Examples Of Manipulation In The Truman Show

Peter Weir suggests that while reality television fulfils our human desire for a safe haven from the daily struggles we face, our reliance on it comes at a price.

The Truman Show constructs the setting of Seahaven as a picture-perfect and secure sanctuary that the audience can live vicariously through to escape the pressures we are forced to confront in our reality. This is evident from the orderly presentation of the houses to the use of soft of light blue and white aesthetics to position the audience to view Seahaven as innocent and pure, a true safe haven.

Christof exercises his power as the director of ‘The Truman Show’ to manipulate their audiences’ perception of the "truth.” Despite the cracks that unveil Seahaven’s so-called sanctuary,

This quote is an indication of why so many people watch "The Truman Show." These waitresses can exercise rational judgement on a televised life that they are detached from but still relate to. This is the kind of passionless decision-making that is usually impossible for most people to exercise in their own lives, which encourages people to live vicariously through his own. As a child, Truman wanted to be an explorer and when he shares his dream, his teacher replies, “Oh, you are too late. There is nothing left to explore.” Other examples of the manufactured complex web of emotional manipulation is the scripted death of his father at sea and the many advertisements that discourage travelling and having an adventurous nature. Truman never notices how he is being manipulated and is content to continue living his life. However, once he realises that the world he sees is simply a simulated reality, Truman eventually does go on an adventure. By pretending to be content with his life inside an invented world by Christof, Truman tricks his ‘god’ and the thousands watching his life unfold by escaping when they least expect it. "You never had a camera inside my head." Parallel to ‘The Truman Show’ audience, people are becoming slaves to a fantasy and addicted to pleasure and these dependences is leading to a surge in psychological issues. Perhaps that could explain the recent incident where two 12-year old girls from Wisconsin stabbed their classmate 19 times as a tribute to the fictional horror meme Slender