Nina Sayers lives an every-day incessant competition, always comparing herself with her fellow dancers, like Lily, who very well embodies what Nina tries so hard to achieve. And yet the main conflict she has to face is the one with her own self.
The scene where Nina believes to have murdered Lily, when in fact she has injured herself, demonstrates that her comparison with others is only a projection of her deepest insecurities. I think of this scene as a mirror of what is going on in Nina's head on a daily basis, as the envy towards other dancers reveals precisely the destructive competition with herself.
The main character tries to feed her anxiety with extreme self-control. Therefore, in the end, she kills herself, or rather, she kills the part of herself that was innocent, fragile, timid, obsessed with control and discipline.
This is the part of Nina that had predominated up to that point, her 'White Swan'. In the beginning she is told that she's great to portray the White Swan; what she lacks is a 'Black Swan' side...
But, does she really lack this side...?
In order to portray the perfect Swan Queen, Nina has to face her 'Black Swan'. That's what leads her to the assassination of her inner Odette.
As a matter of fact, we only get to see her injury again once she's back as the White Swan for the final act, just before her tragic death, that overlaps with Odette's death within the Ballet.
Nina's death is not just a physical matter. This is the death of the 'old Nina', the 'White-Swan Nina'.
Black Swan is a journey into Nina's mind, that is very well divided into two parts, that we can picture as Odette and Odile.
I believe that Nina's duality is something every woman can relate to.
The movie's overall meaning is contained in Nina's last line: "I felt it [...] Perfect: it was perfect".
She spent her whole life pursuing perfection, willing to sacrifice everything to get to it, even her physical and mental health.
In the end, Nina proves how far she's willing to go in order to best interpret the role of the Swan Queen that she has so longed for, to perform as a premier danseur using all her remaining strength, to be perfect.
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