10 Ways Darren Aronofsky Basically Remade The Wrestler In Black Swan

6. Self-Mutilation

Where to start with this one? In two films based around high-risk performance, it is bizarre that self-inflicted injury, rather than accidental, would be more prevalent. In The Wrestler, Randy willingly puts his body on the line for his job; his passion. This eagerness to step in the ring night after night, in its very essence, is a form of self-mutilation. Although he allows others to beat him to a pulp (yes, it is staged), Randy is still the one to open the wound on his head with a concealed razor to let the blood flow. He bares his scars with pride prompting the timely response 'who says wrestling is fake?' from his stripper friend, Cassidy (Marisa Tomei). However, Aronofsky escalates the theme his next time round with Black Swan. We swing from Nina's hallucinatory fingernail trauma, to Beth throwing herself under a car and stabbing herself repeatedly in the face with a pair of scissors. An almost inevitable theme is bulimia, both implicit (Nina refuses to eat a big slice of cake) and explicit (she makes herself sick in the studio toilet). There is even room for the director to hint at some self-scratching. Who knew the life of a ballerina was so painful?