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Emotional Barriers In The Truman Show

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The Truman Show Analytical Essay - “As Truman grew up, we were forced to manufacture ways to keep him on the island.” Discuss the physical, social and emotional barriers that keep Truman on the show. The Truman Show is a 1998 film directed by Peter Weir that stars Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, who is unknowingly broadcasted on a live, 24/7 television show. Having been chosen out of six unwanted pregnancies, Truman was adopted and raised in Seahaven, an artificial island enclosed in a large dome, but does not know this. To keep his show successful, the director and creator of Seahaven, Christof, manufactures various physical, emotional and social barriers that confine Truman. The barriers are representations of the manipulation the media in …show more content…

Truman’s nature is kind and innocent, but Christof uses this to his gain, implementing a complicated web of emotional deception through Truman’s family and friends, whom he is close to. “...But I’ve never blamed you, Truman. And I don't blame you now.” Truman’s mother, Angela, is referring to Kirk’s death. In an act of passive aggression, she uses Truman’s hidden regret to Christof’s advantage. Consequently, Truman develops thalassophobia (a phobia of the sea) - not necessarily because he is afraid for his own life, but because the sea took his father away from him. This is not the only instance where Truman’s close relationship with his mother confines him. Shortly after Sylvia, Truman’s former love interest, was released from the show, "His mother got sick, really sick. He couldn't leave her. He's kind.” This calls attention to how in many television shows, emotional manipulation is used by the media to obtain reactions, which allows the show’s storyline seem more interesting, but negatively affects the subject. For example, in 2017, America’s Got Talent host Tyra Banks was sued by a participant for ‘physical manipulation’ and ‘verbal abuse’ directed towards her daughter after she refused to act annoyed at her parents’

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