Darren Aronofsky: Horror as Greek Tragedy

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How Darren Aronofsky borrowed from the traditions of catharsis in Greek tragedy to create empathetic nightmares in Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream, and mother!

[@RardTangler]

My husband is one of the most stoic, non-emotional, iron willed people I’ve ever met. In our almost 15 years together, we’ve watched Requiem once. Once. And every time I bring it up, he’ll say “I’m *never* watching that movie again.”

[@Vaestryn]

An ex said I should watch it. I, too, will never watch that movie again.

[@freegadflyathome]

I'm the opposite of stoic and could never watch it again. I saw it when it was first release, yet remember the horror like it was yesterday. I can't even handle the soundtrack. There seriously needs to be a trigger warning before people use that music lol.

[@zqxzqxzqx1]

After being devastated by it once, I bought the DVD. I watched it a 2nd time--years later--with my husband, then donated the DVD to a secondhand store, knowing that twice was more than enough. The devastation will stick with me, either way.

[@Tre_Di]

Mm...has passed like two years since the second time i watched it. Maybe I'm gonna rewatch it soon

[@jbear3478]

I saw it when I was 14 and going through a time when my brain was adapting to anti depressants, so it was hard for me to feel disturbed by films for a while. This one just stood out as being artsy, not horrific, because their lives were so distant from my innocent adolescent life that I didn't see them as real interpretations, just sensationalized ones. I'm 36 today, and I don't think I would feel the same now at all if I tried to watch it.

[@JG-kk1mr]

I just came across your channel via your incredible Midsommar video and I'm obsessed. I love the way you talk about the humanity of horror. Just subbed and can't wait to see more videos from you in the future (PS - I'm also just happy to find someone else who appreciates mother! as much as I do, haha)

[@AcolytesOfHorror]

Hey wow, thanks so much for checking out some of my older stuff! I'm done with my next script about The Lighthouse, so it'll probably take me a month-ish to edit it. And yeah, finding fellow mother! fans is a special thing. The first time I saw it, the rest of my friends were like "I've never hated a movie more" lol

[@emiliaap]

I feel the same, very well put! I just found your channel through the midsummer video, also, and I'm loving your videos. I love horror, and totally think of (some) aronofsky as horror. I feel like requiem for a dream is unmatched, and black swan was very good. I hate to say that I never actually finished mother! When I finally watched it, it was after a day of other aronofsky movies and it was late, so I didnt finish it. I remember feeling disturbed at how Jennifer Lawrence's character was treated. This video and this comment make me want to watch it again and finish it this time!

[@SOCIALITE217]

Samesies

[@jessegilley7796]

You are a fantastic presenter. A lot of other folks doing video essays feel like such over the top versions of themselves that it's exhausting- your style is incredibly laid back, well reasoned and well spoken. It's well appreciated!

[@kaylaharding1749]

Oh, man. Mother! was a never-ending anxiety attack for me. Your description is spot on. So glad your channel was recommended to me! I watched your Midsommar essay first. That movie was a giant wtf for me, honestly. Maybe I'm not that easy to brainwash? Lol

[@pluspiping]

"Nobody can hurt you the way YOU can hurt you" And there it is. A 10-word summary of some of the most powerful Tragedy stories AND the stories I can't handle watching, because that's something I personally struggle with all too much. Ooof.

[@donkylefernandez4680]

"Never go ass to ass" -Darren Aronofsky. Seriously, Requiem and Emergence is what DARE wanted to show us but couldn't.

[@Eippol_]

what the hell is Emergence???

[@LeonaLecter]

Oh gosh, I was affected by each of those movies for days after I saw them, Mother! especially. It's super awesome to hear someone analyze these movies so respectfully and... beautifully really. I have difficulty being analytical. I get so engrossed in what I'm watching that I'm truly experiencing it, and struggle to step back. It's truly something special to hear someone speak about it so coherently and completely. Bravo!

[@a.t.3192]

Great video. My only complaint is the sound mix. Turn your music down and your voice up.

[@Terry-Cybil]

I've bullied myself worse than any seasoned, cruel bully could have ever attempted to. Oddly enough, the last person who tried to bully me failed miserably simply because I laughed in his face. I can't laugh at the bully I see looking back at me in the mirror. He knows every weakness and goes in full force without an ounce of empathy.

[@melwasnevergivenaname]

Only after JUST coming from your Exorcist video did I realize Sara Goldfarb is Chris MacNeil, I love that game 7 degrees of separation haha

[@ellagewirtzman2776]

Finding your channel was an eye-opener for me. Watching your videos made me realize so many things. Thank you!

[@deidjpeidj]

Found your channel from watching the Midsommar video and am enjoying it very much! I wonder if you have seen the anime film Perfect Blue by Satoshi Kon? Aronofsky remade a scene from it in Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan shares many similarities to the '97 animated film. It is an intense experience and a great horror film!

[@AcolytesOfHorror]

Love Perfect Blue!

[@julesrules7297]

Love this channel.

[@saanvitaradwivedi2846]

watched a bunch of your videos, love your presenting style and your ideas. the midsommar video was amazing, hope to see more film horror psychological analysis videos from you!

[@peeeeyton]

it would be cool to see more videos exploring Aronofsky's work. great stuff

[@vsauce4678]

I hate Mother with a passion. But I will agree the tension and discomfort and pain that all his other films shines through is amazing. Pie, Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream. Pie feels so real as a person with brutal headaches I really feel how the movie shows the venture into the either random or beyond human comprehension.

[@curiousworld7912]

I'm coming way late to the party, and these are all great films, but even 'Noah' had its share of fear, horror, and deep pity for its characters. I realize 'Noah' isn't an Aronofsky film that gets much attention, but I think it's more than worth the watch.

[@chelseybrown2334]

Regular person: hi I’m (insert name) Me: hi ( 0:04 )

[@Badficwriter]

This video sent me on a research trip to figure out precisely what catharsis was supposed to mean in this context...because catharsis is supposed to provide relief, I thought. Ancient Greek thought cannot really compare the same word. It simply means you experienced a feeling of an act that wasn't real. Watching violence is cathartic. But the other ideas, that the victims cannot escape their own insanity seems contradicted. The catastrophe is inevitably produced by the protagonist's own bad action, yes, but they are not doomed to stay there. Many ancient tragedies insisted that the protagonist would learn and change because of their experiences. The morality plays provided a moral and some got to become better people. In Antigone, the tyrant Creon experiences a tragedy and resolves to be a more empathetic ruler. A figure like Euripedes' Medea is more uncertain. She finished her vengeance and leaves for Athens in a chariot given to her by a god. Apparently, the gods agreed with her choices, or at least were ambivalent. (Ancient Greek morality not the same as ours, of course) After all, she murdered her own brother to save her faithless husband, and that was okay, too. Euripedes had more plays. Who knows if a sequel happened? Maybe its just that I don't like Aronofsky's work as much as you! Hailing it as the epitome of Greek Tragedy makes me more critical.

[@nightlight28]

I love black swan, I feel uncomfortable watching mother, and I haven't had the bravery to watch requiem.

[@williamerickson520]

I think that Hollywood horror has completely lost sight of what makes things actually scary. Sure a lot of horror movies look good, but that's about it. Hopefully we will see a shift sometime in the near future.

[@AustinPaulMusic]

Are we listening to Ocarina of Time Sage’s theme song in this video?????

[@UltimateKyuubiFox]

Has anyone ever told you you’ve got a huge Doug Jones vibe?

[@b.griffin317]

What about The Fountain or Pi?

[@AcolytesOfHorror]

Lovely movies, but not as many horror elements imo

[@AyeSir21]

Did you ever watch the Anime Perfect Blue? If not you are in for a treat.

[@chrispmar]

Oh, and have you seen the horror war film, "Come and See"? If not, you must. It's, in my mind more disturbing then Aronofsky's horror films, or "Midsommar," or probably, really, an other horror film out there. Especially since it is based on real events of the Nazi invasion of Belarus, confirmed by people who lived through the nightmare, including, if my memory is correct, the director of the film himself. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3jHnaeMgcuVo8U

[@Badficwriter]

Necropost: The wikipedia entry for this movie has the strangest criticism. Roger Ebert complains the end music is too uplifting. But its literally The Requiem. Beautiful angels singing a dirge.

[@freyrik]

You have an interesting 👁 broaden my specs

[@afroponix3414]

The first movie I saw of his was “Pi”, way back when no one really knew of his work..you could even count that one as horror of the mind

[@AcolytesOfHorror]

That's a very good point. That lobotomy moment, oof

[@munchcat]

Crap, I didn't know that was him. I should have though. Just haven't seen it in so long x.x

[@OddGhoste]

Pi is one of the most underrated films of all time imo

[@Scoopski_Potato]

I loved how he saw patterns everywhere in nature. I’ve never seen anyone mesmerized by the movement of the branches and leaves in the wind portrayed on film like that. I forgot that was Aronofsky, too.

[@faze.amuzante3966]

Sir you deserve 0 dislikes.

[@NaumRusomarov]

you have a problem with background music. it interferes with what you're trying to say. you probably need to lower its volume by about 30-50% so that your voice can come up to the surface, otherwise it's hard to hear what you're saying. even in your newest video this is a problem. this is not a criticism of the content, I like that a lot.

[@davidtitterington]

Id love to hear your take on Fire Walk With Me and David Lynch

[@ScenariosOfDrea]

Mother, though, is representing mother nature while Bardem's character represents Him as in God, so it's a bit more than a mother staying with a husband who causes her agony. In mother, he shows what we as humans by nature do that is so appalling and does not shy away from it.

[@knoelle1357]

Omg thank you so much for talking about these films. They all left me shredded. In Mother! the dread and weirdness escalated to an absolutely horrifying climax. It’s a shame nobody gave that film the credit it deserves.

[@notlucyb]

as a theatre major who’s in the process of switching to film/screenwriting.......this comparison/essay is VERY GOOD!

[@Eippol_]

was it really necessary to add that cringe, self-absorbed and ego-referential introduction of "As A ThEaTre MaJoR SwItChInG tO FiLm"?

[@paperseatbelt]

Why have I not found this channel sooner ❤️

[@lolaarcana]

I think Requiem and Black Swan are good, but I thought the Biblical metaphors in Mother made the film clunky and overly obvious.

[@pdzombie1906]

WTF!! I thought I had seen all of your videos, where did this one, about one of my favorite living directors, come from? I´ll come back to comment once I've seen it...

[@carolc9655]

after watching your analysis it kinda struck me that my own pursuit of perfection has made me so miserable. Unattainable beauty standarts in particular, i want to know if there's a movie in the same genre that explores the topic.

[@chrispmar]

"No one can hurt you the way you can hurt you." That is so true. Gave me understanding into why I love those three Aronofsky films so much. They embody that truth, as you describe, that universal truth of tragedy. Makes me wonder what great American tragedy films there are out there. Citizen Kane? I'd say so. Hmmm, what else? I'll have to give that some thought. Thanks for making such thoughtful video essays on films. I guess "The Shining" could also possibly be seen as a tragedy. Husband slips back into alcoholism and kills family. Though Jack's character seems to have the dark lurking just beneath him from the beginning of the film. Doesn't seem to be any balanced struggle between the dark and the light. Though I guess that could still be tragedy. Dunno.

[@zsa-zsaventer6405]

Please make more videos !!!

[@EPWillard]

I used to take 20-40mg thc edibles and watch requiem for a dream and every time it was one of the most distressing experiences I've ever had with a film. i think threads is the only other equivalent experience i've had.

[@Shakespearespaniel]

I'm really enjoying your channel, and the way you attend closely to how film affects and moves you. But I was a bit surprised by the credit you give Black Swan, which seems pretty obvious and derivative (not even getting into the whole Aronofsky plagiarism debate). I'd say Red Shoes + Perfect Blue = Black Swan, but the film felt to me like less than either of its parts, each of which is haunting and brilliant (and yes, great horror). Would be curious to know what you think of those. Anyway, looking forward to more great content.

[@AcolytesOfHorror]

Good comment! It does take a lot of inspiration from those two for sure. But whereas Red Shoes is about having to choose between living a demanding life of artistic perfection or enjoying a more normal life's pleasures, Black Swan is about the impossibility of reaching that perfection. The horror of coming face to face with the limits of your own talent again and again. Nina turns away from normal life's pleasures, and she STILL can't get where she wants to be. I dunno, as someone who's been chasing the professional actor/writer dream in LA for almost ten years now, that really resonates with me

[@arielzolotnik]

Me watching this video late at night after watching some scary movies then 1:00 there is something running in the corner(above the couch) 😰👻 HOLLY SHIT!

[@ProfessionalWalrus32]

This makes me really want to watch Aronofsky’s work, but also really scared to.

[@anntodd3055]

Requim for a dream is a definite horror movie. It's very hard to watch bc its complete fact. It's addiction and the horrors of its about filling a void inside you no matter the cost.

[@jbear3478]

Yesterday my arm was killing me and all i could think about was the end of this film

[@zqxzqxzqx1]

In Black Swan, Nina's mother is another one with borderline personality disorder. Also, modern, cinematic horror is one thing. Complete and utter existential dread is another. Just discovered your channel yesterday. You make a lot of very good points, and touch on deeper truths than most. Keep up the good work!

[@possiblymcfly]

Possibly the longest 5 minutes of my life.

[@robotcat7821]

best 5 minute video ive ever watched

[@victorburnett6329]

A lot of interesting points raised here.

[@shreddhead23]

☺️🙏💯

[@siennamxxx97]

Just found you from the Annihilation video. Binging everything. Came immediately to your video about my favorite director.... opening sentence and I'm subscribed.. thanks for speaking so eloquently about such beloved yet controversial pieces!

[@hmmokay.4807]

Thank you well made thoughtful video. These three movies are impactful. I truthfully doubt I will ever forget the scene near the end of Mother, it was an utter gut punch..

[@holtrain81]

"Nobody can hurt you the way you can hurt you"

[@NikkiBRaps]

one of my fave directors for sure. these three are some of the best movies i've seen

[@NikkiBRaps]

although i can't bring myself to watch requiem again, its that harrowing

[@SOCIALITE217]

Yes! I say this all the time about d.a. Like a tragedy where the end cannot be avoided you get a protagonist gets so obsessed with a thing- a performance, a drug fueled dream, a title...etc... that they destroy themselves by achieving them!