The Over-Obsessed Artist Trope

To love art is to be maddened by it.

This is a notion that has always been in my head since I watched a particular movie which I will talk about later on. First of all, I'd like to deal with the thing that inspired me to choose this topic for today. It was Day 1 of Theatre No.59 (a well-acclaimed drama group) Night at MCC. The Hindi Crew put on a show, titled 'Kala', dealing with the theme that I've mentioned in the title- the over-obsessed artist trope.

The protagonist, Sneha, is a dance student at her own mother's classical dance academy. She strives to be a good enough student for her mother but she is bested by another student named Nishta at every turn. The fact that Sneha is unable to reach her mother's expectations and perfect the art causes strain in her family dynamic, making her mother angry with her which in turn makes her father angry at her mother. This causes the mother to leave her father for another guy and her father ends up hanging himself. Maddened by all this trauma and the desire to be the best at the art form that was chosen for her, she ends up challenging Nishta to a dance-off and gives her everything to be better than Nishta, and then eventually ends up killing Nishta because she wants to be the greatest.

This reminded me of this one movie directed by Darren Aronofsky by the name 'Black Swan'. The film follows Nina Sayers, portrayed by Natalie Portman, a talented but fragile ballet dancer who lands the lead role in a New York City production of 'Swan Lake'. Nina's pursuit of perfection and the pressure from her demanding director pushes her to her limits and makes her paranoid and fall into hallucinations. The arrival of a new dancer, Lily, further complicates Nina's mental state, leading to a twisted rivalry and a blurred line between reality and fantasy, which eventually leads Nina who had the personality of the White Swan turn into a complete Black Swan.

Both Sneha and Nina become obsessed with their art to the extent that they lose themselves over it. To be the greatest at what they do and to eliminate any sort of competition makes them resort to cruel means they wouldn't have even thought of if they hadn't lost their sanity over it.

Perfection comes with a cost. One can lose oneself completely without being aware of it as one strives for artistic excellence. Because there is a very thin line between passion and obsession. Though passion is essential for the soul, obsession sometimes derails it. And an obsessed artist can never be fully sane. Because to be a great artist is to be a little mad.

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