New perspective

I was watching an interview on YouTube about Black Swan with Natalie Portman last night and got an interesting new perspective on the ending of the movie. I feel like things just kind of clicked with that movie all the way.

When asked about the ending of the movie the interviewer commented that he didn't believe Nina dies at the end of the film and she cut in saying, "I'm with you." Whenever I have heard or read people say they didn't think she dies I have been like, ya'll are crazy of course she dies... Shit is all symbolism and that's what I realized last night.
We as the audience really have no idea what is real and what isn't real in this entire film. Nina "dying" at the end is symbolism of her killing the little girl and becoming a woman. She wasn't really dead; the child of her who strives for the approval of others and true cut perfection was what died. I laughed at Natalie Portman's anecdote about the crew putting the blood on her at the end and her telling Darren Aronofsky that it looked too much like a period when it got on her tights. He put it there intentionally to symbolize her becoming a woman. It put new perspective on the blood on her fingers in the bathtub as well. With her seemingly everlasting attempts to physically pleasure herself there came a point where she let it go more and become less of a child. The blood on her fingertips was used wonderfully.

Bottom line... Aronofsky is brilliant. Black Swan proves that even more than Requiem for a Dream did.