After watching The Truman Show, I was surprised by how much the film

impacted me. there were a number of lines which really stuck with me and
made me think. The line which impacted me most came from Christof, when
he said that "we accept the reality of the world with which we are
presented." That single line from Christof made me think about societies
and cultures around the world- it is very easy for us to accept the culture we
are born into or know best as the "right" way to live, but is it really? Could it
be possible to combine traditions and ways of life from all cultures and
societies, both past and present, to create the "perfect" society, one that
treats all of its people equally and respects its environment? I do believe
Christof was right, our society is evidence that a large number of people
simply accept the world or culture they live in without questioning it, when
sometimes it does need to be questioned.

In the film “The Truman Show,” I realized how people can live such as we put it “normal” lives. Truman
lived his entire life as if it were just some routine that he was required to to do everyday. In Truman’s
life there was no spontaneous acts or anything that made him different from the average office man.
That made me realize how that was something I didn’t want to do as I got older. When going to school it
almost seems like the only thing you really can do is just follow your everyday routine and stay inside
the lines. I have realized over the past few days that I live a life a lot like Truman’s. It’s not that I don’t
enjoy having my alone time, but I seem not to get out often and when I do I rush to get home. I want
new things to come about in my life and thats what this film has shown me. I realize that this sounds
ridiculous, but just like Truman at the end of the movie he did what he wasn’t used to. He literally and
figuratively got out of a world of “normal” and thats what my goal is for the rest of this semester. I want
to do things that aren’t normal to me, but that are new and exciting.

As a Mass Communication Student, I believe that Truman Burbank is very much like each and every one
of us. We all live in a world full of actors and manipulators and in some point, we, ourselves are actors
and manipulators as well. We are the Truman of our own show and a cast on another’s. Much of what
we do daily is an act. We are governed daily by social etiquette and are fed lines by our own social
protocol. We all have our own roles to play and lines to speak.

Social norms and protocol determine what we say and what we do. Greetings like “how are you” and
“how was your day” are automatically said when we meet and greet people when in reality we don’t
really care for an answer. When on the receiving end of such a question, we tend to automatically
answer “I’m doing well, how about you?” Even if our day has been horrible, social protocol dictates that
it is rude to burden an acquaintance with our troubles and it is more polite to just tell them all is well.
We smile at strangers and say “thank you” to people automatically. Many times we do not even
question the reality we’re presented with. We do not seek to question reality because we fear knowing
the truth. Many people find comfort in the routine and preset laws that govern our social interaction.