Essay
It is not justifiable to manipulate people’s lives for our entertainment, if they do not know about it. If people have a choice of being put on national television and know that their lives will be influenced by the media, this is okay. In the movie ‘The Truman Show’, directed by Peter Weir, demonstrates that Truman Burbank has no idea that he is on national television and this is a terrible thing to do to somebody. In most cases people audition to go onto television for the rewards, whether it is for money, prizes or fame. ‘Big Brother’ a worldwide television show clearly represents these characteristics; it shows that controlling people’s lives can be acceptable in some cases.
Truman Burbank’s life has been manipulated from birth. Truman was an unwanted baby. Born to parents that had not planned for his birth, he was even born in front of a live audience. He was then adopted by Christof and became a star of a television show. Network Executive: “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.” This clearly states that the world has been watching his every move since birth.
Truman’s relationships were manipulated for the sake of the audience’s benefit. When Truman had an opportunity to control his own love life, it was taken away from him. Quite by accident Truman meets Sylvia in the library, there was an instant attraction and the media could not allow this to happen as it would jeopardise the continuation of the show. Immediately Meryl is sent in to prevent a relationship occurring. Sylvia: “listen to me: Everybody knows about you. Everybody knows everything you do. They’re pretending, Truman. Do you understand? Everybody’s pretending!” Sylvia is clearly a threat to the ongoing success of ‘The Truman Show’.
Truman’s choices are constantly being manipulated to insure the ongoing success of the show. As a child Truman wanted to be an explorer but was told that there was nothing left to discover and there was no point. Young Truman: “I want to be an explorer, like the Great Magellan.” Teacher: [indicating a map of the world] “Oh, you're too late! There's nothing left to explore!” This clearly indicates the media is controlling Truman’s thoughts and containing him to the town he is currently living in at the time. When Truman was starting to suspect the truth of what really was going on, he told his best friend. Marlon and Christof only cared about changing his mind to make sure the show did not go off the air. They just toy with Truman’s
