Reply #82: Nina felt threatened by many things; perhaps that's why I found her so difficult to take.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

The girl-on-girl was "gross and disturbing"? That seemed realistic -- two people stumbling home from a club and going at it with abandon. Even though Nina was fairly passive, we did get to *enjoy* her big, fat liberating orgasm. And it was a stretch to believe that as controlled as Nina was, she'd hit a club the night before a big performance, drinking, rolling, and having sex with strangers.

As far as two other "sex" scenes, it's likely that many women, not just Nina, would feel threatened by being groped by a superior, and by some guy simulating yanking it while on the subway alone at night.

And the masturbation scene seemed wholly unnecessary. We already knew the mother was domineering and unstable -- the tense cake scene proved that. It was clear early on that there was something very wrong going on in that apartment, from the little girl bedroom to the doors that did not lock. Nina seemed familiar with "exploring"; it was the mother invading her privacy that was the issue.

I suppose I'm not a fan of being beaten over the head with certain themes, and that's what this film felt like to me. The metamorphosis into black swan was manipulative and rushed. The dance (pardon the pun) between reality and madness grew monotonous. To each his or her own, though, eh?