Preview

The Truman Show: Society's Utopia

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1057 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Truman Show: Society's Utopia
The Truman Show A utopia is defined as an imaginary place or state of things in which everything is perfect. Its social conditions and members of society are simply flawless. Society yearns for this unrealistic world even though perfection is an unachievable goal. Through analyzation of the film The Truman Show, it is clear that society both desires and recognizes the misconceptions of an idealistic world. This film emphasizes society’s yearning to surround themselves with the comforts of a media driven world despite it's unrealistic qualities. In the start of the film, the viewers of the Truman Show revolve their lives around Truman and his utopia. As a show that broadcasts 24 hours a day, its viewers have the ability to tune in into Truman’s …show more content…
Similar to television commercials today, The Truman Show endorses products as a commercial venture. Although it is unaware to Truman, his world is filled with actors who act as citizens of Seahaven. During an interview, Christof explains that everything from clothes to houses are for sale on The Truman Show. Truman’s wife, Meryl, and best friend, Marlon clearly endorse products for sale. For instance, as Meryl grabs a can, she looks at the camera and states, “Why don't you let me fix you some of this Mococoa drink? All natural cocoa beans from the upper slopes of Mount Nicaragua. No artificial sweeteners” (The Truman Show). By using unrealistic scenarios, these advertisements influence the audience to want to live in their perfect world. They pressure society to buy these products in order to make their lives like Truman’s---unrealistically perfect. Ultimately, marketing and commercialism restrict an individual from living their life without media influences. All in all, the comforts of this commercialized world make the viewers of The Truman Show live through its …show more content…
Its unrealistic portrayal of a utopian society, restricts the viewers from living an authentic life. Specifically, The Truman Show emphasizes what society longs for in their lives. Sense of perfection including a successful job, a happy wife, and unrealistic expectations deceive the audience of their grasp on reality. Ultimately, society is fooled into a media driven world, where they imagine they will find unattainable perfection that ceases to exist ( is
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Similarities Between The Giver And The Truman Show
    • 799 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Similarities Between The Giver And The Truman Show

    A utopia, a perfect place a new and awesome world. My utopia would be somewhere where sunshine and football all year around, But that isn't true to everyone. Many people have tried and failed to do that to our society. It is something that can never happen it's not possible, and Both The Truman Show by Peter Weir and The Giver by Lois Lowry, have had an impact on the world. They both have constructed and changed the presentation of reality, and both characters realize their world is fake, they become disillusioned and search out the truth.But in the end they both seem to find out that there world are not utopias but dystopias.…

    • 799 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Compare And Contrast Logan's Run And The Truman Show
    • 1724 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Compare And Contrast Logan's Run And The Truman Show

    In the Truman Show, the main character, Truman, is adopted at birth by a company that wants to make a documentary of his entire life. Everything that happens to Truman is a result of decisions made by those in the company, especially the main person in charge, Christof. All of the events that take place in Truman's life including the sun and moon rising, all of the weather, and all of the human interaction that Truman has on a day-to-day basis. Everyone in the city of Seahaven (where Truman was born and lived his whole life) is just a part in the game as hired actors to work in Truman's created world. Throughout the movie, however, Truman begins to sense that some things are very odd in his life.…

    • 1724 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparing 'Harrison Bergeron And The Pedestrian'
    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Comparing 'Harrison Bergeron And The Pedestrian'

    A utopia, by definition it means a place, state, or condition that is ideally perfect in respect of politics, laws, customs, and conditions. It’s a place perfect by everyone’s standards, it is full of equality and embraces nature. However, such a place is impractical in today’s world. We can only imagine and write down what we think a utopia could be. Despite being perfect, there is always a dark side to things and a utopia is no exception. It appears as a beautiful, safe, heavenly society but really people could watch you all the time so you don’t break the laws, or you have to stay in your house to make sure there is no chance of an injury. In the stories “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, and “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury, the technology causes the people to not experience the real world around them because of the consequences that may happen.…

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Truman's Ideal
    • 119 Words
    • 1 Page

    Truman's Ideal

    Next Truman didn’t have another good alternative option to efficiently end the ongoing war. Countless members like Secretary of War Henry Stimson, also didn’t’ approve of the idea of using the nuclear weapon, however couldn’t find an alternative solution. The dangerous nuclear weapons “stopped the fire raids, and the strangling blockade; it ended the ghastly specter of a clash of great land armies” (Henry Stimson, Document 3). Again others argue that this is a crime against God and humanity. However, like mentioned earlier from the source of ethics the utilitarian approach back up our country’s decision. I agree using this destructive weapon to end a dispute isn’t ideal, but to an extent Truman had to lookout for our country.…

    • 119 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Fake In The Truman Show
    • 1267 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Fake In The Truman Show

    He was chosen out of five newborn babies whose mothers couldn’t take care of them. Christof created the set and has constantly been airing Truman’s life since his birth. The concept that he wanted to bring to the viewers was a reality show, which presented a completely unscripted and authentic person, along side with a community of characters. Nothing is fake in Truman’s world, rather controlled. Chistof is viewed in this film as if he were the God of Truman. He shapes his world through fear and love, but Truman still has the ability to think freely. He lives a normal life as many would see. He has friends, neighbors, collogues, parents, and a wife. He goes to work everyday and lives in what a typical neighborhood would look like. There is one thing that sticks out early in the film, Truman only knows about the town in which he lives in, well, and…

    • 1267 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    What Is The Truman Show Self Identity
    • 1371 Words
    • 6 Pages

    What Is The Truman Show Self Identity

    Peter Weir’s 1998 film entitled The Truman Show stops at nothing to depict just how much manipulation and traumatization can affect a human being. The motion picture presents Truman Burbank, a man who has been legally adopted by a television network and set up to live in a constructed set entitled Seahaven filled with fictional elements. He is shadowed by an estimation of five thousand cameras in order to be broadcasted 24 hours a day, not knowing he has been the star of his own television show for nearly thirty years. In the article “The Truman Show: How’s it Going to End?” psychoanalysts Michael Brearley and Andrea Sabbadini make the decision to adjust the focus onto particular attributes of Truman’s character instead of discussing the controversial topic of what is real versus fictional in the film. The article claims The Truman Show is about something much bigger than that. It holds a larger and more prominent meaning that lies within Burbank’s search for his self-identity and the rite of passage depicting his transition from childhood to becoming a True-man.…

    • 1371 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Truman Show: A Traditional Hollywood Hero
    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Truman Show: A Traditional Hollywood Hero

    In 1998 Peter Weir released, The Truman Show, an ingenious movie that urged viewers to reflect on ethics related to modern day television programmes and the media. His latest movie, released in 2003, Master and Commander was a gentleman's action movie. Although the latter was much more entertaining, it is a movie that corresponds meticulously to Hollywood formulas.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Happiness Without Truth In Brave New World
    • 2972 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Happiness Without Truth In Brave New World

    Utopia is a feeling within a society where perfect is achieved to create stability and happiness. In the novels Brave New World and Island by Aldous Huxley he explores this idea. In the novels the author demonstrates that happiness cannot coexist with truth. The use of lies, corruption and inhumane sacrifice are used to create a false sense of happiness.…

    • 2972 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Utopian Visions
    • 979 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Utopian Visions

    From recent years, utopian urbanism connects with the so-called crisis of modernist urbanism that forms utopic degeneration. Cities function daily, to improve the lives of the citizens, while utopia is developing to mean something for the community “a visionary system of political and social perfection” (More, 1516). Utopia has developed to mean a community with a “visionary system of political and societal perfection”, where cities that function to improve the daily lives of its citizens; an ideal society. However these concepts are more often than not depicted as an impossible dream, yet too bold, too radical to ever exist in real life. Several utopian visions are mainly focused on new technology, whereas others are on intact landscape. In…

    • 979 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Free Will In The Truman Show
    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Free Will In The Truman Show

    Truman alone has no idea he is in a giant TV studio, as the rest of humanity watches him go from one staged situation. The…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Truman Show Essay Appearance V Reality
    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Truman Show Essay Appearance V Reality

    The way in which we view an object, situation or concept, greatly affects how we interpret its reality. This concept is explored by using Point of view to change the viewer’s ideas about the True reality of within the Truman show. The whole idea and notion of our reality is based upon what we see, what we grow up with. We learn from a young age what we see isn’t always the truth, and therefore we adapt our reality to what we already know. This is the same for Truman Burbank, a 33 year old average man. He is the unknowingly star of a television show all of his life. Everything he does and says is recorded and televised uninterrupted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Like us Truman has never questioned his life as his point of view has never been given the opportunity to change. That was until a series of incidents occurred that changed his Point of view. A key change in Truman’s point of view is when a series of onset glitches lead him to see a different reality that clashes with what he knows. These events lead him to become erratic and quite demented (Evident by the erratic car trip with Meryl), eventually leading to a point where Truman has Meryl by the throat with a set of dicers and Meryl screams’’ Somebody do something’’. This quote leads Truman to the core belief that there is something wrong with his reality and that he will not stop until he finds out what is real and what is not. This eventually leads him to the point in which he leaves the T.V set and has discovered the through a new point of view his true reality. This is Through…

    • 902 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Essay On The Truman Show
    • 478 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Essay On The Truman Show

    Jim Carrey was the perfect actor to fit the goofy yet serious role needed for The Truman Show. With his combination of being naïve yet witty reflected Ken Bain’s ideas of being trapped in your mind. The only way to break out of that mental cage is to gain some sort of knowledge. The same way Truman yielded knowledge I have received an education in math that has allowed me to escape my own mind.…

    • 478 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Utopian Society
    • 1015 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Utopian Society

    The world of Utopia contrasts our own in several aspects; these differences in social relations, politics and culture reveal Thomas More’s ideas about the inherent nature of humans.…

    • 1015 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Truman Show Character Development
    • 1084 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Truman Show Character Development

    Truman Burbank is a star of his own show- The Truman Show- and everybody knows except him. He lives in the best place in the world, Seahaven, where the people are always friendly and well-dressed. The houses they live in are painted to perfection with well-tended gardens. Here, Truman lives a seemingly perfect life with his beautiful wife, Meryl, and reliable friend, Marlon. As events unfold, Weir shows the audience how Truman is actually unsatisfied with his life- he feels trapped in his marriage and restricted with his job. He yearns for an adventure and dreams of finding Sylvia, his true love.…

    • 1084 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Truman Show
    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Truman Show

    Sometimes perfection can be perfect hell.” Utopia: the seemingly perfect world, one that combines happiness and honesty with purity, equality and peace. However, in George Orwell’s novel, 1984 and The Truman Show, readers and viewers are presented with a clever contradiction, dystopia. In both 1984 and The Truman Show, there are dystopia. Both the novel and the film have a “controller”, an all-powerful force who controls every aspect of the dystopia. In 1984, this dystopia is The Party, the force who will not even let its citizen’s have freedom of thought. In The Truman Show, the force is Christof, a man who makes an outwardly perfect world where one man is separated from the outside world completely.…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics