Cinema is one of the comparatively new but powerful arts that is becoming more popular every day. It attracts millions of viewers through interesting plots, actors’ performances, and visual elements. In such a way, a movie works at several levels and affects individuals appealing to various and contributing to creating a particular mood. Moreover, the outstanding works by recognized and talented directors, such as Hitchcock, use specific psychological elements to strengthen these effects and ensure the audience’s involvement. For instance, in the psychological horror thriller Psycho, the director establishes a unique atmosphere by employing Levi Strauss’ Binary Opposition theory. It implies that the bigger part of narratives in media, literature, and movies has opposing main characters or ideas. They help to deepen the plot, make it more entertaining, create the basis for the development of the conflict, and introduce contrast. Hitchcock uses numerous contrasting scenes to emphasize the difference between the main characters, locations, and actions. In such a way, appealing to Levi Strauss’ idea, the director introduces binary oppositions to create suspense and impact the viewers.
The first example of binary opposition can be seen in how Hitchcock introduces scenes and locations. The movie starts with contrasting scenes of the big city and a confined hotel room. The very first long shot gives viewers the feeling of freedom, opportunity, and excitement. The big city is light and spacious, which is unusual for thrillers. However, in a second, this view is replaced by the small, confined, and dark hotel room. Viewers enter it through the small space in the almost closed window, which creates the feeling of spying on people who live there. It makes the audience feel uncomfortable, trapped, and claustrophobic in a tiny room. The impression becomes stronger when the audience realizes that the main characters consciously avoid big spaces as Marion says, “I better get back to the office.” The contrast between the big city full of people who do their everyday routine and the dark hotel room with hiding lovers creates suspense and a feeling of upcoming problems.
The contrast between marital and extramarital relations is another example of using binary opposition in the movie. The plot rests on the relations between lovers and Marion’s desire to get married to Sam. At the moment, she is not satisfied with her status, moreover, Sam has a wife and debts preventing him from proposing. This situation can be considered another binary opposite as marriage happiness is contrasted to lovers’ unofficial and secret relations. The audience realizes that Marion’s dissatisfaction and unhappiness with her current status and relations with Sam will contribute to the emergence of specific drama. This presentiment becomes stronger when viewers see the envelope with a significant sum of money. Marion needs them to marry Sam and become happy as she understands it. At the same time, this opposition helps to understand the main character’s motif and creates the basis for the further development of the plot. Unable to resolve her inner conflict, Marion commits a crime and makes the opposition more potent and more meaningful.
Finally, Norman Bates, the story’s central protagonist, can be viewed as an example of binary opposition. His external and visible to-everyone personality is contrasted with his inner nature. At first glance, he seems as a kind, caring, and good man who wants to help a woman in need. Viewers see him as a young man who seems to like Marion and wants to spend time with her. He asks her politely, “Well, then would you do me a favor? Would you have dinner with me?”. The lines characterize Norman as a charming man. However, later this side is juxtaposed with the evil inside him, the desire to stalk his prey, and readiness to kill. He lies without hesitation, saying, “no one has stopped here for a couple of weeks,” concealing that Marion is in a hostel. This transformation represents him as a psychopath who can commit any action and remains completely unpredictable. In such a way, the suspense is created by contrasting the friendly Norman at the first meeting and his evil nature when the story evolves.
Altogether, the movie Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock is a perfect example of how Levi Strauss’ binary opposition theory is used to achieve specific goals. The director wants to impress viewers by contrasting various aspects of the story and presenting the main characters from different perspectives. Spacious views of the big city are opposed to the confined and dark room of the hotel; the marriage life is juxtaposed to problems of being lovers; Norman Bates’ external personality is counterposed to his inner problems and evil nature. All these oppositions help to achieve several major goals, making the moving one of the most recognized masterpieces of all time. They create the atmosphere of suspense necessary for being engaged and impress viewers by showing them the binary nature of the world surrounding them. Using this approach, Hitchcock makes a horror thriller from a story of an ordinary woman who wanted to live better.