GEORGIA

SPOILERS AHEAD Ballet and the gothic have quite a lot in common: they both originated in Italy, as all good things seem to; they both desire to evoke emotion; and they seem to have perfectly intertwined in Darren Aronofsky’s (pretty controversial) masterpiece, Black Swan. Whilst on the surface this just seems like a psychological thriller, if you pay attention you’ll find a million and one different features of the gothic implemented to build up the terror. And it certainly worked— I’ve never been more on edge.  CHARACTER Whilst Nina Sayers is the main character of Black Swan, there are two other characters in this film who play key roles in bringing to life it’s gothic elements: Lily, Nina’s rival; and Thomas Leroy, the choreographer behind it all. All three of them fall into at least one traditional gothic role. Nina and Lily occupy each end of the Madonna-Whore dichotomy, respectively. With her childlike innocence, pristine appearance, and light colour-scheme, Nina very much con...

I need to stop starting 400+ page books! It’s really holding me back on tearing through my goodreads goals. In case anyone was interested, I have finished none of the three (three!) different ones that I started— instead I half abandoned them and read some shorter ones instead. But I only managed three, whilst I technically did read six.  The first book I read was The Kite Runner , by Khaled Hosseini. Let me just preface this by saying I absolutely understand that this is an excellent book, and it deserves all of the praise it has received. That being said, it didn’t really hit for me. I definitely cried (a lot) but it just felt a tiny bit lifeless; as though it was written more to be considered the best book of all time than for the sake of telling a story. Although it was an incredible story; even if at some points it felt like pain just for the sake of pain. I really didn’t like the main character but all of the characters around him were lovely. An incredibly well written book...

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD Suspiria (1977) is a very divisive film. Some love it; others believe it to be one of the most overrated films of all time. Centred around a dance school and yet featuring almost no actual dancing, the story follows Suzy Bannion— from her arrival at a prestigious academy, to her eventual exit: running for her life and overcome with hysterical laughter. But what happens in the slick 90 minutes between these two events that causes such difference of opinion? Is Suspiria really Dario Argento’s masterpiece, or is just a bygone product of its era— scary in the 70s, but just another giallo of many to us now? In terms of the visual experience, the answer is no. Suspiria is a feast for the eyes from start to finish. There’s meaning in everything you look at. Particularly, the colour red. One could fill an entire novel analysing every time a rouge tone appeared on the screen during this film; but I’ll try not to. In the most obvious colour theory, red means danger. Su...