Textual Analysis of 'The Truman Show'
Chantal Miranda
September 5, 2012
Block 4
Textual Analysis - ‘The Truman Show’ I want to talk about the audience that is done throughout the movie. There are shots of fans watching the Truman show - Two elderly ladies, a Japanese family, a bar filled with people, and even a man in his bathtub. The different types of people illustrates that the same rules apply to every human being. We easily fall into a routine of watching other people’s successes. It doesn’t really matter to us, right? Instead of living, we have gradually moved to a life planted in front of the TV, watching other people live. Anyone 100 years ago would likely say, “Who could sit in front of a box for hours upon hours upon hours, and call it a life?” And the popularity of “The Truman Show” is clearly a testament to this. The message that I got from the movie is this: If you’re spending your time trapped in the tiny reality of a TV box, you’re actually tricking your brain into thinking that you’ve accomplished the exact things you’re watching. This is why we LOVE (myself included, of course) to watch feel-good movies. They make us feel good because it’s almost as if WE’RE the ones who capture victory. Not a make-believe figure on the screen. It’s a very, very slippery slope. But be extremely careful when you choose to watch TV, and know the exact reason why you choose to watch a particular program. The movie also creates a vibe of high tension and hope. High tension because we feel like Truman is so close to discovering he is on the TV show, but we feel this intense longing and hope during the movie, just begging one of the ‘actors’ in the show to tell Truman everything. We can’t stand suffering when it is right in front of us, and that is exactly what we see in Truman Burbank. Except for the fact that he doesn’t even know he’s suffering for the first 30 years of his life. But was he actually suffering? That depends on who you are as a person: Would you rather know the truth
September 5, 2012
Block 4
Textual Analysis - ‘The Truman Show’ I want to talk about the audience that is done throughout the movie. There are shots of fans watching the Truman show - Two elderly ladies, a Japanese family, a bar filled with people, and even a man in his bathtub. The different types of people illustrates that the same rules apply to every human being. We easily fall into a routine of watching other people’s successes. It doesn’t really matter to us, right? Instead of living, we have gradually moved to a life planted in front of the TV, watching other people live. Anyone 100 years ago would likely say, “Who could sit in front of a box for hours upon hours upon hours, and call it a life?” And the popularity of “The Truman Show” is clearly a testament to this. The message that I got from the movie is this: If you’re spending your time trapped in the tiny reality of a TV box, you’re actually tricking your brain into thinking that you’ve accomplished the exact things you’re watching. This is why we LOVE (myself included, of course) to watch feel-good movies. They make us feel good because it’s almost as if WE’RE the ones who capture victory. Not a make-believe figure on the screen. It’s a very, very slippery slope. But be extremely careful when you choose to watch TV, and know the exact reason why you choose to watch a particular program. The movie also creates a vibe of high tension and hope. High tension because we feel like Truman is so close to discovering he is on the TV show, but we feel this intense longing and hope during the movie, just begging one of the ‘actors’ in the show to tell Truman everything. We can’t stand suffering when it is right in front of us, and that is exactly what we see in Truman Burbank. Except for the fact that he doesn’t even know he’s suffering for the first 30 years of his life. But was he actually suffering? That depends on who you are as a person: Would you rather know the truth