Levi Strauss Theory

Claude Levi Strauss is a social anthropologist- which is the study of humanity and figuring out what makes humans human. He examined how stories (narratives) unconsciously reflect the values, beliefs and myths of a culture; these are expressed in the form of binary oppositions. Since then, his research has been adapted by media theorists to reveal underlying themes and symbolic oppositions in media texts. Binary opposites are a conflict between two qualities or terms. E.g. 1970s western film binary opposites include:

• Homesteaders Vs Native Americans 
• christians Vs Pagan 
• Domestic Vs Savage 
• Weak Vs Strong 
• Garden Vs Wilderness 
• Inside Society Vs Outside Society

Binary opposities can be found in music videos, conforming to Levi Strauss theory. For example; in Justin Bieber's music video, 'As long as you love me' signifies the following binary opposites. 

• youth Vs elderly (in the conflict and fight between the father and the boy in love with his daughter)
• Day Vs Night (the comparison between the calmness of the day and the havoc in the night) 

Another music video's binary opposites for Ariana's Grande's 'into You' are as follows: 

• Day Vs Night (the ideology that the night time conceals their artist's secret relationship, whereas the light exposes it) 
• Male Vs Female  (a common binary opposite and the conflict of power between the two, mentally and physically is expressing in both ways, where the female has mental power over the male as his in love with her and the male has physical dominance over the female.