History YMMV / BlackSwan

* UncannyValley: The final Black Swan makeup, and Erica's creepy paintings.

** Exactly how much of Erica's abuse is all in Nina's head? Erica is certainly a stern parent, but she does encourage Nina to do well and is genuinely pleased for her daughter when she succeeds. The only time she intervenes is when Nina is rightfully losing her mind. Note the cake scene - Erica spends hours making a celebratory cake for her daughter, who turns it down (one cake won't turn her into a blimp, and she can easily lose any water weight through practices). But then again, Nina seems to be afraid of her and Erica does like controlling her daughter. It's possible she (intentionally or not) bullied Nina into the eating disorder that's hinted at, qualifying for psychological abuse at least. Her self-destructive tendencies and unsuccessful sexual repression put the squicky possibility of rape on the table too.

* FanPreferredCouple: Nina/Lily. There's many a fic that has Nina surviving the end of the film and starting on the road to recovery, Lily at her side. Or just outright {{Fix Fic}}s where Nina's not batshit, and she and Lily are a happy, cute couple.

** Putting "WHORE" on every single scene of characters looking at the mirror in [[https://twitter.com/nightsfeel/status/1432332400554618886 other shows and movies]].

* HarsherInHindsight: Thomas' sexually aggressive behavior toward Nina (which is all but said to be how he is with all his prima ballerinas) was definitely squicky in 2010, but the squick has been turned UpTo11 since the #[=MeToo=] and Time's Up movements.

* GeniusBonus: The premise of Nina struggling her MadonnaWhoreComplex is very reminiscent to one of the scholarly interpretations of the ''Theatre/SwanLake'' ballet opera. In the opera, the Prince falls in love with the White Swan because of her purity, but was allured by the Black Swan's seduction (an imposer in disguise actually). The fact that both the swans are traditionally played by the [[ActingforTwo same dancer]] helps enforce the theme.
* HarsherInHindsight: Thomas' sexually aggressive behavior toward Nina (which is all but said to be how he is with all his prima ballerinas) was definitely squicky in 2010, but the squick has been turned UpTo11 since the Me Too and Times Up movements.

SheReallyCanAct: For those who were in doubt of Natalie Portman's acting, this movie would prove them wrong, highlighting Portman's ability to play both a repressed good girl and a seductive and ambitious mean girl.

* FridgeBrilliance:
-->'''Thomas Leroy:''' We're going to do Swan Lake. Done to death, I know, but not like this. We strip it down, make it visceral and real.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** Thomas's sexually aggressive behavior toward Nina (which is all but said to be how he is with all his prima ballerinas) was definitely squicky in 2010, but the squick has been turned UpTo11 since the Me Too and Times Up movements.

** Thomas watching Nina's dance rehearsal and noting her lack of seductiveness, asks her dance partner "Would you fuck that girl?" He just laughs, indicating no. The dance partner is played by Natalie Portman's choreographer Benjamin Millepied, with whom she began a RomanceOnTheSet. They are now married and have two children together. Portman addressed this in her Golden Globe acceptance speech: "He's the best actor! It's not true! He totally wants to sleep with me!"

* MindGameShip: Thomas / Nina.

* NightmareFuel: [[NightmareFuel/BlackSwan And loads of it!]]

* RewatchBonus: [[spoiler: Watching the movie a second time after learning that Nina is having a nervous breakdown the entire film, there's clear but subtle signals of what's reality and what's all in her head.]]

** Beside the lesbian scene, there's also Nina openly masturbating in her bed and later in the bathtub. Despite the intended FanDisserice element, Nina's actress does it in rather sexual positions that make it appealing to some.

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Creator/MilaKunis makes out with Creator/NataliePortman and goes down on her. As Natalie Portman [[http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/12/29/this-weeks-cover-the-oscar-race-is-on/ put it]]: "Everyone was so worried about who was going to want to see this movie. I remember them being like, ‘How do you get guys to a ballet movie? How do you get girls to a thriller?’ And the answer is a lesbian scene. ''Everyone'' [[GirlOnGirlIsHot wants to see that]]."

* SpiritualAdaptation: WebVideo/ChrisStuckmann suggests this is the best western remake of ''Anime/PerfectBlue'' we're ever going to get.

** Under the influence of an abusive or at the least unscrupulous mentor, a talented but troubled person obsesses over becoming perfect for their role by immersing themselves in their 'darker' side. However, they find themselves feeling increasingly torn between their two 'selves', becoming prone to lashing out in anger and distress, clashing with their co-workers, alienating themselves from their family and developing an odd bond with a rival they aren't completely sure about. They end up trying to destroy everything about their old, 'weak' self to embrace their new self with...mixed results, at one point even shrieking at their parent that their old self is "[[ThatManIsDead dead]]" following a violent confrontation. Finally, they end their tale [[spoiler: on the ground, bleeding out from a wound to the side, having given their all to their role]]. Now, are we talking about Nina Sayers or [[Film/StarWarsTheForceAwakens Kylo Ren]]? (Portman having previously portrayed Padme Amidala in ''Star Wars'', who turns out to be [[spoiler: Kylo's grandma]]).

** A minor example, but the infamous coda in Swan Lake features Odile performing 32 fouettés in a row in place at center stage. It's considered a career piece for ballerinas for its difficulty . The film has Nina doing about 20 piqué turns in a circle around the stage and then about 10 fouettés in place, and she's hailed for her "perfect" performance. It wouldn't a big deal except that in a 2018 production of Swan Lake starring Misty Copeland, she improvised some similar choreography when she stumbled on her second fouetté and was pretty much told she had no right to dance the part.

** A minor example, but the infamous coda in Swan Lake features Odile performing 32 fouettés in a row in place at center stage. It's considered a career piece for ballerinas for its difficulty . The film has Nina doing about 20 piqué turns in a circle around the stage and then about 10 fouettés in place, and she's hailed for her "perfect" performance. It wouldn't a big deal except that in a 2018 production of Swan Lake starring Misty Copeland, she improved some similar choreography when she stumbled on her second fouetté and was pretty much told she had no right to dance the part.

** Thomas's sexually aggressive behavior toward Nina (which is all but said to be how he is with all his prima ballerinas) was definitely squicky in 2010, but the squick has been turned UpTo11 since the Me Too and Times Up movements.
** A minor example, but the infamous coda in Swan Lake features Odile performing 32 fouettés in a row in place at center stage. It's considered a career piece for ballerinas for its difficulty . The film has Nina doing about 20 piqué turns in a circle around the stage and then about 10 fouettés in place, and she's hailed for her "perfect" performance. It wouldn't a big deal except that in a 2018 production of Swan Lake starring Misty Copeland, she improved some choreography (fairly similar to Nina's) when she stumbled on her second fouetté and was pretty much told she had no right to dance the part.

** Thomas's sexually aggressive behavior toward Nina (which is all but said to be how he is with all his prima ballerinas) was definitely squicky in 2010, but the squick has been turned UpTo11 since the Me Too and Times Up movements.
** A minor example, but the infamous coda in Swan Lake features the Odile performing 32 fouettés in a row in place at center stage. It's considered a career piece for ballerinas for its difficulty . The film has Nina doing about 20 piqué turns in a circle around the stage and then about 10 fouettés in place, and she's hailed for her "perfect" performance. It wouldn't a big deal except that in a 2018 production of Swan Lake starring Misty Copeland, she improved some choreography (fairly similar to Nina's) when she stumbled on her second fouetté and was pretty much told she had no right to dance the part.

** Thomas's sexually aggressive behavior toward Nina (which is all but said to be how he is with all his prima ballerinas) was definitely squicky in 2010, but the squicky has been turned UpTo11 since the Me Too and Times Up movements.
** A minor example, but the infamous coda in Swan Lake features the Odile performing 32 fouettés in a row in place at center stage. It's considered a career piece for ballerinas for its difficulty . The film has Nina doing about 20 piqué turns in a circle around the stage and then about 10 fouettés in place, and she's hailed for her "perfect" performance. It wouldn't a big deal except that in a 2018 production of Swan Lake starring Misty Copeland, she improved some choreography (fairly similar to Nina's) when she stumbled on her second fouetté and was pretty much told she had no right to dance the part.

* HarsherInHindsight: Thomas's sexually aggressive behavior toward Nina (which is heavily implied to be part of his pattern of behavior with his prima ballerinas) was definitely squicky in 2010, but it's been turned UpTo11 since the Me Too and Times Up movements.

* HarsherInHindsight: Thomas's sexually aggressive behavior toward Nina (which is heavily implied to be part of his pattern of behavior with his prima ballerinas) was definitely squicky in 2010, but it's been turned up to 11 since the Me Too and Times Up movements.

* HarsherInHindsight: Thomas's sexually aggressive behavior toward Nina (which is heavily implied to be part of his pattern of behavior with his prima ballerinas) was definitely squicky in 2010, but it's been turned up to 11 since #MeToo and #TimesUp.

* HarsherInhindsight: Thomas's sexually aggressive behavior toward Nina (which is heavily implied to be part of his pattern of behavior with his prima ballerinas) was definitely squicky in 2010, but it's been turned up to 11 since #MeToo and #TimesUp.

* ShoutOut: It’s unclear if it was intentional (hence YMMV), but the scene where Nina flips out, destroys her room and throws out her stuffed animals - in addition to struggling with a MadonnaWhoreComplex and becoming (or trying to become) ADarkerMe - is reminiscent of the scene in ''Film/BatmanReturns'' where Selina Kyle becomes Catwoman.