Blog 11: Responding to a significant topic in The Truman Show
The Truman Show comments on the world we live in by reflecting and amplifying some of our real-life issues (look up “reflecting” and “amplifying” as needed). For Blog 11:
- Read the topic list below and choose ONE topic to write about (10 minutes).
- Check the answers to the discussion questions corresponding to your chosen topic under Google Groups below (15 minutes). If you take somebody else’s idea to include in your blog, please take a minute to reply to her post and thank her. Do not skip this step!
3. Begin composing Blog 11, an entry of 250-400 words responding to your chosen topic. Do NOT answer each question separately, but create a focused answer (yes, that means a claim or a thesis statement) supported by reasons and lots of concrete detail. You may use any of our readings, discussions, or online posts to support and explain your position/claim.
Topic 1: The perfect world versus the real world (Google Groups question 1)
Cristoff creates what he considers a “perfect world” for Truman to live “happily ever after.” Would you choose to live in Cristoff’s world? Why or why not? What does the world Cristoff has created tell us about our own society? What problems from our society does Christoff seem to want to solve, or “eliminate” for Truman? What problems does he leave in Truman’s world? Please use specific details from the film to support your answer.
Topic 2: Corporate control via consumerism (Google Groups questions 2-3)
The main reason a corporation adopts Truman and creates a multi-billion dollar world for him is to sell products to their audience. Even Truman himself is a kind of product as the audience can buy everything on the show and thereby have “Truman’s life”. In our own world, there are also corporations that create whole worlds and use people just to sell stuff. How are you, like Truman, surrounded by corporate product placements? How is your daily life a “product” created by corporations?
Topic 3: Coming out of the cave (Google Groups questions 4-5)
Truman’s conformity to his society is often depicted as childish. He sometimes behaves wildly and is constantly being told to “grow up”. He begins to “grow up” when he questions everything he has always known and believed in to the point that his view of Seahaven is radically altered. Consider your own life (or the life of someone you know well): Can you think of a similar situation in your own life that has changed the way you view the world? If so, please describe it in detail. Was your change in worldview for the better or the worse? Why? In what ways are you still conforming to your surroundings? What things/people are keeping you from “growing up”?
Topic 4: The reality in Reality TV (Google Groups question 6)
The producers of The Truman Show believe that audiences will tune-in 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (24/7) because Truman’s innocent, happy life is a nice contrast to the world they live in (escapism). What does it say about our world that producers of Reality TV think that we want to watch shows such as The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Survivor, A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, or The Real World? What kinds of situations and activities do they create to keep us tuning watching their shows? Who is right: the producers of Truman (utopia) or the producers of our Reality TV (dystopia)? Why? First, look up the words “utopia” and “dystopia” in your dictionary!
Topic 5: Self-determination (Google Groups questions 7-8)
Truman struggles between what his society (and his "god," Cristoff) tells him to do and be, and what he feels he wants to do and who he wants to be. Consider your own life (or the life of someone you know well): Have you ever disobeyed society’s rules because you were trying to follow your own instincts? What made you want to disobey the rules? What did you expect to gain from your disobedience? Did the consequences to your disobedience confirm that you made the right choice?
