Narrative - Levi-Strauss

Evaluate the relevance of Strauss' narrative theory to long term television drama (Homeland)

Binary Oppositions

• Good vs evil
• West vs East
• War vs peace
• Madness vs sanity
• Youth vs old
• Male vs female

Levi Strauss' narrative theory states that the human mind could be investigated by studying the fundamental structure underlying myths and fables from around the world. He developed the idea of 'binary opposition' - that the system of myths and fables was ruled by a structure of opposing terms, like male-female, good-evil.
I think that Strauss' theory is very relevant to Homeland, as it includes many typical themes of a TV drama that fit in with Strauss' binary oppositions.
Firstly, good vs evil is an opposition that fits in heavily with Homeland, predominantly with CIA agent Carrie Mathison, and Sergeant Nicholas Brody. Carrie represents the good side of this, as she is the person trying to solve the case, and Brody is the more evil character, as the audience are led to believe that he is a terrorist, and has killed other soldiers that were his 'friends'. Good vs evil is an opposition that continues throughout the whole series, and you can use it with other characters, for example, Brody being the good side, and potential terrorist Tom Walker representing the evil side. These oppositions continue to show that Strauss' theory is relevant to Homeland as a TV drama.
Madness vs sanity is another binary opposition which is relevant to Homeland. As season 1 progresses, Carrie goes more and more mentally insane, due to her bipolar disorder. This is juxtaposed by other sane characters surrounding her, like her backup Saul, who always tries to calm her and make sure she's not overworking herself. This binary opposition is highly relevant to Homeland, as it is a key storyline, and helps the viewers to understand Carrie as a character.
Another binary opposition used in Homeland is youth vs old. You have the youthful character of Dana Brody, who is representing the stereotypical behaviour of teenagers, going out drinking and doing drugs with your friends, and getting angry at her parents for the smallest things. This is juxtaposed with the older characters in the drama, like Jess Brody and Carrie, who are the more authoritive, responsible characters who control the younger generation. The opposition of youth vs old is important throughout Homeland, as you can see the younger characters growing older and becoming more responsible for themselves.
To conclude, Levi-Strauss' theory of binary oppositions is incredibly relevant throughout Homeland season 1, as they help to progress the characters and the storyline all the way through.

Narrative - Neale

Mise-en-Scene

• Set - Langley (CIA Base), interrogation rooms
• Props - Guns, bombs, knives
• Costumes - Military uniform

Typical Narrative

• Binary oppositions - bad guy/good guy
• Police and terrorists
• Political, psychological and military drama, not just crime drama

Generic/Stock Characters

• Female lead who has bipolar disorder

Themes

• Police vs criminals

Evaluate the relevance of Neale's genre theory to long term television drama (Homeland)

Neale's genre theory is very relevant to Homeland in a number of different ways. Neale argues that genre is a process by which generic codes and conventions are shared by producers and audiences through repetition in media products. Homeland follows this theory throughout season 1.

The mise-en-scene of Homeland follows the conventions that have been used by other TV crime dramas. Homeland uses set, props and costumes to follow these generic codes. Firstly, the crime drama is set in Langley, a CIA base, and often uses interrogation rooms, which is typical for a TV crime drama to use. Secondly, the props used are common in all crime dramas, as they use guns, bombs and knives, which follows genre codes that TV crime dramas constantly repeat.

The typical narrative used in Homeland is also repeated in TV crime dramas, with binary oppositions of bad guy versus good guy, and police versus terrorists, which follow Neale's theory heavily. Homeland's narrative does not just use crime drama, it uses psychological, political and military drama, as these themes were relevant in the decade it was released. This fits in with Neale's genre theory, making it relevant to Homeland as a TV drama.

The generic characters in Homeland fit in with Neale's theory, as there are detectives and police figures, as well as the generic criminals shown in TV crime dramas.

However, Homeland subverts this convention because the female lead has bipolar disorder, which is very uncommon for the main character in a TV crime drama to have a mental disorder.

The themes within Homeland are conventional to TV crime drama, as it focuses on good versus evil and police versus criminals, which is always the overruling theme within TV crime dramas.

Narrative - Barthes