Gizem Kirdagli - How are binary oppositions established at the start of a teen movie/film?

Binary oppositions are a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning. These are common in teen films and usually feature at least 3 binary oppositions. Common oppositions in teen films usually associate with popular vs unpopular, rich vs poor, beautiful vs ugly and old vs young. An example of binary oppositions in a teen film is in '10 Things I hate about you', where we see different groups of teenagers in high school which follow groups such as: popular group, clever kids, rasta's, coffee drinkers etc. We also see a clear divide in groups of people when a group of 'popular' girls pull up in a blue convertible whilst another character is driving an old car playing rock music and wearing all black, this is a clear opposite and a binary opposition. The colours and music also reflect the oppositions.

 Another example of binary oppositions in a different teen film is 'Romeo and Juliette" where we see 2 gangs montague vs capulete and the binary oppositions in these gangs are: Montague are white American whilst Capulete are Latin American and we also see a difference in costume, montague wear Hawaiian shirts and are casual and on the other hand Capulete are wearing sophisticated clothing and seem much richer. Binary oppositions are made to keep the story moving forward, it creates a sense of drama in the film because we see these oppositions going against each other creating a story line. 

Another example of opposite binary oppositions in Twilight where we see the disabled man on the the wheelchair whilst the other characters are perfectly able to walk. The wheelchair shows us that the man isn't able to walk unlike others, who are able to walk. We also see that Bella's mother's home environment is extremely warm compared to Bella's father's home environment which is cold and makes the audience feel un welcome.  The cactus and the sun suggests that the weather is quite hot and the clouds indicate the gloominess of the scene as they are quite dark. The final binary opposition we come across in the opening sequence is a voice over in the the scene where Bella refers to her mother as "mum" and she refers to her  father as "not a hugger" which shows us that she has unconditional love for her mother but her father has disapointed her in the aspect as he never presents his love through 'by hugging' her as she would like him to.