Claude Levi-Strauss was a French anthropologist who argued that human minds have universal structures across cultures. He is known for his theory of binary oppositions, which says that meaning comes from contrasting ideas like good vs evil, dark vs light, and protagonist vs antagonist. Examples of binary oppositions can be seen across genres in films, such as power dynamics in Schindler's List, dual identities in Spiderman, and contrasting personalities in Role Models. Levi-Strauss' work established structuralism and influenced fields like sociology and philosophy.

1. CLAUDE LEVI-
STRAUSS

2. WHO WAS CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS?
• Claude Lévi-Strauss (28 November 1908 – 30 October
2009 was a French anthropologist and ethnologist.
• He was born to French parents who were living in Brussels
at the time.
• He argued that the "savage" mind had the same
structures as the "civilized" mind and that human
characteristics are the same everywhere. These
observations culminated in his famous book ‘Tristes
Tropiques’, which positioned him as one of the central
figures in the structuralist school of thought, where his
ideas reached into fields including the humanities,
sociology and philosophy.

3. BINARY OPPOSITION’S THEORY
• His theory was that the way we understand certain
words doesn’t depend on the meaning it creates
but more on our understanding of the difference
between the word and its 'opposite' which is called
'binary oppositions'.
• He realised that words purely act as symbols for
society's ideas and the meaning of words,
therefore, he believed that they was a relationship
between opposing ideas.
• Binary oppositions can be found in a range of
media products such as a film trailers.

4. EXAMPLES OF BINARY OPPOSITIONS:
• Good vs evil, this is particularly shown in genres such
as action and thrillers in a protagonist and
antagonist role.
• Dark vs light, this is again shown in
action/thriller/horror films.
• Protagonist vs antagonist, this too can be shown in
action/thriller
• Past vs future, this can be shown in action and
history genres,
• Feminine vs masculine this is particularly seen in
horror/ thriller films as females are generally seen as
being victims and males are seen to be killers.

5. HORROR: FRIGHT NIGHT
Protagonist versus
antagonist
Fright Night (2011) - IMDb
As the protagonist is a student who is
trying to protect society from the
vampire , the audience can relate to
the character. The film will be aimed
at young adults who are students
which will boost box office hits.

6. HISTORY/WAR: SCHINDLER’S LIST
Powerful versus weak
Schindler’s List (1993) - IMDb
This film would appeal to those
who are interested or want to gain
an insight into the lives of people
who lived through World War II. It
can also get across how different
race/religions were treated at that
time and how the dominance of
the leaders changed they way
society lived.

7. ACTION: SPIDERMAN
Public Image versus Private
Image
The amazing Spiderman (2012)
This is a feature of almost all
superhero films, as most of
the protagonists attempt to
live an apparently normal life
as well as one in which their
identity is a mystery.

8. COMEDY: ROLE MODELS
Role models
(2008)
Binary oppositions in characters: Fun
loving guy versus Serious pessimistic
guy. The contrast in personality's of
the main characters which are
together through out the film.
Young Poor Black Kid versus Middle
Aged White Man, this is like a
opposition in culture and class.

9. ROM-COM: P.S I LOVE YOU
Old life versus New Life: Holly and
Gerry typical marriage, intensely
in love, then Gerry unexpectedly
dies and her life is changed
completely and the film focuses
on old compared to new
throughout .
P.S I love you (2007)