Surveillance and the Self / The Truman Show Film Analysis

Описание: Ever get the feeling that someone is watching you? For Truman Burbank, this niggling feeling actually turns out to be true!

Even his name is a juxtaposition that highlights the core philosophy of the film. Truman, is trying to be a true-man despite unknowingly being the star of his own reality TV show. His last name, Burbank, is a city in California, most well known for being the home of Walt Disney and Warner Brothers. His own name a twisted joke about his unlikely situation!

While many have analysed The Truman Show as an allegory of consumer capitalism, the power of the media, the American dream, hyperreality, and even a commentary on religion, in this video we look at Peter Weir's comedy-drama through the lens of surveillance theory.

20 years on from the movie's release, our world is more saturated with cameras, surveillance, and privacy issues than the film creators could ever imagine. In the surveilled world, questions of authenticity, free will, identity, and the self become even more scrutinised. How 'real' are our actions in a surveillance-society? Can surveillance be used for power and control? Our analysis of The Truman Show seeks to answer some of these questions.

Using Jeremy Benthem's concept of the Panopticon prison, later developed into the idea of Panopticism by Michel Foucault, we use this framework to analyse and dissect the narrative of The Truman Show.

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🕒 TIMESTAMPS🕒
0:00 Intro
0:45 Introduction to Surveillance Theory and the Panopticon
1:23 Michel Foucault & The Concept of Panopticism
1:57 Analysing Identity and Free Will Using Foucault's Theory
5:12 Final Thoughts

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The Truman Show, dir. by Peter Weir (Paramount Pictures, 1998)

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