Rest Room?

What made Black Swan so cringe-worthy to me, other than the obvious moments of blood, vomit, and the occasional disfigured and bruised foot, is that so many scenes occurred in bathrooms. Bathrooms are often not very pleasant places for obvious reasons, but for Nina this is especially true. Whether vomiting up her most recently eaten meal, peeling off an exceedingly long and bloody hangnail, or hallucinating someone (possibly herself?) staring at her from above the water, bathrooms prove to be a horrible place for Nina. 

Despite all this, bathrooms provide some relief for Nina. The notion of "restroom" as a place of privacy and rest becomes especially important, as Nina is constantly under the eyes of her director, peers, and mother. Unable to be alone at both the studio and at home, Nina finds her few moments of solitude in the bathroom. Alone, her true self is able to come out. This true self is very disturbing. As I have already mentioned, it is in some of these moments where the worst things happen. 

Mirrors, found not only in bathrooms, but also in Nina's changing room and dance studio, also play a big role in revealing Nina's character. The function of a mirror is to reflect one's appearance (and beauty or lack thereof) as it is. Yet what is often reflected for Nina is not reality, but her disturbing and conflicted view of it. She looks into mirrors and sees herself peeling off a chunk of skin on her finger, her bloodied and scratched back, and overly red and bloodshot eyes. She finally imagines killing Lily/herself by smashing her(self?) into a mirror, then stabbing her(self?). As she smashes the mirror, she destroys the current reflection of herself, the white swan, and allows the transformation to the black swan to be complete. It is poetic that what reveals Nina's troubled character is also what ends her life, as she stabs herself with a broken shard of mirror.

-Andrew Thvedt