsequently, Lacan (as cited in Zizek 2006) clarifies since the sexuality is the domain in which we get closest to the intimacy of another human being, it is fully exposed ourselves to him or her and something traumatic in its breathtaking intensity is yet impossible in our senses. It can be shown when Nina is hanging out with her ballerina friend Lily in the night club. Lily has the opposite personality than Nina. Lily can embody the dark side of the Black Swan more appropriately than Nina (The Black Swan 2010)
In the story, she asked Nina to visit the night club. The ambience of the night club make Nina kisses so many guys in the movie. The music in the night club also supports her to do the passionate kisses with so many guys. Lacan (as cited in Zizek 2006) also reveals the reason why a sexual relation has to be screened through some fantasy in order to function. This proves that the music and the ambience of the night club is the function to screen through the sexual fantasy.
After the night club scene, there is also an activity that can be described in the theory of sexuality. Nina does not notice that she goes home by herself. In the story, she only notices that she goes home with her friend Lily. She was arguing with her mom while she was arriving at home. Since she still believes that she asked Lily to come with her to home, Nina drags her to her bedroom. Nina is fantasizing about making love with Lily at that time (The Black Swan 2010)
The story continues in the morning. Nina came late to the dance studio. Then, she talked to Lily and Lily was not there in her house. Therefore, this is only Nina’s fantasies. According to Donald Rumsfeld (as cited in Zizek 2006), he clarifies the relationship between the known and the unknown. Donald Rumsfeld (as cited in Zizek 2006) explains that there are known knowns which mean we know what we know. This can be explained when Nina did not notice that she was making love with Lily.
However, Donald Rumsfeld theory should be reviewed at this point of view. According to Zizek (2006), he forgot to mention ‘the unknown knowns’ which disavowed beliefs and suppositions that are not even aware of adhering to ourselves but which nonetheless determine our acts and feelings. It can be described that Nina has experienced the unknown knowns when she did not realize that she fantasizes Nina came to her home and making love with her.
The complication of fantasy has brought the sexuality to the crucial effects. Based on Zizek (2006), he implies that we can encounter the traumatic Real which means that dreams are for those who cannot endure reality, reality itself is for those who cannot endure. This has been illustrated in the scene when Nina reached the point of hatred with Lily’s attitude. Nina thinks that Lily want to take over the role.
Once again, Nina dreams on having a conversation with Lily and this conversation ends up with fight. She is very upset with Lily until she breaks the glass and use its glass shattered to stab Lily. All of these are only existed in Nina’s dream. The fact that she did not stab Lily and she stabs herself made her Nina’s condition become worse. This shows how the traumatic Real cannot endure the reality and it makes Nina sad and injured at the end of this story.
In conclusion, female sexuality is derived from the concept of a drive. This drive can be aimed as an active or passive base on particular situation. According to Sigmund Freud (2008), a drive with an active aim may turn into one whose aim is passive. For instance, the desire to master one’s beloved can turn into the desire, passively, to be mastered by her. Sigmund Freud (2008) revealed that the concept of a drive as follows:
- The source: it relates the organ part of the body that demands for work. For instance, Nina tends to touch herself on her vagina. This makes her reveal the dark side of the role.
- The pleasure: it is the motor factor that drives the amount of the force of the measure of the demand for work it represents. It also involves the demand for work and the individual psyche. For instance, the pleasure that can be achieved from touching herself (Nina). It occurs during her daily life because she trains herself to be as dark as the character in the black swan.
- The aim: it is related to the pleasure principle when removing the state of stimulation in source of a drive.
- The object: it can be a part of individual body. For instance, Nina tends to kiss her mentor in order to get the Black Swan role. She is repeatedly kissing her mentor in order to get his heart or to keep her role so that her mentor did not give the Swan Lake role to anyone else.
Freud, S 1932, Female Sexuality, The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, pp.281-297
Freud, S 2008, Sexuality and its Vicissitudes, Sigmund Freud: The father of Psychoanalysis, pp.36-56
The Black Swan, 2010,Motion Picture, A News Corporation Company, United States,
Zizek, S 2006, How to read Lacan, Granta Publication, United Kingdom.
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