Call me a prude. Call me old-fashioned. Call me overly conservative; not cool, a square, whatever... But I gotta give an old-school, Dr. Dobson-style movie review of "Black Swan" right about now. I actually walked out part-way through the movie in a local theatre a couple hours ago, and I've NEVER done that.
I don't have the highest standards when it comes to entertainment, which arguably a Christian should have. But the fact remains, I don't. Some of my favorite movies have more than a few bad words, some pretty crazy violence, and an occasional sex scene. They're not my favorites BECAUSE of those things, but I'll tolerate them if it's an otherwise well-made film. Same would apply to my choice of music.
But even I got my limits...
"Black Swan", yeah, well it kinda went beyond that limit. Now I know this movie will probably win some Oscars because well, it's how do you call it? "avant-garde" or whatever. It's "edgy!", "racy!" blah blah blah. It is definitely one of those artsy films, and yes, it's very well shot, acted and directed. I was definitely drawn into the world of ballet dancers (I'm actually hoping the world of ballet dancers isn't that perverse; otherwise none of my daughters will be participating! Lol). I could appreciate the whole psychological dimension to the movie; it explored some dark parts of human personality- perfectionism, compulsive behavior, feelings of dread, the vicious competition between girls in the entertainment world, obsessive thoughts, etc.
So the movie has this sort of dark psychological theme throughout, and as the story unfolds, one is not surprised at discovering that in the dance industry, there are certain levels of sexual impropriety between members of a company, particularly between an older male director and younger female dancers desperate for a part in the big production.
The main character, played by Natalie Portman, is the hyper-dedicated, perfectionist young dancer who is "fortunate" enough to get the leading role in a modern rendition of the classic ballet "Swan Lake." One of the things that's gonna make this new cutting-edge version of the ballet more interesting is the director's insistence that the Swan Queen character be played by the same dancer who's playing the Black Swan, the antagonist in the piece. (I might be getting some of those details wrong...)
Well in order for Natalie Portman to properly play the role of the Black Swan, the director insists on her getting in touch with her dark, uninhibited side. To help her along, he has her participate in typical dance coaching exercises, you know, like asking her personal questions about her sex life, forcefully kissing her and encouraging her to masturbate at home... Ok ok, so we've all seen worse in films I suppose, and most of us by now have developed a sort of callousness to these occasional inappropriate segments in films...
But you know, after you sit through the director sexually molesting Portman in one scene; her masturbating in two later scenes, you start sensing that the sexual perversion aspect of the movie just might be one of its central themes, not merely an embellishment. A little awkward to say the least when you're watching this "piece of art" with a sister in Christ!
Needless to say, by the time the movie had progressed to a VERY explicit lesbian sex scene between Portman and another dancer while high on ecstasy, meanwhile Portman's mom is in the hallway banging on the bedroom door to get them to stop... Yeah at that point I have an obligation to my fellow Christian and to my own mental and spiritual well-being to walk out.
Come on! Even I got standards!
