Binary Opposites in film

Binary opposites in film

X-Men – Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr

Both Xavier and Lehnsherr want the same thing, a world where mutants are accepted members of society who can live without fear. However they are binary opposites since they both have very different ideas on how to achieve this goal.

Xavier is more the nurturer, he uses his wealth to build an institution or school for mutants to provide hospitality and trains them to use their powers for self-defence. Xavier believes the only way to end the discrimination against mutants is for both human and mutant kind to live alongside one another in harmony. Xavier believes aggression causes violence and that is not the way to go forth in his pursuit of equality.

Lehnsherr chooses to neutralize rather than nurture. Where Charles builds an institution to teach morally applicable philosophies to younglings Erik being the “evil” side of the binary opposition would organise “The brotherhood of evil mutants”. The name is as it suggests - a group of young adults who are in no way seeking reform. Lehnsherr uses aggression and teaches his disciples to attack rather than defend and embrace their power. While Xavier took a passive role, Lehnsherr was aggressive in his pursuit of mutant equality.

Their opposite ideologies may be a product of their upbringing. Xavier was born into wealth with a rich background and prestige education. Lehnsherr however was a holocaust victim, him and his family were persecuted for being Jewish. He fully witnessed the death of his mother with his own eyes. Already Lehnsherr was a victim of genocide and discrimination of a certain group of people. This may explain why he believes humans are pure evil and will not change. Since Charles didn’t face the horrors Lehnsherr has he is more optimistic and open minded on humanities beliefs and will to change.  

At the end of the movie Xavier and Lehnsherr are playing a game of chess whilst having a conversation. The binary opposition is also strongly shown in this scene as well as their conflicting methods. Lehnsherr is playing the black pieces and Xavier the white showing us who is good and evil. Notice closely and you can see Lehnsherr using powerful pieces such as the Rook and Knight symbolizing his belief that his “Brotherhood of evil mutants” is superior. Xavier mostly uses pawns symbolizing his faith in his disciples (The X-Men).

Every aspect of these two’s ideologies and character are polar opposites. Xavier is a nurturer, pacifist, born into wealth whereas Lehnsherr is a neutralizer, warmonger, born into poverty. Xavier teaches defence whereas Lehnsherr teaches attack. Even their individual mutation (Super powers) are binary opposites. Xavier has telepathy, Lehnsherr is able to manipulate metal. Xavier’s powers resides in the mind which is something human whereas Lehnsherr’s is metal which resides more in the earth. It reflects their personalities, the mind is more than one dimensional which is how Xavier sees humanity, he believes they are not so cookie cutter and can be more. The earth and nature has concrete laws where species evolve and fight which is reflected in Lehnsherrs personality.  

 

Unbreakable – David Dunn and Elijah Price

This is a clear example of binary opposites. Our protagonist David Dunn uncovers that he is “Unbreakable” and cannot be harmed physically. He is discovered by a man named Elijah price who we later find out is our villain and ironically our antagonist Elijah is the polar opposite of Dunn.

Elijah Price suffers from a condition called osteogenesis imperfecta where his bones are extremely fragile causing him get broken bones continuously. Elijah is the exact opposite physically compared to the unbreakable David Dunn. Elijah believes that just as there are brittle people at one end of the spectrum, there must be unbreakable ones at the other end, this aligns with the binary opposition within the film itself.

The basic similarities are all there: a cloaked protagonist with superhuman strength locks horns with a scheming, criminally insane supervillain. We see the reluctant hero, played here by Bruce Willis, come to terms with his powers, use them for civic protection and watch him win the girl before finally overcoming his nemesis. We get both characters’ origin stories in flashback, and both are played by Hollywood A-listers.