DIAMETRIC OPPOSITION

 What is diametric opposition? "Completely and directly in opposition to something,"

Here are some examples within humans:

Examples:

• Man Vs Machine
• Anita Vs Laura
• Captivity Vs Freedom
• Progress Vs Regression 
• Family Vs Institution 
• Individual Vs Society
• Consciousness Vs Unconsciousness
• Past Vs Present 
• Male Vs Female
• Old Vs Young
• Appearance Vs Reality

HISTORY

- Lang 1927 (metropolis), the robot is sexualised due to her body making her clearly female - ie, the inclusion of breasts on the robot.

- Sorayama Hajime Sexy Robot, the robot, alike Lang is sexualised through the body shape

CYBORG - CYBERNETIC ORGANISM 

(In Humans these are referred to as Synths)

• A being that combines both machine and biological organs

What is the difference between Anita and a washing machine?

• Appearance; Anita seems to be more human, and is programmed to be more interactive on a social scale with a human.
• Although Anita and the washing machine are both middle class purchases

Are we Cybernetic organisms?

• We rely on machines; ie, phones, cars, bikes to do anything
• Our lives have become so integrated with technology, we depend on machines, alike how we depend on limbs and our bodies.
• There is an argument that we are somewhat cyborg, due to our dependance on machines and how we cannot live without them.

"By the late twentieth century, our time, a mythic time, we are all chimeras, theorised and fabricated hybrids of machine and organism; in short, we are cyborgs. The cyborg is our ontology; it gives us our politics. The cyborg is a condensed image of both imagination and material reality, the two joined centres structuring any possibility of historical transformation." - Donna Harraway. A Cyborg Manifesto.

KEY THEORY 10 - JUDITH BUTLER - THEORIES OF GENDER PERFORMATIVITY 

• Identity is a performance, and it is constructed through a series of acts and 'expression' that we perform every day. While there are biological differences dictated by sex, our gender is defined through this series of acts. These may include ways we walk, talk, dress and so on. Therefore, there is no gender identity behind these expressions of gender. Gender performativity is not a singular act, but a repetition of a ritual. It is outlined and reinforced through dominant patriarchal ideologies.

KEY THEORY 11 - BELL HOOKS - FEMINIST 

• Argues that feminism is a struggle to end patriarchal oppression and the ideology of domination, and that the position of the underrepresented is by class and race as well as gender. 
• "Women in lower class and poor groups, particularly those who are non-white, would not have defined women's liberation as women gaining social equality with men since they are continually reminded in their every day lives that women do not share a common social status."

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS 

WHAT REPRESENTATIONS OF GENDER ARE ENCODED INTO THESE SCENES?

• There is a binary opposition between the mise-en-scene of the woman's clothing, and the man's. The male wears full clothing, a blue hoodie (stereotypically male colour), jeans, white undershirt etc, whereas the female Niska only wears lingerie.
• Niska is shown to be wearing a lot of makeup, with her hair done nicely, which opposes the lacklustre effort of the male. This represents women to spend time on their appearance in order to please men, linking in to the idea of a dominantly patriarchal society.
• The lexis within the dialogue 'Panties down. Not off," spoken by the man within this scene, creates the narrative that he is in charge of the females actions and appearance. He follows this line by pushing her over, further reinforcing his dominance and representing men as being those in charge and control.

HOW ARE THEY EMPHASISED THROUGH MONTAGE, DIEGETIC SOUND, ESTABLISHING SHOTS?

• During the close up shot of Niska's face, she displays an almost unemotional expression, linking in to the idea of men being in control due to their authority never being questioned. Despite her unemotional expression, the voice over which states 'What about those darker feelings? Fear? Anger? Violence?' provides insight on what Niska is thinking, showing that she is clearly aware of her poor treatment, and wishes to rebel against this manipulative society, yet her emotionless expression anchors the idea that she will never verbalise these thoughts, due to fear of going against the normality of society.
• The shot of Niska's back is taken from the perspective of the male, as he has entered the room from behind her. This positions the audience in his perspective. The symbolic coding of the colour 'red', which is the dominant colour within this shot, has connotations of lust and passion, therefore symbolising to the audience, that this is all the man sees due to us being positioned in his perspective.

WHAT FUNCTION DO MALE AND FEMALE BODIES SERVE? HOW DO YOU KNOW?

• Women are presented as being hyper sexualised, and their bodies serving the pure purpose of sex and desire, as emphasised through the mise-en-scene of revealing clothing, the extensive makeup which appeals to men, and the overall plot within this scene. 
• Men represented as being in control, and their pure purpose is to use women for their own convenience and desire. Men's bodies are not supposed to be sexualised, as conveyed through the binary opposition between the amount of clothing he is wearing, in comparison to Niska.

WHAT AUDIENCE RESPONSES ARE POSSIBLE FROM THIS SCENE?

• Sympathy towards Niska and the overall treatment of synths, particularly female synths
• Disgust towards their treatment and the men who attend these facilities 
• Reflection on the way they treat women, and a realisation that women have feelings and a conscience too.
• Questioning 'what does it mean to be human?'

QUESTION PLAN

"According to Claude Levi-Strauss, texts convey their meanings through a system of binary oppositions. Evaluate this structuralist theory. Refer to the set episodes of Humans and The Returned within your response [30]."

What does the question want me to do? 

• Evaluate it - so what do I think? Do I think it's true? False? To what extent?
• Give examples
• Maybe provide a counterargument 

PLAN

KEY:

Point, evidence, explanation, context, link

Paragraph one: I do agree that binary oppositions help to lay the foundations of the overall meaning being conveyed.

• Mention: The binary opposition between the mise-en-scene of makeup and costume. Niska is sexualised through her lack of clothing, which juxtaposes the full clothing worn by the male actor. Niska wears heavy makeup and clearly puts time and effort into her appearance, link this back to  the meaning of women altering their appearance to appeal to a dominant patriarchal society for context.
• Speak of the binary opposition between dialogue. The male actor has more lines than she does, and the lexis within these lines is demanding and controlling, which contrasts the passiveness of her lack of, and her physical movements.
• Conclude with - yes, binary oppositions do convey SOME meaning through a system of binary oppositions.

Paragraph two: however, this is not the ONLY way meanings are conveyed.

• Mention the idea of coding; ie - symbolic coding of red conveying the idea of passion, providing reasoning behind why the male is behaving in this way. This helps to add more to the story, beyond what the binary opposition could have told us. The positioning of the camera, making us see from the man's perspective, further anchoring this idea, once more giving us something we would have not understood solely from the binary opposition.
• Speak of how the voice-over does not binary oppose anything, but adds to the idea of Niska being conscience and understanding what is going on, providing a wider commentary on the representation of women as a whole.

Paragraph Three: it is a mixture of different factors which help to convey a meaning.

• The binary opposition between the mise-en-scene of clothing does establish the clear power balance and does make reference to the dominant patriarchal society. However, this is anchored by the symbolic coding and the inclusion of dialogue, lexis and voice-overs.
• The close-up shot of Niska's face conveys the message of being afraid and unable to showcase emotion, of which the binary opposition does not provide commentary on.
• Speak of how historically cyborgs have been sexualised in the past; Lang, Sexy Robot etc and how this has been integrated into society as being 'acceptable', her facial expression clearly subverts this ideology - once again, something binary oppositions cannot prove. Binary oppositions tell you what the characters are (ie sexualised), although not necessarily what they are feeling within this context.

CONCLUDE: Yes, binary oppositions do help to convey meaning, yet this is anchored through a variety of other features ^^ reference the ones above