False Representation Of Reality In 'The Truman Show'
“It is no longer a question of a false representation of reality (ideology), but of concealing the fact that the real is no longer real, and thus of saving the reality principle”
Simulacra and Simulations, Baudrillard.
If we follow the statement made by Baudrillard in ‘’Simulacra and Simulations’’, the Truman Show is not an ideological movie, in the sense that it does not give a false representation of reality but a far-more complex understanding of the relations between the real/the imaginary and the inside/the outside as Simone Knox pointed out in her analysis of the movie. Therefore, I would argue that the movie is about ideology. Even more, it subtly acknowledges the plurality of meanings, inherent to the latter. Indeed, we could distinguish …show more content…
three ideology-related layers.
• Ideology is understood in its positive and liberating sense.
The viewer, after having watched the Truman Show, could reflect on his/her own world and realize how he/she is growing inside a system based on manipulation, control, and simulation. Thanks to the movie, he/she could, consequently, make a step towards the development of a free/true consciousness.
• Ideology is understood in its oppressive sense. A critical viewer raises his/her voice and claims that the Truman Show is no more than a mere movie, fitting into the norm of the dominant-hegemonic order. He/she mentions several examples, showing how the film reproduces all the pre-established thinking and values patterns (the ideal workman, the perfect wife, the nicest house, the funny dog… in sum: everything that has made the representation of the American Dream.)
• Ideology is understood in a dialectic sense. If at the first sight, the Truman Show can be perceived as a liberating movie (positive ideology), then, with a deeper analysis, it turns that the movie is no more than a tool, serving the system (oppressive ideology). Indeed, the system (and here, especially the new mass media system) internalises and shapes its own critique, from its inside. Consequently, it immunizes itself against any other kind of discordant
discourses.
The third layer is probably the most puzzling one and can be associated with the situation of Truman in the movie. By allowing him to be free (at some point, Christof claims that Truman can escape if he really wants to), the oppressive Seaheaven-world maintains some auto-determination and promises him as well as his viewers: "You can do what you want with your life, everything is okay." However, to be fully accurate, the sentence should be: "You can do what you want with your life, everything is okay… inside the system". Nothing tells us that Truman’s life, outside, will be different from inside…
Simulacra and Simulations, Baudrillard.
If we follow the statement made by Baudrillard in ‘’Simulacra and Simulations’’, the Truman Show is not an ideological movie, in the sense that it does not give a false representation of reality but a far-more complex understanding of the relations between the real/the imaginary and the inside/the outside as Simone Knox pointed out in her analysis of the movie. Therefore, I would argue that the movie is about ideology. Even more, it subtly acknowledges the plurality of meanings, inherent to the latter. Indeed, we could distinguish …show more content…
three ideology-related layers.
• Ideology is understood in its positive and liberating sense.
The viewer, after having watched the Truman Show, could reflect on his/her own world and realize how he/she is growing inside a system based on manipulation, control, and simulation. Thanks to the movie, he/she could, consequently, make a step towards the development of a free/true consciousness.
• Ideology is understood in its oppressive sense. A critical viewer raises his/her voice and claims that the Truman Show is no more than a mere movie, fitting into the norm of the dominant-hegemonic order. He/she mentions several examples, showing how the film reproduces all the pre-established thinking and values patterns (the ideal workman, the perfect wife, the nicest house, the funny dog… in sum: everything that has made the representation of the American Dream.)
• Ideology is understood in a dialectic sense. If at the first sight, the Truman Show can be perceived as a liberating movie (positive ideology), then, with a deeper analysis, it turns that the movie is no more than a tool, serving the system (oppressive ideology). Indeed, the system (and here, especially the new mass media system) internalises and shapes its own critique, from its inside. Consequently, it immunizes itself against any other kind of discordant
discourses.
The third layer is probably the most puzzling one and can be associated with the situation of Truman in the movie. By allowing him to be free (at some point, Christof claims that Truman can escape if he really wants to), the oppressive Seaheaven-world maintains some auto-determination and promises him as well as his viewers: "You can do what you want with your life, everything is okay." However, to be fully accurate, the sentence should be: "You can do what you want with your life, everything is okay… inside the system". Nothing tells us that Truman’s life, outside, will be different from inside…