To what extend the need of being perfect leads man to its own destruction? Perfection seen through the film “The Black Swan”.

Claudia Patricia Villacís Galarza

IB Code: 001421-054

Words: 3980
Abstract
The research question of this extended essay is: To what extend the need of being perfect leads man to its own destruction? It is an analysis of perfection through the film The Black Swan. In the film the main character, Nina, is an obsessed ballerina who at the end destroyed her own life. I began the essay trying to prove that her obsession with being perfect is what leaded her to her destruction and death, but after analyzing the movie it all turned around.
I based my investigation in reviews of the film, different type of articles; such as from doctors who give their opinion about Nina’s behavior. These ones in particular where the most important for the answer of my research question, because these doctors have analyzed the mental condition of Nina and together with my own opinion it helped me to come to a conclusion. I also focused on the opinion of various dancers about the film, because they are the ones that understand the world of ballet more than anyone else. At last there were also interviews with the director to explain why he decided to make this movie and what he was trying to prove through it. The movie was, of course my principal source, I applied the whole investigation in the analysis of the movie.
Then after having read all that information and having analyzed the movie to the end, I came to the conclusion that the need of being perfect of a human being is not what guides to its destruction, there have to be other factors that influence in the problem, such as pressure or intimacy.

Index

Introduction 4

Chapter 1 7
Perfectionism reflected in the movie 7

Chapter 2 11
Psychological problems brought by being a