Scene Aquaphobia Truman example essay topic

TRUMAN SHOW-THEMES In the Truman Show does love and human decency triumph over commercialisation and voyeurism? The film The Truman Show is expressing many ideas about the world and current society. One opinion is that the good side of human nature: love and decency will ultimately prevail over the bad: greed and the voyeuristic tendencies which every human being possesses. Another is that it is merely trying to open the audiences' eyes to see that this is not always the case and that there are always two sides to everything. The topic of human decency has two sides throughout the movie, the side containing genuine decency and the side containing false decency.

The actors that populate Seahaven are an example of the latter. They are 'good' and 'decent' to Truman but it is only because they are paid to. Everyone from the newspaper man to his best friend Marlon, wife Meryl and parents are actors paid to cater to Truman's needs. Meryl plays the perfect wife to Truman; she is happy, enthusiastic and tries to make him happy.

However she is only this way because it is her job and she is well paid to do it. In the scene 'There's no place like home' Truman discovers that in his and Meryl's wedding photo, Meryl has her fingers crossed indicating that their wedding was a farce and therefore she does not genuinely care for him. Although Meryl is enthusiastic, her enthusiasm is not sincere being generated only by the need for the production company to make money. This is evident in the scenes 'A Chef's Pal', where she is promoting a kitchen product, 'Mococoa - It's the best' where this time cocoa is the item she is trying to sell and 'Memories of Dad' where she slyly drops in a line about getting a new mower, "a new Elk rotary".

Truman's best friend Marlon is the same as Meryl, his treatment of Truman is only decent because he is paid to do so. Marlon listens to Truman's problems and offers advice, but only gives him advice which will discourage him from leaving Seahaven. For example in the scene 'Dreaming of Fiji' Marlon says "Out of your job? What the hell is wrong with your job? You have a great job, Truman. You have a desk job.

I'd kill for a desk job". And "Where the hell is Fiji? Near Florida?" In the scene 'There's No Place like Home' Marlon tries to convince Truman not to leave Seahaven by saying "We went all over. Never found a place like this, though. Look at that sunset, Truman". In the scene 'Father and Son Reunion' Marlon persuades Truman that he isn't part of a television show by using guilt "And the last thing I would ever do is lie to you.

I mean, think about it, Truman. If everybody's in on it, I'd have to be in on it, too. I'm not in on it, because... there is no it" The other major person in Truman's life is Christof, the director of "The Truman Show". Christof only cares for Truman because in a sense Truman is his baby, he created the life that Truman has and everyone in it.

He is reluctant for Truman to leave because Truman is his claim to fame and without him he has nothing. This is evident in the scene 'Cue the Storm' where Christof would rather let Truman die in his attempt to leave the set and bring an end to the show, than to let Truman leave of his own accord. CHRISTOF - "Give me some lightening... Again! Hit him again!" MOSES-"For God's sake, Chris!

The whole world is watching! We can't let him die in front of a live audience!' CHRISTOF - "He was born in front of a live audience!" Although Truman's life is filled with dishonesty, there is one decent person who truly cares for Truman: Sylvia, an actress whom Truman met back in university as the character: Lauren Garland. In the scene ' "Lauren.".. or is it Sylvia?' She tells Truman the truth, that his world isn't real and that everyone knows about him and watches him. Shortly afterwards she is bundled into a car by a man claiming to be her father, who explains to Truman that she is a schizophrenic and that she won't bother him again as they are moving to Fiji. Even though Sylvia has been ejected from the set and consequently Truman's life, she continues to help Truman by campaigning for his release.

In the scene 'Trutalk's he debates with Christof about the ethics at hand with what he is doing SYLVIA-"He's not a performer, he's a prisoner. Look at him. Look at what you " ve done to him". CHRISTOF - "He can leave at any time. If it was more than just a vague ambition, if he was absolutely determined to discover the truth, there's no way we could prevent him from leaving. What distresses you; really, caller is that ultimately, Truman prefers his 'cell' as you call it".

SYLVIA-"That's where you " re wrong. You " re so wrong. And he " ll prove you wrong". In the background of this scene there are posters protesting what is being done to Truman. The memory of Sylvia stays with Truman and is the driving force behind his curiosity about the world outside of Seahaven and his fascination with Fiji. Truman yearns for Sylvia and tries to find her a number of different ways.

In the scene 'Aquaphobia' Truman phones the Fijian telephone directory looking for a Lauren or Sylvia Garland. In the scene ' "Lauren" or is it Sylvia?' Truman is looking through a trunk in his basement which holds a map of Fiji and the jumper that Sylvia left behind on the beach after their rendezvous. His longing to find Sylvia once more, is so strong that in the scenes 'Day 10,909' and 'Memories of Dad' he slowly builds an identikit of her by using pictures from women's magazines that he buys under the guise that they are for his wife. In the scene 'Traveller Beware' Truman decides to go to Fiji but finds that his every attempt to leave is somehow thwarted one way or another. Sylvia means so much to Truman that the thought of seeing her once more helps him to overcome his fear of water. His fixation on Sylvia is due to him longing for something real: love, not the fake love he is given in abundance by the actors, and is the one thing that leads to him escaping from his fake, commercially driven existence.

The many loyal "Truman Show" viewers: the people in the Truman caf'e, security guards, old ladies, Japanese and the man in the bath are also at fault in the human decency category. Their voyeuristic tendencies push aside decency as they hang on Truman's every word and watch his every move, ensuring that he continues to be imprisoned in his fake world. They do demonstrate decency towards Truman in his attempt to leave the set as they are willing him to survive, and begin to cheer when he walks free. Nevertheless they don't learn anything from Truman's struggle and immediately after he is freed, they begin to watch another program, thus continuing the cycle Truman broke free of. In the film the commercialisation of the docu-soap, which Truman was the star of was driven purely by the voyeurism of the audience. Without the voyeuristic audience, the commercialisation would never have happened as there would be no one to promote the products to.

Examples of commercialisation throughout the "Truman Show" are the scenes 'The Chef's Pal', 'Memories of Dad' and 'Mococoa- It's the Best' the actors can be seen not so subtly dropping in lines about a product or plainly holding the product up to the camera as Marlon does with beer in the scene 'Dreaming of Fiji' Product placement can also be seen in the scene 'Day 10,909' where Truman is talking to twins: Ron and Don in front of an advertisement for Kaiser chickens. The twins also make sure that Truman stops to talk to them in the scene 'Do You Think he Knows' in front of an advertisement for houses. In conclusion, the film 'The Truman Show' isn't just concerned with love and human decency triumphing over commercialisation and voyeurism. But is concerned with showing what exists in the real world and that is: that good doesn't always triumph over bad.