The Truman Show and Class Warfare

Much of the success associated with the Golden Age of Hollywood can be attributed to its ability to produce films that enabled audience members to mentally transport themselves to different places and moments in time. The application of flawless editing and optical illusions played a large role in this ability, and was perfected into an art form of its own. While most moviegoers were aware that the images they were seeing were not always real, many audience members found it appealing to replace the film’s false reality with their own, at least temporarily. This “willing suspension of disbelief” enables directors to develop scenarios that the audience may accept as plausible, but would otherwise consider ridiculous (Belton 27). Surprisingly, this same process is often seen in class warfare. Similar to a movie director influencing an audience’s point of view, the ruling upper-class elite regularly manipulates the reality of the underclass. Although marketed as a comedy-drama, the movie The Truman Show provides deep insight on the means with which the ruling class achieves and maintains this control.

The Truman Show is essentially a movie based on a popular fictional television show, “The Truman Show”. Centered on the movie’s main character, Truman Burbank, the program features the ultimate reality TV show experience, and attempts to provide a “natural” look into Truman’s “real” life. With the aid of thousands of cameras secretly hidden throughout his home and town, “The Truman Show” broadcasts uninterrupted, 24/7 to millions of people across the globe. Beginning nearly 30 years prior to the start of the movie, the show has literally followed Truman’s every step from the womb to adulthood. Unbeknownst to Truman, every aspect of his life is controlled by the show’s creator, Christof. From his friends and family, to the very environment in which he lives, every variable in Truman’s life is carefully manipulated to produce a desired result and turn a profit....