In the beginning of Black Swan, the viewer sees Nina as an obsessive girl who strives for perfection. Due to this, I chose to analyze narcissism as my theoretical concept. The use of reflection imagery is apparent in this movie. Nina’s excessive interest in her physical appearance is displayed every time she looks at herself in the mirror. She judges every part of her body with great detail. Nina finds herself looking at the facts; she is petite and very skinny, but to Nina, that is never enough. Multiple times she is seen throwing up so her body will become smaller.
Nina’s obsessive personality is also seen during her practices and the commitment she displays with her dance moves. Nina works over time in order to perfect her dance moves until there was no error for mistake. When Nina returns home, her feet are bruised, bloody and scarred which is seen as a victim of her obsession. Even though her feet are severely injured, she continues to make new ballet shoes smaller so that they will fit her feet and begins to practice once again.
When Nina finds out she was appointed to a major role in the cast of Swan Lake, Nina rushes home to express her emotional victory with her mom. Nina’s mother celebrates by presenting a baked cake to Nina; however, Nina is immediately hesitant to eat the cake because she is cautious about her figure. As Nina gets fitted for her costume, the measurements are clear that she is at an un healthy weight and has a frail body. The lady who was fitting Nina with costumes expresses her concern to Nina, “You have lost weight” as she begins to measure her torso. Black Swan viewers can easily correlate Nina’s narcissism through her facial features. Nina demonstrates a fearful look through the movie and is never satisfied. Nina has a look on her face that something of a higher power is watching and judging every step she takes. She try’s her hardest to be the best, but doesn’t have the confidence in herself.
The Official Blog of WRTG 3007, Summer 2012 
Hey Nick!
I think you have some really good points here about Nina’s narcissistic tendencies. She really is self-obsessed, and it shows throughout the movie. I would have like to see some explanation as to what kind of narcissism you are arguing about here though, as I see more obsessive-compulsive disorder in the examples you gave. With narcissism I believe it is more about the self rather than trying to impress others. You could talk about her introverted tendencies, and how she never makes friends because she believes she is better or on a different level than they, or perhaps discuss how engrossed she becomes in her own woes that she ends up killing herself. Just a few thoughts!
Nora
Great analysis! My favorite part is when you said that she is a “victim of her own obsession”. I think that it is a very powerful phrase and can applied to more than just the harsh work that she does on her feet. Her feet are a visual representation of how she is hurting herself but there is a lot more to it as well. She is a victim of her own obsession when she constantly stresses, or how her body image is never good enough or because she is almost creating these illusions for herself! This was such a great way to phrase that and it led me to think of the other ways in which this applies.