For this task, students were given sixteen minutes to briefly form and then write a response. As such these should not be seen as fully fledged answers. In fact, most of these responses require a more precise structure and more consistent reference to key scenes and media terminology. However, these should serve as inspirational examples of how you can address a question like this.
One
In humans a huge binary opposition which is highlighted in many different ways is that of the roles between men and woman. specifically when we see the over the shoulder shot of laura looking at anita in shock. This anchors the audience into the idea that the husband has replaced his wife with a synth. As a result the reinforcement of the patriarchal society of today is shown by the husband telling his wife that they are not taking the synth back which is shown in a mainly dominated mid shot of the husband. His superiority highlights the idea of Liesbet Van Zoonen's male gaze theory which incorporates the idea that women are shown to be looked at by hetrosexual male audiences. By the husband investing in a younger more attractive woman may seem as if the stereotypical house wife role taken on by laura is passed on to anita. The men in this episode are also subversive of this binary opposition as the establishing shot of the Hawkin's kitchen which is messy which then brings into it the husband, demonstrates that men are also involved in housing duties. The iconography of Anita suggests that Freud's madonna and whore theory is revealed as we see Anita looking very innocent and act in a very polite manner making her a madonna which may anchor the audience who are most likely heterosexual males into finding her appealing this is demonstrated in the long shot of Anita in the doorway and showing her figure and mise en scene.The way the episode is in medias res suggests that the audience have to make assumptions one of these is the binary opposition between synths and humans the way Niska is portrayed as a sex slave in a brothel, and her emotion suggests that the binary opposition set out by the producer is obscured due to her face showing pain "i want to feel pain" this is what Niska says to Leo and as a consequence shows that the binary opposition between synths and humans is not very obvious, this is demonstrated by the crane shot in the room where Anita gets raped. On the contrary synths and humans binary opposition is clear as when seeing Anita talk it is stereotypically robotic and obedient. Clearly this difference of having no soul is highlighted and consequently anchors the audience into thinking that although the iconography of synths and humans is similar doesn't mean that we talk the same. This links in with the hermeneutic code and shows that may in the future these may be subverted.
Two
In HUMANS binary oppositions play a key role in the telling of the story. One of the biggest binary oppositions is that of Human vs Robot. This is personified in the conflict between Anita (the synth) and Laura (mother of the Hawkins family). In one scene in the first episode of HUMANS Anita is reading a book to the young daughter and Laura feels disturbed and let out in this situation. This creates conflict as she see's Anita as an invading force trying to take over her position as a mother which leads to questions about the purpose of the synths and their ability to replace humans. As their synth, Anita is owned by the Hawkins family and make their lives easier by doing cleaning, cooking and looking after the children which are stereotypical housewife roles. Laura, as a lawyer, is often away from home for long periods of time meaning she subverts this stereotype and as such many feel from societal hegemony that she is not doing her job as a mother right. Her protective nature, especially over her youngest daughter, when around Anita may be caused by some of these anxieties as well as any other concerns over the physical safety of the synth. Anita as a free minded synth who has been reprogrammed, has motherly instincts slip through time and time again. She wants to look after Sophie but to Laura this is not natural. Laura see's Anita looking at the moon which greatly confuses and distresses her as Anita says "The moon is beautiful tonight". How could a synth have concept of beauty and enjoyment from that beauty? This causes Laura's anxieties to increase even more creating a bigger opposition between them.
Another binary opposition is Free-will vs Slavery. In one of the very first scenes we are shown a group of synths who are said to have feelings and independent thought. Three are captured including Fred, a black synth. When we next see Fred he is in an orange farm picking fruit from the trees with a brand of the company which owns him on his arm. This is an extreme allegory of the situation concerning the slave trade and black cotton pickers in the past. He was abducted against his will and forced to work, being owned by someone, against his will. In order to maintain a low profile he does as he is told until he can find a chance of escape to reunite with his friends. This is a situation that would occur in real life cotton plantations and so with its allegorical truth creates a strong sense of sadness and unity with the audience. It raises ethical considerations because we, the audience, know Fred is sentient so how is his treatment okay? It once again raises the question of whether synth emotions are real or can be considered as such.
Three
Humans uses Claude Levi-Strauss theory of binary oppositions to add meaning to the text. A specific example of one of the binary oppositions used is between cyborgs and 'real' humans. We can see this through the way the synths are treated compared to the way humans are treated. In the orange picking scene, Fred, a synth, is approached by a human and when he attempts to run, he is shot at, consequently killing him. The mise en scene shows him having a number printing on his forearm, which allows the audience to draw parallels between the treatment of synths within the show and the treatment of slaves in the 1800's. This plays upon a referential codes of something most audience members would have knowledge of, and help them to make sense of the text. It also helps the producers of the show to push forward their ideology of making the audience question how synths should be treated and whether or not they should have the same rights as humans. In a similar way, Human's uses female synths to highlight the hegemonic standards set for women in the real world. Each female synth takes on a role that's stereotypically feminine - i.e Anita being motherly and Anoushka being a sex worker. This demotes the characters and objectifies them to nothing more than their gender. Examples of this is in the brothel scene when a client, a man. demands her to 'pull down her underwear' and she has to do so without question. It could be argued that this kind of synth would promote rape culture, since they never actually get to give their consent - and its rather treated as a given that they have to say yes. This goes back to the theory of binary oppositions due to the lack of this kind of treatment towards the men. Even the human characters follow the rules that their gender follow - the dad is the one who chooses to get Anita, the hawkins family's synth, and when his wife Laura expresses discomfort within this he doesn't listen to her, and rather uses his masculinity to get his own way.
Four
In Humans, binary oppositions are extremely important and effective in creating the understanding of the tension between the Humans and "Synths"(Cyborgs). We see this most prevalently with the 2 characters Anita And Laura. When Laura returns from her business trip she discovers that her husband has purchased a Synthetic Android(Anita), to help out around the home. We first see Anita from a mid shot where she is holding a cloth and spray. These items are stereotypically used by women for cleaning so Laura almost feels attacked by this. Anita is dressed in completely oppositional and un-sexualised clothing (binary opposition in the way they're dressed as Anita is wearing extremely plain clothes, straight, black hair, no makeup whereas Laura has more extravagantly coloured hair, more interesting clothes etc) however she feels through the stereotypically hegemonic and patriarchal values of the household that she has been replaced and will no longer serve a purpose in the household. Anita is purposefully un-sexualised because and drawn as a binary opposition of laura purely because it conveys that women are still liable to be offended and almost hurt at another woman 'stepping on their territory' and therefore shows how women somewhat still subconsciously follow the hegemonic and patriarchal rules of society. There is also a binary Opposition between Anita and Niska. Niska is a sex 'slave' and is therefore over sexualised to quite a high degree due to her wearing very little clothing whereas Anita is not Sexualised whatsoever by wearing very straight clothing to not reveal any features. However the audience is more enticed by Anita because she is shown as very sexually repressed and unobtainable and is therefore seen as more desirable to the stereotypically male audience watching the program.
Five
Within Episode 1 of 'Humans', the binary opposition between human and synth (cyborg) is cleverly conveyed through several features of mise-en-scene. For example, in the first cut, the warehouse filled with synths has a blue tint to it and the lighting is incredibly high key, connoting to something modern and futuristic, and also has a coldness about it. This compares to the next image of nature, which is filled with colours like green and yellow, connoting warmth and life. As well as this, when Anita first enters the Hawkins' home, she is dressed in a plain blue outfit and has straight and shiny hair. She over takes the stereotypically maternal role within the family, and she is seen holding cleaning products when Laura walks in. She seems much more clean whereas Laura has messy hair and more brown coloured clothes. Even though Anita has taken on Laura's role, there is still a separation between them, and the synth taking care of Sophie seems unnatural. Laura reinforces this by repeatedly telling Anita, "that's my job", which we can infer displays how uncomfortable Laura is having a cyborg in her home. The binary opposition of what Anita is wearing therefore adds to how she is abnormal, and does not fit into the family, conveying to the audience Laura's intimidation on witnessing Anita within her home - she could feel that Anita's clean and perfect looks challenge her, and her actions also displace her position in the household.
What this also cultivates is the idea of a 'nuclear family', as Joe's decision to buy a female synth reflects a husband and wife dynamic that he wishes to achieve. Although Laura is uncomfortable with the synth, Joe is dominant and tells her that "we're not taking it back". This could reflect that Joe enjoys having her around the house, and taps into the fact that gender is constructed through your actions, as theorised by Judith Butler. At the start of the episode, Joe is seen washing dishes and caring for the family while Laura is away, which subverts from stereotypical views of men working away from the family and the mother caring for them. In order to tip it back, Joe has taken on a more assertive stance and chosen the female synth to fit in with gender and cultural norms associated within a household.
Six
Binary Oppositions are evident in Episode 1 of Humans and help the audience understand the meanings of the text. One main binary opposition is Freud's theory of the Madonna and Whore complex. Where we can relate this to Anita and Niska. Anita being the madonna who is pure and a virgin so she is attractive and Niska being the whore who is not as attractive due to her easiness etc.
The way in which we can understand this ideology is that Niska is a sex worker in a brothel. We know this due to the setting she is in when Leo wants to see her he has to pay and has to choose her from the list of girls, also the mise-en-scene of Niska's costume shows that she is there to have sex with customers. Also the way that Niska is spoken to is aggressive and not passionate. For example, at the end of ep.1 when a man enters Niska's room she is told to pull her underwear down and she has to obey, showing her lifestyle and how she is dehumanised and objectified by this male and any other male that comes into the brothel. Whereas this is majorly different to Anita being the housewife the mise-en-scene of the colour of her face shows she is pure. The mise-en-scene of her costume is also very basic as she is still in the outfit from the factory so she is in no way sexualised yet she is attractive to males, we know this due to the non verbal communication of the son in the Hawkins family when he see's Anita he licks his lips showing her attractiveness. We can also see that Anita is desirable and wanted due to Leo's urge to find her, he is adamant to find her and we know this through the scene of when Leo confronts Sadiq and shows him a photo of Anita he is forceful and confident in trying to find answers. The photo shown of Anita to Sadiq is also a binary opposition in favour to Anita as she is seen in nature so this emphasises her purity compared to the rundown area that Leo and Sadiq are in. By having this binary opposition in Humans we can see the difference in cyborgs and it shows how they do have feelings as they are both taking different paths and have their own character traits it also emphasises what other characters would think of the cyborgs and deepens our understanding of them and their personality traits, which is vital in the first episode so we are able to understand the characters from early on.
Another Binary Opposition shown in the first episode of Humans is the difference between young and old. Anita being young and Laura being old. Anita is a young cyborg and is attractive to the males in the Hawkins family, we know she is attractive as when she entered the room the son of the family licked his lips showing his interest. Also when Anita was bought Sophie wished she was pretty, evidently proving she is attractive. Whereas Laura is older and she is not seen in the same way Anita does we know this due to the mise-en-scene of Laura's costume she does not wear anything very flattering or anything that would make her be seen as attractive. As soon as Laura had walked through the door she noticed the shoes being moved and was not happy and later revealed that she was upset
Seven
Levi Strauss considered binary oppositions as fundamental organiser of human philosophy, culture and language. In Humans, binary oppositions are used to encode the representations of men. In one pivotal scene, George, who owns a synth named Odie, fixes him up as if he was a broken car or toy, however, he shows a lot of love towards fundamentally, something that is not real, just a replication of human behaviour. the way Odie is presented encodes the expression of a young child, his appearance is boyish and simple, but shows verbal characteristics of somebody old (particularly in memory loss) and encodes a father-son type dynamic between the two of them. However although Odie is meant to be the one looking after the much older George, the dynamic is clearly switched as George is fixing Odie and helping him recover his malfunctions.
This opposes the relationship the father of the main family shares with their synth Anita. He sees her as a supplement for the mother figure as his wife, Laura works regularly away and is not at home very often. He holds a sexual attraction towards Annita, when he first purchases the synth he is immediately reactive to her looks, clearly forming an attraction. There is a possibility that he wanted a female synth, like George wanting a son for him to look after and almost raise, the father wants almost an attractive maid to subserve to him as he is her primary user, not Laura.
What this opposition encodes about the representation of men is that the stereotypical representation of the father presents him as wanting someone young, attractive and subservient woman to do whatever he says and to hold possession over her. This fits into Van Zoonen's male gaze theory as it shows that men like women who are visually pleasing and purchased her because she was a stereotypical representation of a beautiful woman, a simulacra towards both synths in these scenes as they are representations of their own personal “perfect humans” but they are only that, representations and are not real. George however, subverts classical representations as he is not interested in a synth for their beauty or subservience but for company and companionship. He sees his synth as a replacement for a child like the father sees Annita as a replacement for the mother figure, George wants to look after a synth that is designed to help him. He is unable to let go because of the relationship he has formed with Odie and like when he fixes him up, finds it hard to be able to let go of somebody he feels a connection with, he notably doesn't have any other human connection and instead spends his time with his synth. What the father's representation shows about encoding meaning through binary opposition is that although in that universe is a progressive world with the mother is the one working and him being a stay at home father, that there is still an exploitation of the female form, that it is something to be enjoyed by men and something they are able to purchase and use for sexual or any other purpose the man desires.