For centuries, man has dreamt of constructing pristine simulated worlds , existing in a separate sphere from our imperfect reality. From the town of Pullman, a company town south of Chicago to Disney World, attempts to force Utopia have failed, falling prey to the complications of people’s personal desires. The Truman Show, directed by Peter Weir, tells us the story of The Truman Show, an elaborate reality show built around the control of one man’s life. Christof, the director, has created an entire living city for Truman, the star of his show, and the only one not in on this whole elaborate fakery. Essentially, Truman is living his life in the simulation of a flawless, archetypal American town, for the entertainment of millions of viewers around the world. Christof, along with countless others obsessed with the idea of controlling part of the world to fit their visions of an ideal reality, have deluded themselves into thinking fictional utopias can exist apart from the undeniable constraints of reality. Their fundamental flaw lies in relying on the assumptions of psychological behaviorism, and the belief that they could perfectly condition the behavior of the inhabitants follow the goals of the community. In order for Christof’s scheme to work, Truman must be unaware that he’s living in a simulation, and be satisfied with the simulated life that’s presented to him. As much as possible, Christof and his crew try to control every element of Truman’s life. A massive dome is installed over Seahaven, Truman’s home town, complete with weather-control devices, an artificial sun, moon, and sky, and cameras capturing almost every angle of the town from above. Everyone, from his friends to his wife, have been carefully selected and p... ... middle of paper ... ...e no reason to continue complying with the artificial motives of The Truman Show, and the town loses its Utopian status. Works Cited Graham, G., "Behaviorism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edward N. Zalta (ed.), “http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/behaviorism/”. Watson, J., 1913. “Psychology as a Behaviorist Views It,” Psychological Review, 20: 158–77. 1930. Behaviorism, Norton: New York. Tolman, E. C. & Honzik, C. H. "Insight" in Rats, University of California Publications in Psychology, 1930. The Truman Show. Dir. Peter Weir. Perf. Jim Carrey. Paramount Pictures/Scott Rudin Productions, 1998. DVD. "A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries: Ivan Pavlov." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. PBS. Web. 28 Nov. 2011. . Skinner, B. F. Walden Two. New York: Macmillan, 1976. Print.
This initial stage is followed by a realization of loneliness. Truman reaches out to the girl at college whom he sees at events, but with whom he is never able to speak because, subconsciously, he realizes that she is more substantive, and as we — the omniscient viewer — learn, she is a window to the reality. Truman longs for reality, although he does not know it. He only knows that he is not totally happy in "paradise." She is a
The Truman Show. Dir. Peter Weir." Perf. Carrey, Jim. Paramount Pictures: 1998, Web. 24 July 2011..
Thus, when he saw a light fall from the sky and he heard the director’s voice on the radio, Truman began to become suspicious. He remembered Lauren, an actress who had told him that it was just a TV show and so, he went to find her. He travelled across the sea, talked to Christof and then climbed a flight of stairs in the sky, escaping into the outside world. Unbeknownst to him, Truman Burbank's whole life has been the subject of a hugely popular 24-hour-per-day television show entitled “The Truman Show” (Propagandee, 2012).
John B.Watson, R Rayner, (February, 1920), Journal of Experimental Psychology, Conditioned Emotional Reactions, Vol. lll, No. i.
Thorndike, E. L. The elements of psychology. New York: A. G. Seiler , 1905. Print
Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, portrays the cost of selling oneself to the American Dream. Willy Loman, the central character, is madly determined to achieve affluence that he overlooks the value of his family and himself in the process. He instills in his sons, Biff and Happy Loman, that being charismatic will hand them a prosperous lifestyle. Happy trusts in his father’s ideology while Biff’s beliefs contradict them. Biff deems that success is a product of happiness and contentment, not a paycheck. Out of all the sociological theories, social conflict best emphasizes the author’s perspective of how conflict, through class and family, can deteriorate the American dream. By analyzing the play’s themes- social class and family- through the sociological perspectives: structural-functional, social conflict, and symbolic interactionist, we can predict what drives these characters to behave and perceive things the way they do.
Webb, Wilse. History Of Psychology. Theoretical & Philosophical Psychology 9.1 (1989): 44-45. PsycARTICLES. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
A society where there is no evil, no crime, and no errors. The Truman Show shows that different people have different ideas of utopia. Throughout his whole life everyone around Truman was controlled by Christof, so that Christof could create a perfect society, or utopia, for Truman. Everything Truman did was tracked so that Christof could fix anything out of place. His utopia was a place where everything was perfect, clean, and essentially just stereotypical, so he made that happen for Truman. However Truman’s idea of utopia didn’t click with Christof’s, so therefore it wasn’t true utopia. Truman then attempted to escape from Christof’s trap to get closer to his utopia. Truman’s idea of utopia was freedom to do what he wanted, but Christof ended any element of that. This shows that utopia isn’t entirely possible and that different people have different utopias, and since utopia means perfect society, it can’t happen as society is people living
In this first stage of cognition, the cave dweller is shackled and can only see shadows of figures on the wall in front of him. His reality is based on his imagination of these figures. “To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images.” Similarly, Truman’s reality is based on this imaginary world where his parents, wife, and everyone else around him are hired actors. Early in the film Truman seems to be happy although he is already starting to imagine himself in Fiji which he points out is the furthest place from Seahaven.
The Truman Show directed by Peter Weir, is about Truman Burbank who is a simple man, living a predictable and ideal life in a world that revolves around him. He was an unwanted baby who was legally adopted by a television corporation. Ever since he was born his every move has been monitored by thousands of cameras and analyzed by an audience without his knowledge. His life is on display for millions of people around the world to watch 24 hours a day. He is the star of a reality TV show, The Truman Show. There’s just one thing, he is completely oblivious to it. Truman also believes that his friends, coworkers, strangers, and loved ones are who they say they are; however, they are just all actors hired by the creator of the TV show Christof, who uses these actors to control Truman’s life and prevent him from figuring out the dishonesty of a “real life.” As he
The Truman Show is a movie about a man whose whole life is a lie; his marriage, his friends, his job and everything that his every known. Ever since he was born, Truman has been film in a live television series without his knowledge. The media entertains its’ people by twisting Truman’s realism in which they give him false information about everything he knows and everything that has ever happen to him.
Hergenhahn, B. R. (2009). An introduction to the history of psychology (6th ed., p. 224,
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On the surface, The Truman Show is an entertaining drama of a heartless human experiment. But if you look a bit deeper many thought-provoking questions arise: What is freedom? Are you still free if you are being manipulated and controlled by others? How do you become truly free? As the main character, Truman Burbank, confronts these questions, the writers invite the viewer to ponder the meaning of freedom, the effects of manipulation and the steps to discovering true freedom.
Hergenhahn, B. R., & Henley, T. B. (2014). An introduction to the history of psychology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.