The Truman Show - Introduction

Truman is on the air. Unaware.

He has been influenced by the media in many ways – his whole life has been constructed into a reality soap opera. The seemingly ordinary life that Truman leads as a stereotypical middle-aged man with a secure job and family has, in fact, been entirely created by the forces of the media. Although harbouring minor thoughts to explore the outside world, he had never really been able to be fully convinced into searching for a way to break through the cycle as he had grown up being manipulated in the isolated island known as Seahaven. This can be attributed to the fact that the media often works silently without our knowledge, and as we slowly become more absorbed by the influence of the media, it becomes a routine that is hard to break free from. Because the media presents to Truman a narrow perspective of the world, that is all that he takes in and is familiar with. Due to this influence, Truman accepts what would otherwise be out of the ordinary in reality, such as over-zealous neighbours and perfect lifestyles, and does so with no questions asked, as it has become an integral part of his life.

The media is able to work its way into making us believe in a certain way of life that we all eventually fall in step with. In the film, Sylvia warns him that “It’s all pretend”, he is confused and seems to be less believing towards it as it contradicts the principles of his life, whereby everything is ‘real’ to him. Little did Truman know that the community in which he was living in was entirely constructed by the media – the friends and relatives he trusted in were all actors, paid to act along with him. In addition, his social network had been observed by people across America and, at the end of the day, he had been totally unaware of that. Also, the scene in which Truman tries to leave for Fiji but is ‘miraculously’ stopped at various roadblocks shows the assertiveness of the media when it comes to achieving its personal goals.

The film also conveys to the audience that media influence can alter one’s perception of the world. Even in the film, various forms of marketing through media influences can be seen. Truman’s wife often promotes products, advertisements are seen on newspapers, billboards, as well as travel agency posters, exist in Seahaven. To the viewers of The Truman Show and Truman himself, the media presents itself in various forms. From television advertisements, to newspapers, and to posters in a travel agency, Truman was exposed to them all. This shows how the film is firstly trying to establish the fact that the media is indeed an inseparable aspect of Truman’s day-to-day life.

By managing to capture the interest of audiences from all walks of life, be it security guards, elderly ladies etc, we can see the power of the media. It is able to reach out and affect people and even change their lifestyles. As shown in a segment of the film, a man in the bathtub goes to the extent of placing a television set in the toilet just to be able to catch the Truman show 24/7 for every single minute so as not to miss out any details of Truman’s ‘exciting’ life. Media has such great powers that it can even affect people’s emotions thoroughly. For example, in the show, two waitresses cried upon watching Truman’s failed struggle to get out of Seahaven, their hearts reaching out for the poor guy who seemed to be writhing in pain. The media turns to certain tactics, which includes evoking sympathy or pity from the audience, in order to sustain the attention of the audience as such events that are similar to real life make it easier for viewers to relate to.

The show influences or rather shapes what we perceive as a perfect world, a perfect life. Truman grows up in a perfect environment, receives a perfect education, holds a perfect job and has a perfect family. In this way, the media acts as a benchmark and dictates what is deemed as perfect. Constant exposure to the media has influenced us to believe that the stereotypes portrayed in the media are ideal. Our perceptions of what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad, are thus greatly influenced by media. For example, Truman grew up with a phobia of water, thinking that water is bad and dangerous because he saw his father “drowning” when he was young. However, this was actually a ploy set up by the production team to ensure that he would develop a fear towards the ocean, such that he would have a mental barrier preventing him leaving Seahaven. The same thing can be said about us in real life as a lot of what we pick up from an early age comes directly from the media through forms like television programmes and advertisements.

The Truman Show chronicles a man whose life is being controlled by the media for a long time and who has already lost the passion for exploring things in his life. It might only be an extra step to discover the truth, like what he had experienced during the ‘lift’ scene – in which the lift was in fact a resting place for the hired actors. It is amazing that in all his years living in Seahaven, he had never questioned anything around him, and not to say travel out of the island. Truman has been shaped into a personality which the media had exactly wanted him to possess. Even so, not all hope is lost should one be already heavily influenced by the media. The media, however powerful it may appear to be, is not a dictatorship, nor is it authoritative enough to force us into behaving in such a particular ‘ideal’ way. Despite being accustomed to the information that the media continually feeds Truman, he still managed to escape from the life the media had mapped out for him. Similarly, we have personal power in determining whether we want to break free from the influence of the media or to continue being consumed by it.

- Baorong, Bryan, Melissa, Ruisi (09S06J)