Social Neuroscience, the Imitative Animal, and Aronofsky's Black Swan

This essay brings together social neuroscientific claims about imitation and Darren Aronofsky's 2010 film, Black Swan. I explain how social neuroscience is establishing the imitative nature of human identity through empirical research, including research into Mirror Neuron Systems. Taking these findings from social neuroscience as a foundation, I explain their implications for imitative art in general and imitative performance art in particular. I then turn to study Black Swan in detail. I show how the movie—specifically Nina's obsession to perfect her role as Swan Queen, along with the use of mirrors and doppelgangers—becomes an investigation into a negative possibility that necessarily haunts the imitative animal: over imitation. I conclude that Black Swan “knows” in the realm of art and experience what social neuroscience knows theoretically about the imitative nature of the human animal.