Stereotypes In Black Swan

The film Black Swan presents the story of Nina Sayers, a professional dancer in a prestigious New York ballet troupe who’s tasked with the leading role in an upcoming production. She’s expected to convey two opposing personas--the delicate, innocent white swan and the wild, seductive black swan--simultaneously, and while she had no issue with the white swan, she found the character of the black swan incredibly difficult to relate to. Under extreme pressure from both her artistic director and herself to fit the role, Nina’s psyche broke down as she tried to develop a darker personality; she started to have hallucinatory episodes, and, in such episodes, self harmed and eventually stabbed herself. Judging from her portrayal in the movie, Nina
appeared to suffer from psychosis, which impaired her cognitive and social interactions with her surroundings.

Nina’s symptoms correspond closely with those of psychosis. Two distinctive psychiatric features of psychosis are hallucinations and delusions, both of which indicate that a distortion or loss of contact with reality. Hallucinations, which are sensory perceptions in the absence of an external source, can occur in any sensory modality and may take the form of voices, visions, odors, or even complex tactile perceptions