An Olympic Swan?

The movie Black Swan has enough to start a lot to discussions. It was hard to tell which scenes were real and which were hallucinations. But the ending of the movie made me think the lyrics of the Whitney Houston song, "One Moment in Time." That song was very much of the culture and media circus around the Olympics a few years ago. All over the radio. "I want one moment in time when I'm more than I thought I could be, When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away and the answers are all up to me." What a dream. What a inspiration. The song goes on to say that you are a winner for a lifetime if you seize that moment in time and make it shine. Nina seized her moment and she made it shine.

There was no attempt to avoid the tough road to that moment. The song knows it is not easy. "I broke my heart, Fought every gain, I faced the pain, I rise and fall, Yet through it all, this much remains - just give me that one moment in time." This is an all consuming dream. "I've lived to be the very best. I want it all. No time for less. I've laid the plans. Now lay the chance here in my hands. Give me one moment in time. And that one moment in time will give you the chance to feel eternity. "And the answers are all up to me. Give me one moment in time when I'm racing with destiny Then in that one moment of time I will be Free."

The movie Black Swan tells of a very determined mother and daughter Nina to be a famous dancer. To dance Swan Lake and to be star of the show. To put it mildly there are issues to be faced. But in the end she has her one moment in time. She opens as the Swan and dances incredibly well. At the end, the crowd is on its feet. She is smiling and says, "She was perfect." The director is over joyed with her work. And yet somehow most of us did not leave the movie with the feeling that this was a comedy and that it was a happy ending.

It seems to me that the Nina, the dancer, is a perfect fit for the One Moment in Time song, and yet something has gone wrong. "Whatever it takes" we say, and look at what it took from Nina. No pain; no gain. Just do it. "There is no substitute for success." So many messages out there. An Olympic Swan just seems to raise questions.