Binary Oppositions

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes is amovie that shows us binary oppositions quite clearly especially in the opening scene. The White American Montague's come in driving a yellow convertible car. They are aslo in colourful shirts and colourful hair with a hip hop beat playing in the background in contrast to the Latin American Capulets who are in a new blue SUV look alike car with cowboy themed music and they are wearing boots mathcing the cowboy theme. They also seem way more confident, expensive and fit appearance in comparison to the montagues who seem a bit more nervous. The theme music of the montagues is cut off when the Capulets are introduced and when it tracks back to the Montagues on the other side of the gas station, the music then changes to accompany the Montagues.

The opening scene then ends with a gun fight with the opposing families. This puts emphasis on the two binary oppositioins. The two families buildings are also represented with the two rival  (Red and Blue). From these scene we can identify the binary opposition of the two families (Capulets vs Montagues).