Levi Strauss binary opposition theory

Levi Strauss' binary opposition theory identifies how within media texts, most commonly films, there is a binary opposite between two characters or forces. This is shown obviously within comics where there is a struggle for the good to win against evil. Within The Amazing Spider man, Spider man must face the Lizard in order to save New York. The Lizard is shown to be the villain of the story from the outset and Spider man as the hero.

Binary opposites are not always as prominent as the difference between the scary lizard and Spider man, played by Andrew Garfield. Within promotions of The Amazing Spider man, Spider man is shown in positions where his body language show him to be superior to the Lizard and show the audience that they must support the hero of the narrative.

Within the Twilight series there is a battle of two sides which are the Vampires and Werewolves, whilst this was clear that the two sides were very different, it was the audience's decision as to whether they were 'team Edward' or 'Team Jacob'. These terms were used in promotion of the film and largely the audience chose which side they preferred depending on whether they, as a female teenage audience, preferred Robert Pattinson who played Edward or Taylor Lautner who played Jacob. Within promotion of the films the two sides were shown as being different, the actors themselves looked different as Edward was much paler and had slightly less confidence in his body language whilst Jacob (who was usually topless), was tanned and confident, much like his alter-ego of a werewolf. Towards the end of the Twilight series the two sides combined forces to fight a greater evil and it is evident from the promotion surrounding the last film that the tension between the two characters had lessened.

These are some example of binary opposites:

• Gender – Masculine/ Feminine
• Age – Young/ Old
• Ethnicity – White/ Black
• Social Class – Upper/ Lower
• Social Identity – Chav/ Rocker

An example of Binary Opposites is in Taylor Swift's 'You Belong With Me'. This video uses binary opposites both in the lyrics of the song and also within the music video itself. The video shows a popular cheerleader in comparison with a girl who is quiet and studies a lot. The cheerleader has a boyfriend who the quiet girl loves, the cheerleader breaks up with the guy and the quiet girl ends up with him. It is an incredibly simple narrative but is a sweet video and Taylor Swift plays both the cheerleader and the quiet girl which keeps the audience watching.