Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Fishbowl #5 The Truman Show: first hour

Morning!  Today is our last fishbowl day.  Let's make it a great one.

A couple of reminders of things we've previously discussed:

  • Please carefully proofread your posts.  Gratuitous errors in some interfered with comprehension.
  • Use the "reply" feature to thread your posts if you're responding to a particular question or comment.
  • Aim for 3-5 good posts for each discussion.
Writing about film is a bit different than writing about written text as, obviously, we don't have a book of quotes to choose from.  Here is a copy of the script as well as a website featuring some "famous quotes".

Another great way to approach posting about film with specific plot points and evidence is choosing those concrete, 60 second snapshots from your film notes.  Here is an example of an effective question and comment for a discussion of film.

Example question:  One of the quotes that stuck out to me from the film's end is when Truman asks Christof who he is, and he responds by saying "I am the creator...of a television show".  That pause seems significant.  Why does Wier have Christof refer to himself as "the creator"?  What is he criticizing about Chrisof's power over Truman?  Man's power over other humans in general?

One scene that seemed important is from when Truman is little, and he says he wants to be a great explorer, like Magellan.  His teacher turns to him and says, in short, that he's too late; there's nothing left to explore.  This scene shows Truman's lifelong desire to go beyond Seahaven and, moreover, mankind's innate curiosity, as well as people's willingness to stifle that curiosity to maintain the status quo.

Happy posting!





51 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. I think that it had to do with the show. It was more than likely propaganda for the show.

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  2. What do you think the significance of Sylvia's button was? It read “How is it going to end?”

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    1. I think that, it was one of the only ways that she could tell Truman that he was living a lie, without telling him.

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    2. I think the significance of the button was to hint at Truman that the society he lived in wasn't real and it was all just a TV show since Sylvia wanted Truman to know the truth

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  3. Do you guys think that Truman is going to fit into the real world or is he going to need somebody to hold his hand until he can get his footing?

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    1. For me, I would always be afraid that someone is watching me and following me especially after he's been trapped in the dome for his whole life. I think he has to find someone who would understand his transition. The hardest part would be finding someone who actually wants to be with him since he is Truman from the Truman Show

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    2. I believe that Truman will fit perfect into the new world and that he will be able to find himself more then he ever was because he can finally explore the world and no one is there to control him or limit him to do what he wants. I think the only difficult part for him would be being treated normal and not like a celebrity all of the time.

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  4. There was a flashback scene where Truman was climbing a hill of rocks on the beach. His father ran to him and picked him up. He then told Truman, "You must know your limitations." Is there any significance to this quote?

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    1. I think this means that he must know how far he is allowed to go, and that the world that he lives in now is perfect and that he should never want to leave.

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  5. Why do you think that Truman said this to Christof before he left the set. "Truman: Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!"

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  6. Do you guys think it was right to adopt a child at birth and have him perform in a show for his entire life? Were the actions of Christof justified?

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    1. I personally thought it was pretty twisted for a corporation to adopt a child. Especially if their soul purpose was to use Truman's entire life to make a TV show. I don't think Christof's actions were justified.

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    2. I think that it was a cruel thing to do because Truman never got to live a normal life and the life that he did live was all a lie. He had to do certain things and he had limits. His life was being written for him.

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    3. I think it's the wrong thing to do because Truman lived in a made up society and not a real one, and his whole life was recorded and showed to viewers. The actions around him were told by the directors and they also invaded his privacy and I personally think that's wrong thing to do.

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  7. How do you think this might affect Truman later on in life? Will he think past it, or do you think that he'll dwell on the past.

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    1. It will definitely have an effect because people watched this show all of the time and know who he is. This will make him a celebrity and with everyone knowing him from his past, it will be hard to forget.

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    2. I think that Truman will dwell on his past, but I don't think it will bring him down. After all, he did escape, and that's what matters.

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    3. I think that Truman could live a pretty normal life and that he will be happy with knowing that everything is real now. I think other people would respect him and not treat him like a celebrity so much because there will be other TV shows and now he isn't constantly on everyone's mind or on everyone's TV. He will fade out and someone else will replace his celebrity status.

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  8. Did the dog that jumped on Truman represent fear like the dog in F451?

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    1. That's a really good comparison. I think so, because the dog scared Truman every morning, much like the Hound scaring Montag every time he went to work. I also thought it was important to notice how vicious the dog was acting when it was looking for Truman, just like the Hound was acting while looking for Montag.

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  9. Why are people afraid of what they can't control?

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    1. Because of just that, they can't control it. You would never be afraid of something that you had 100% control over because it could do no wrong to you. The reason natural disasters are so scary is because humans really don't have any control over it. Tornados, earthquakes, volcanos, tsunamis, and every other event you can think of is just based on elements of the weather and the planet being at the right place in the right time. In short, if you can think for another thing, it is "perfect", at least to you. Theres no threat of it rebelling or trying to hurt you. If you have no control, life comes down to hoping you aren't in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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    2. I think it is simply because we simply can not control it. People are not afraid of thing that we can control. The things that people are most afraid of have the most variables. Example the dark, That is a common thing people are scarred of because so many different thing can go wrong. It all comes down to are you willing to put you life in someone/things hands and trust them.

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  10. What will happen to Truman when he enters the real world?

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    1. I think that Truman really will not know how to act, I believe that Truman will walk around as a celebrity and he won't really know how to handle it.

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  11. If Truman ended up dieing in the storm at the end of the movie, do you think it would be considered murder?

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    1. I don't think it would have because these were all natural disasters, they could have blamed his death on that

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    2. I don't think anyone would get in trouble for it because the government had no problem with them controlling his life before. I think if they cared what happened to him they would have stopped it much sooner but instead they let the show continue for many years.

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    3. I think it would be considered murder, but Christof could make it look like it was all part of the plan and make it to where they wouldn't get in trouble.

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    4. I don't think anyone would be held responsible. As Truman was drowning, Christof said, "He was born on this show, so he can die on it."

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    5. I don't really think it would be considered murder but at the same time, a lot of people from the world think it would be considered murder because his life was controlled by the creator.

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  12. Now that Truman actually has a real relationship with Silvia, will their relationship last?

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    2. I think their relationship will last because Truman will find it much easier to trust Sylvia. Truman will trust her more than others because she's the only one who tried to tell him the truth.

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  13. What is the significance of Truman's wife crossing her fingers in their wedding photo? Can this be compared to F451?

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    1. this shows that the world is fake and that Meryl faked getting married.

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  14. To respond to Sam when he said, "What would have happened to the Truman show if Truman stayed?" I believe that they would have tried to continue the show but when everyone stopped watching because the show was fake the show would have got canceled.

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  15. Why do you think that Truman said this to Christof before he left the set. "Truman: Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!"

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    1. I think Truman said that because he was kind of giving them a taste of their own medicine type thing, he wanted them to think that he wasn't effected negativity by the show and he'll do perfectly fine on his own.

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    2. I think he said this because he was letting Christof know that he was going to leave the Truman Show and go out and live his own life. Also, it is probably his most famous quote from the show and he wanted to leave the show in a different style.

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  16. Why did this specifically happen to Truman? What has to happen in order for someone to go through this?

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    1. I don't think that anything happened to him that cased this to happen to him, but I think that Christof just wanted to make a tv show about his life and about someone who would be born on set, and that happened to be Truman.

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  17. Is Truman happy that he found out about the world that he lives in, or would he be happier if he never found out and just lived his life in the fake world?

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    1. If Truman would have stayed I think he would change his personality because he knows people are watching him. People liked the show because he was clueless of that fact and that would change the whole show.

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    2. I think he is happy he found out the world he lives in is fake because he was searching for the truth. He was also finding out that everyone was acting strange when he was around.

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    3. I think that he is happy in a way because he can live in a real world, and have a normal truthful life.

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    4. I personally believe that Truman would be much happier knowing the truth rather than living a life that's in a constant loop.

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  18. Would you rather live in the society in Fahrenheit 451 or the society in The Truman Show? Why?

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  20. Why do you think people would watch a TV show that is controlling Truman's life?

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