Truman : the exception to Sartre’s theory ?
I saw The Truman show a few months
ago and I found it really fascinating. You know when you are a child, your
universe is limited to your town and vacation house if you are lucky enough.
Well, I probably was a weird child but when I was like ten, I sometimes thought
to myself my whole life was an act in which I was the protagonist, where
everyone was just acting around me in order to make me believe that the rest of
the world was existing. Exactly like in The Truman Show but without the
cameras. (I was not that paranoiac). I was just quite egocentric and very
imaginative. That is why this movie really resonated in me, reminding me my old
fantasies.
In light of Sartre’s reflection,
this movie gets even more interesting. In fact, to me, Truman is not only
being-in-himself but also being-for-other at the beginning of the movie.
Indeed, as his whole life is an act, everything he does is controlled by the
creator of the show. Truman lives an inauthentic life twice. One the one hand,
he plays different roles with his colleagues, friends and family as we all do.
On the other hand, he plays another role in front of millions of people he is
oblivious to: the role of his life. He shows the world what the creator of the
show wants him to show. Even if Christof, the creator of the show stresses
there is no script in the show, Truman is controlled by external elements such
as the weather, the people he meets, the job he has to do… The choices Truman
makes in his life are fake choices as he chooses to marry someone because she
has been hired to fall in love with him, I guess he did not have a lot of
choice as for his professional situation…
But Truman, at the beginning of the
movie is not being-for-himself as he ignores one of the roles he plays. This is
what makes him unique and an exception to Sartre’s theory which claims we all
are-for-ourselves as we are conscious of ourselves. He becomes for-himself as
he tries to escape the show then succeeds. In fact, he is able to become
for-himself because he realizes who he is as a character, a role he did not
know about during his whole life. He is finally conscious of the role he is playing;
of the image he gives back to the audience. To me, he only gets a possibility
to really live when he discovers the truth about his life. And this moment is
very interesting because it is the moment where he chooses to accomplish some
actions that are not controlled by the author of the show. He finally becomes a
complete uamn being once he escapes that television set.
And there is another uniqueness in
Truman’s life : he is the only person in this fictional world not to be negated
by the gaze of the other. Indeed, his whole life is exposed to the planet
through television and that is why he is not a negative entity. Everyone knows
him and knows every role he plays in his life. Hence, the look of the
spectator, of the creator of the show, of the actors who live around him is not
negating him as they see him for who he really is. This is how Truman to me is
an exception to Sartre’s reflection.
But Truman is not the only character
to have a special relationship with negation in this movie. The situation of
the actors performing next to Truman is actually really interesting. Indeed,
they are completely negated by the public who only sees Truman as he is the
only one not acting. The actors are seen by the audience as “actors” or “not
Truman” and nothing else. What is really unsettling is that the woman who plays
Truman’s wife is not really living. She lives in a fake world and it implicates
that her whole life is a lie as she plays the role of the loving wife 24/7. Those
actors are not controlling their life, just as Truman, but they are aware of
it.
This is how I think “The Truman Show”
has achieved to have a philosophical meaning through Sartre’s reflection on the
look of the other. Truman is, as I said, an exception to Sartre’s theory but
you have the right to disagree with me. Do you think Truman fulfills Sartre’s
theory with his life or do you think he is an exception?
Hey Agathe, thank you for this very interesting post. I really enjoyed watching this movie too, because I found it amazing how incredibly true the whole world around Truman seemed. This movie deals with the notions of reality and fiction and blurs the limits, which makes it very interesting. One of the question you ask is the following one: Does ignoring the role he plays makes him not being-for-himself?
ReplyDeleteI don’t think so. Even if in a first time, Truman doesn’t know he isn’t facing reality, he is still someone who is living-for-himself. He has his dreams, his ambitions, his loves, he is conscious of himself, for himself he isn’t an object, even we all know the world around him is fake.
It is not the look of the others, the spectators, that all know Truman is surrounded by actors, that hinders him from being-for-himself. It is his relation with himself that makes him a being-for-himself.
You say he becomes for-himself as his tries to escape the show succeed. But by discovering the real world he doesn’t become a being-for-himself; he already was a being-for-himself and his escape shows the infinite freedom one has to decide what to do in his life.
Therefore I don’t think Truman is an exception to Sartre`s theory. Because even in an unreal world you can be for yourself. Don’t you think so?
Hi Anastasia !
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the fact that Truman is not an object and that he is conscious of himself before discovering that everything is fake. Nevertheless, I think he is only partially conscious of himself because he is unaware of the most important role he plays in his life : the tv character. This is why for me, when he discovers his status of tv character, he becomes fully for-himself. And this happens when he notices the regularity of his world and the fact that everything is fake. His escape only being the starting of another life.
Hi, don't you think that Truman's life is an exception to Sartres theory because truman is almost in a situation where God exists ? What I mean is that, the creator of the show is controling every aspects of truman life : he gives a meaning, an essence to truman life. His life is aimed to be seen by other people and to make them amused. Truman is a living charater and for a character the essence preceeds the existence because the author creates it. By trying to escape the show he actually is killing his God, He transforms itself from a character to an actual human being .
ReplyDeleteHi Agathe,
ReplyDeleteI found your blogpost on this awsome movie very interesting especially your stance about the others characters. Indeed, they have to wear two masks at the same time : they have to play a role and thus they have to wear a mask in front of the production, as they are at work and therefore they cannot be natural.
And in the meantime they are wearing a different mask and playing a role so as Truman does not find out the truth abot them and his world. So they are negated twice.
this being said i would say that the opposite of The Truman Show on this point of view is the novel 1984 by George Orwell in which the main character seems totally negated by the others' gaze