Structuralism

Part 1: Media Fact-sheet reading

1) What is the definition of structuralism provided by the Fact-sheet? 
Structuralism is a theoretical perspective that states the existence of universal structures affects how different societies view media texts.

2) What are binary oppositions and why are they important?
The way concepts are usually represented with opposing ideas and thoughts in language. 

3) How do genre and auteur theory link to structuralism? 
Genres link media text together through shared patterns and conventions across a range of texts and structuralist viewpoints focus on identifying them.

4) Look at page 4 of the fact-sheet. What is post-structuralism?
Post-structuralism looks at how external factors affect meanings and puts the focus on audience interpretation and what meaning they make of it.

5) What is your own opinion on this theory? Do you agree that we use established structures to understand the media (such as narrative and genre) or is the power now with audiences in a digital, post-structuralist media landscape? 
I believe post-structuralism holds more weight as a theory due to it's focus on the audience, as attitudes towards gender and ethnicity can change the meaning of the text, especially when factoring the time period the audience exists in, all these factors dramatically change the definitions and interpretations of a media text when taken into  account in comparison to structuralism.

Part 2: The Mitchells vs The Machines analysis

Watch the trailer for The Mitchells vs The Machines: 


Write an analysis of the trailer from both a structuralist and post-structuralist perspective. 

The following may help you:

Structuralist: what established narratives, genres or conventions can be found in the trailer? 

Post-structuralist: how does the trailer reject traditional structures and instead offer something new (e.g. incorporating elements of YouTube meme culture, audiences as producers of meaning or subverting expectations of narrative or character).

Structuralism:The trailer shows that the film is a wide amalgamation of genres such as sci-fiction, comedy, adventure and it has conventions off all three genres such as the introduction of an over ambitious piece of machinery that takes over the globe and enslaves human kind. The action is drawn from the narrative plot-line that this family are the only free humans left of earth attempting to fight back against this near unstoppable force and the comedic connotations are drawn from jokes cutting in many serious and dangerous moments in the trailer, diminishing the tension and making it more child and family friendly.The use of a conventional american nuclear family structure while contradicting traditional american values with their own highlights the general and typical conflict of the family throughout the story.

Post-structuralism:The trailer rejects traditional structures through the incorporation of meme culture in the trailer such as the Kirby toys turning against humans, a running joke among younger generations or the references to the modern era such as not having phones at the dinner table. Younger target audiences may villainise the mother and fathers actions more due to modern ideologies on the responsibility of parents to keep up good relations with their children. The film subverts expectations of a typical american family dynamics and the individual characters due to their over the top weird behavior with excessive arguments and conflict, not the typical quirky family many shows follow.

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