Black Swan is NOT Center Stage

Since I was a little girl, I always dreamed of becoming a Ballerina. It still is my dream. Sadly, God did not think that I would make a good Ballerina, so he blessed me with a body type that is more apt to gain weight when I don't eat than to lose it. When the movie Center Stage debuted, it just reinforced my desire to be delicate and frilly, dancing en pointe like that one girl who wears the red shoes and dances with the jerk on the motorcycle. A girl I used to go to middle school with even let me have a pair of her old pointe shoes! It was the best day ever!
I danced around like an idiot pretending that I was the star! But I always made sure that I was home alone at showtime because I knew I had no talent. Well, enough about me, but now you have a small understanding of my obsession with ballet.


So, you can imagine my excitement when I saw the trailer for Black Swan. E! showed a little behind the scenes action on the movie and showed how Natalie Portman lost 20 lbs training for the role (lucky). I immediately got super excited about it and was under the impression that it was a film about the struggles that dancers face to "live the dream" and yada-yada-yada. Something of a sequel to my beloved Center Stage, perhaps? YES!!! So, my best friend calls me up and we are on way to the show! I was expecting something like this:




What I was NOT expecting was this:


Now, I love a good psychological thriller, but you can imagine my shock when I discovered that this movie was absolutely nothing like Center Stage. It was not a feel good movie about elegant ballerinas. It was gritty and graphic with a lot of thought put into it. It was an epic twist on the well-known ballet. We have an innocent fragile white swan who becomes a dangerous and seductive black swan. Natalie Portman's character is a perfect dancer who must learn to let go of the perfection and transform into a wild and free black swan. The film is about her literal transformation and road to liberation. It is beautifully done and was definitely a ride that I was not expecting! I am notorious for spoiling endings, so I am struggling to not give it away, but if you haven't already seen it, do see it. Just beware that there is some lesbian action, intesnse bloody scenes, a really creepy mother, and a handful of crotch grabs. It is very creative and very artistic, but you have been warned that Black Swan is NOT Center Stage.

Have you seen it? What did you think?