NARRATIVE THEORY - LEVI STRAUSS

Claude Levi-Strauss was the final theorist whom I had to study, he was a social anthropologist who studied myths of tribal cultures. He had examined how stories unconsciously reflect the values, beliefs and myths of a culture. These are usually expressed in the form of binary oppositions. His research has been adapted by many media theorists to reveal underlying themes and symbolic oppositions in media texts.

Binary Opposition - a conflict between two qualities or terms.

Some examples are:

• Homesteaders - Native Americans

• Christian - Pagan

• Domestic - Savage

• Weak - Strong

• Garden - Wilderness

• Inside Society - Outside Society

Unlike other films from the action genre, I believe that it would be hard to apply Strauss's theory of binary opposition to my production, as there are no clear opposites within my plot. Unlike other mainstream productions such as Harry Potter, in which there is a clear distinction between the Hero Protagonist and the Villain Antagonist, I think that my production makes it hard to tell. This plays into the social-realistic elements present in my film, as in the real world, it is hard to tell friend from foe, and anyone could be your enemy at any given moment. The story itself is also set in London, where the quality of life is rather high and people can live their lives happily to a certain extent.