Cristine Abigael C.

Abadier
MA-English
Prof. Zenaida O. Vitasa
Subject: Literary Criticism
Literary Piece : Black Swan
Type: Movie
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Approach to Criticism: Psychoanalysis and Imagery
STATEMENT: Perfectionism: Motivation to Success or Road to
Depression
I. INTRODUCTION
Perfectionism, in psychology, is a personality trait characterized by a person's
striving for flawlessness and setting excessively high performance standards,
accompanied by overly critical self-evaluations and concerns regarding others'
evaluations. It is best conceptualized as a multidimensional characteristic, as
psychologists agree that there are many positive and negative aspects. In
its maladaptive form, perfectionism drives people to attempt to achieve an
unattainable ideal, and their adaptive perfectionism can sometimes motivate them
to reach their goals. In the end, they derive pleasure from doing so. When
perfectionists do not reach their goals, they often fall into depression.

II. EVIDENCES
Perfectionism can drive people to accomplishments and provide the
motivation to persevere in the face of discouragement and obstacles. Roedell
(1984) argues:
"In a positive form, perfectionism can provide the driving energy which leads to
great achievement. The meticulous attention to detail, necessary for scientific
investigation, the commitment which pushes composers to keep working until the
music realizes the glorious sounds playing in the imagination, and the persistence
which keeps great artists at their easels until their creation matches their
conception all result from perfectionism."
Perfectionism can drive people to accomplishments and provide the
motivation to persevere in the face of discouragement and obstacles. Highachieving athletes, scientists, and artists often show signs of perfectionism.For
example, Michelangelo's perfectionism may have spurred him to create
masterpieces such as David and the Sistine Chapel.
On the Contrary, in its pathological form, perfectionism can be damaging. It can
take the form of procrastination when used to postpone tasks and selfdeprecation when used to excuse poor performance or to seek sympathy and
affirmation from other people. In general, maladaptive perfectionists feel constant
pressure to meet their high standards, which creates cognitive dissonance when
one cannot meet their own expectations. Perfectionism has been associated with
numerous other psychological and physiological complications as well.
Hillary Rettig, author of book The 7 Secrets of the Prolific: The Definitive Guide to
Overcoming Procrastination, Perfectionism, and Writers Block, has identified on her
blog five major characteristics of perfectionists, including:
Defining success narrowly and unrealistically; punishing oneself harshly for
perceived failures A perfectionist perceives her outcomes as being worse than
they really are.

Grandiosity The deluded idea that things that are difficult for other people should
be easy for you.
Shortsightedness Manifested in a now or never or do or die attitude.
Overidentification with work When things are going well, a perfectionist feels
like king or queen of the world, and if it fails, he or she is down in the dumps.
Overemphasis on product (vs. process), and on external rewards.
Perfectionists are obsessed with how good the final result of their efforts will be, and
the reward they hope to reap.
Rettig also lists ten minor characteristics of perfectionism:
Labeling Harshly branding oneself with terms like stupid, lazy, wimpy, etc.
Hyperbole Overstating the negative.
Fetishes A perfectionist fetish can be any relentlessly repetitive form of selfcriticism.
Dichotomizing A perfectionist often sees things in black-and-white terms, with no
shades of gray.
Competitiveness / Comparisons Perfectionist often draw comparisons unfairly
using themselves at their peak level of performance.
Unconscious Process A perfectionist often wings it instead of using an
informed strategy.
Pathologizing of Normal Work Processes or Events A perfectionist will not
accept that they can have a "bad" or "off" day and instead will use a normal event
as evidence of their own failure.
Negativity A perfectionist habitually undervalues themselves, their
accomplishments, others accomplishments, and also others willingness to help.
Rigidity A perfectionist persists in trying the same nonworking solutions over and
over.
Blind Spots / Misplaced Pride A perfectionist often confuses "high standards"
with "impossible standards."

III. BODY
The black swan is a movie revolving around Nina Sayers, an aspiring
ballerina. She longs for the lead role in a theatre production of Swan Lake, and as
fate would have it, she gets cast to dance both the white and black swan, two
immensely different characters. The movie is focused not so much on the actual
dancing but rather the stressful and emotionally demanding pursuit of perfection
and self exploration which made her suffers from depression and anxiety.
Watching this movie, I found Nina to be a very intriguing character. It was
obvious that she is suffering from mental disorder and that her behaviour was not
merely a response to overwhelming stress. After much analysis, I have concluded
that she has difficulty differentiating reality from fantasy. She was highly observed
to also have hallucinations and delusions. She always sees herself having a sexual
interaction with her colleague, Lily, and even seeing and experiencing herself
morph into a swan for her role as the black swan. Interestingly enough, the movie is
seen through Ninas eyes, and the onlooker is able to appreciate the confusion
experienced when she cannot differentiate what is real from what is not.
The main delusion that is identified is a paranoid delusion towards Lily,
where Nina feels that she is trying to steal her role, however Lily did not give Nina

any reason to suspect her, but rather tried to befriend her and at times, looked up
to and commended her. Nevertheless, Nina tells her director, Thomas, that Lily is
after her, and wants to replace her. Other areas of disturbances that she
experiences include speech. Nina seems to have poverty of speech content as she
does not talk and communicate much, except with those who are significant in her
life, i.e. her mother, her director and at times, Lily. Her affect also appears to be
blunt, and there is a decrease in emotion expressed in general. Nina is very guarded
and this filters through to her interpersonal relationships, or lack thereof, as she
withdraws from others.
Nina experiences her first major psychotic episode after drinking and
drugging during a night out with Lily. It must be noted however that the substances
were not the reason for this episode, but rather was a great factor in triggering an
inevitable psychotic episode, along with the overwhelming stress that she was
experiencing. During this time, Nina sees herself having a sexual interaction with
Lily, and before passing out, sees her own face in place of Lilys, as she is
smothered with a pillow. The episode comes to an end with Nina waking the next
morning, alone in her room. She later realizes that she was never with Lily that
night and that it was all in her mind. As time passed, Nina once again experiences
subtle hallucinations and signs, until her second major psychotic episode, which
began the day before the premier of Swan Lake. After rehearsing endlessly and
coping with the stress of being a principle ballerina, Nina slips in and out of reality
once again, seeing a reflection of herself dancing independently in the mirror during
rehearsal. She goes on to see Thomas and Lily being sexually intimate, with
Thomas face morphing into a character in the play. She rushes to the hospital to
see Beth, a retiring ballerina whom Nina is somewhat obsessed with. She sees Beth
stabbing herself in the face and with this, Nina runs home, only to see her mothers
paintings in motion. Most of the paintings are of Nina, and she sees them shrieking
and screaming at her. After seeing a bloody Beth appear in her home, Nina becomes
highly disorientated, and has a struggle with her mother who is naturally concerned.
After locking herself in her room, Nina sees her skin erupting on her back, and
pulls out what looks like a feather. Her knees then buckled signifying her
metamorphosis into a swan. Upon waking up, Nina rushes to the ballet company for
her show, despite her mother trying to stop her. In a very different personality, Nina
demands that she perform and accuses Lily once again of trying to take her role.
She sees her toes becoming webbed, and sprouts black feathers as wings, signifying
the completion of her metamorphosis into the black swan. She performs happily
until seeing herself once again in a wave of dancers. She later sees Lily, whose face
often alternates with her own, strangling her, and Nina eventually stabs her with a
broken piece of mirror, hiding the body in a closet. Her eyes become scarlet and
bloodshot, signifying her now evil and dark nature. Later on however, Lily arrives to
congratulate her on her performance, and Nina realizes that she had actually
stabbed herself, and that there wasnt a body was hidden in the closet. Nina pulls it
together, and with a sadistic expression, she returns to the stage and completes the
show. The show is then complete with Nina jumping of a theatrical cliff to land on a
mattress, bloody but perfect.
Additionally, Aronofsky makes great use of imagery in Black Swan. The
contrast of whites and blacks constantly reminds us of the struggle behind Ninas
transformation, the constant temptation to let loose and become the black swan.
Mirrors play upon the variable realities Nina experiences. The scenes suggesting her
slow slip into madness play on other themes in her life, such as her quest for
perfection even in appearance.

IV. CONCLUSION
Black Swan is film about the price of beauty, and the intensity of perfection. It
is both beautiful and devastating, and brilliant while having moments that are
difficult to watch. Aronofsky knows exactly what he wants, and like a hand crafted

watch, if one piece had not worked correctly, the rest would be marred by it. But the
pieces work perfectly, and the result is one of the best films Ive watch so far.

V. RECOMMENDATIONS

Parents need to know that this combine fiction and horror movie centers on a
dancer who's so obsessed with perfection that shes obliterated by it. Her pursuit is
tragic, filled with self-mutilation and fear ,all of it intense material that may prove
too much for younger viewers. Expect many disturbing scenes of mental and
physical anguish, some violent fights, and a character who hurts herself and purges
-- perhaps in response to the pressures she puts herself under. There's also some
swearing (including "f--k" and "s--t"), pill-popping, and a few graphic, sexuallycharged scenes (including one with bare breasts and another featuring two women).

VI. REFERENCES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_fiction
http://www.novamov.com/video/b831c8c08e13d
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfectionism_(psychology)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/p/perfectionism_(psychology).h
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