The Truman Show Reflection Paper

“The Truman Show” renders an image of a world where profit motive has

subordinated a human life to the whims of mass entertainment. Truman exists in a fake,

profit driven world, where culture has been replaced. Truman lives a safe life where

everything appears to be perfect, but a life of perfection is not perfect because it is so

monotonous. A predictable world lacks excitement and stimulation, making it an

unpleasant place to live.

The film poses questions on the reality of the life we live in: is it really what we

perceive it to be? If we refuse to think that an object is that object, does it cease to be that

object? To what extent is this true in our lives? Are we blind to certain things, how

important is it to understand that blindness to truly understand something? To what

extent are we limited by our own limited abilities to perceive things? If we can only

perceive a limited amount, metaphorically what Truman might have been able to see,

what can we do uncover more details?

This is a problem not only are they taking away his rights as a human being, but

they are also taking away his rights of free will. Another view I was able to notice was

the whole concept of Christoff trying to play God. With that, it is immoral for someone

to try and play God by controlling someone’s entire life with their every move. The

Truman Show may be one of the most unethical movies I have ever seen but it taught

me how to critically analyze and was a great movie to use.

Three things I learned. Even though we feel trapped inside, we can always break

free from all that’s troubling us. We should never disregard our ability to break free

from all these traps filling up inside our heads. Nobody wants to feel like a prisoner.
 The second thought I had was that it will always be better to hear the truth even

if it hurts. And lastly, we should always have the courage to face reality no matter how

scary it may seem.

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 societies and cultures around

the world that 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 its people equally and respects its environment? I do believe

Christof was right, our society is evidence that many people simply accept the world or

culture they live in without questioning it, when sometimes it does need to be

questioned.

At the hands of such manipulators we see how the role of media in our world

persuades us into living in a way that we would otherwise not intend to. The clothes we

wear, the sports we play, the music we listen to and our political opinions are all

aspects that are influenced by the media. We see people on television and elsewhere,

looking trendy and we respond to it by going out and aiming to look the same way,

therefore buying the clothes.

People who watched this understand the premise of the show, and yet it seems

that the majority, with people agreeing with Sylvia representing the minority, does not

see anything wrong with Truman being forced to “perform.” It seems that they suspend

that part of their thinking to enjoy the show. Ethically this exploits Truman and

infringes on his basic human rights. Christof’s skewed morals fail to see this to promote

the grandeur he believes he is giving to Truman. While Christof and most of the

audience see nothing evil with the Truman Show, which is essentially wrong.
 If the movie was to continue and Truman embarked on a journey to experience

was he was deprived of for his thirty years, he would notice that the actual world was

very similar to the one he left. The difference would be that he was living his life

through the lens of how Christof imagined a life to be lived. Truman was sheltered as

life was made easy for him: he had a steady job, a wife, a home, cars, and savings.