The Truman Show and Society: A Sociological Analysis of Surveillance

This essay analyzes the film 'The Truman Show' through a sociological lens, drawing parallels with Erving Goffman's theory of 'presentation of self' and concepts of the surveillance society. The essay explores how Truman Burbank's life within a controlled environment mirrors the idea of individuals playing predetermined roles under constant observation. It discusses the ethical implications of mass surveillance, the pseudo-intimate relationships formed between viewers and Truman, and the film's commentary on societal manipulation and the desire for freedom. The analysis also references other films like 'Dark City' to highlight the theme of seeking truth and rejecting manufactured realities, reflecting a distrust in constructed realities as seen in Goffman's theories. The essay concludes that Truman's eventual escape represents a heroic rejection of a corrupted world, resonating with viewers' desires for authenticity and autonomy.

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“Analyzing the film The Truman Show."
Over the years there has been a series of movies acting as sociological theories or
satires. For instance the movie called “Dark City” (1998) could be counterpointed as a
sociological theory ready to be practiced, much like George Orwell's book “1984” which
gives the whole idea of a “big brother” always watching over you and your actions or
“Animal Farm” written by Orwell himself which is a satire on the rulership of Stalin (Sayaf,
Clarke & Rule, 2015). The movie "The Truman Show" was originally a script by Niccol,
which is inspired by the concept of the surveillance society. "The Truman Show" (1998) was
an example of sociological theory, according to American-Canadian sociologist Erving
Goffman. The theme of the movie “The Truman Show” was very much similar to the
sociological theory of Erving Goffman. Erving Goffman's theory was based on the
“presentation of self” in everyday life. Goffman theorised the role of every individual in the
society being played by them unintentionally. The theory focuses on every little action played
by every individual having no option to do otherwise. This, as a whole, makes up society.
In the movie, similar to the theories the subject Truman Burbank spends his entire
life, he has been living inside a giant archaeological dome equipped with thousands of
cameras in order to monitor all the aspects of his life. This is an example of his character
always being under surveillance, and people are watching and analysing closely of his actions
and movements which is also a level of the theory in practice. However, they neglected and
disregarded the unwanted consequences that can come by the use of surveillance power
(Marx, 2016). In order to justify unwanted surveillance over regular people, the world leaders
give excuses of "the war on terror". Because of the show which was on air for thirty years,
the viewers of the show were 'intimate' with the character of Truman making their
relationship pseudo-complicated (Bolin & Jerslev, 2018). All the other characters in the
dome being actors following a specific script similar to the theory stating all the people as

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actors of the society needed to play out a distinctive role. The actions although raises many
questions on the integrity and justness of the motives, especially when the recorded
information based on the surveillance spreads on to other nations. The role played by Christof
and Truman suggests God and Adam; the island is suggesting and utopia but without any
personal freedom (Macnish, 2017). The viewers who opposed to the show in a way signifies
the role of the social critics. In the movie, there were people who tried to tell Truman the
truth, but most of the time they were just trying to get into television.
The idea of mass surveillance was in the movie where it is visible that for his entire
life Truman was the man under the surveillance of all the people related to the show (Canet,
2017). The show was Truman playing in the reality TV show which was based on the
extensive recording, collection and analysis. Many people will critique this sort of idea as it
will bring about social, ethical and spatial actions on how a society is formed and managed
accordingly. The use of the surveillance society raises questions related to the impact of trust,
discrimination, transparency, mobility, justice freedom and social services. No Matter how
great or grand the cause may seem using surveillance to achieve one's goal bestows upon
great power and always raises ethical questions. The power of the surveillance, at a time,
becomes ubiquitous, always feeding the interests that they represent being embedded within
structures and systems. The application of the surveillance society becomes taken for granted
and its conveniences go unnoticed. This is very much like in the movie where Truman was
just a subject to the surveillance impede upon him by Christof. The viewers enjoyed the
reality show for thirty long years and did not even care about the problems or injustice faced
by the character Truman. Truman was deprived of the reality and has been "living a lie"
Whereas the society did not care about his freedom.
Christof plays the image of the social manipulation, and Truman's decision to leave
the dome seemed heroic. Hence, the viewers of the show and the movie rooted for Truman to

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leave the dome as his actions corresponded to their desires and reject Christof. This is in one
way ironical as the viewer’s themselves were the one making him stay. If they weren't
watching the show, it would mean lower ratings and freedom for Truman. It was the viewer’s
themselves who were keeping him trapped in Seahaven Island. It can be said that in a way,
the people, the society wants to see that actor in that particular character for eternity,
signalling how cruel the society is (Canet, 2017). In Goffman's theory, the people are
mentioned as actors of the society, and all of us play a specific role and expect others to play
specific roles in the society or else pay a social penalty. Finally, Truman can deceive the
producers in the ending scenes where Truman rises above his fear of water and sets sail in
order to run away from this "made up" reality (Marx, 2016). Christof says that there's “no
more truth” in the world beyond and there would be nothing to be afraid of in this world.
The movie shows a living being struggling and broken and trying to free himself from
a world that is corrupted. Trueman wants to free himself and discover real-life experiences,
experiences that once he never thought existed, experiences which have been denied to him
since the time he was born, he wants to find his true self (Jena, 2016). This part is very
similar with the ending of the movie "Dark City" (1998) where the protagonist Murdoch to
ends up against a wall in his quest for the ultimate truth. In both the cases the hero ops for the
reality. In both, the cases reflect an array of distrust for the reality which is the core of
Goffman's theory.

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References
Sayaf, R., Clarke, D., & Rule, J. B. (2015, July). The other side of privacy: Surveillance in
data control. In Proceedings of the 2015 British HCI Conference (pp. 184-192). ACM.
Bolin, G., & Jerslev, A. (2018). Surveillance through media, by media, in media. Northern
Lights: Film & Media Studies Yearbook, 16(1), 3-21.
Macnish, K. (2017). The Ethics of Surveillance: An Introduction. Routledge.
Canet, F. (2017). Using Cinema to Understand Character Engagement in a Television Series:
The Truman Show as Case Study. The Journal of Popular Culture, 50(4), 796-813.
Marx, G. T. (2016). Windows into the soul: Surveillance and society in an age of high
technology. University of Chicago Press.
Jena, M. K. (2016). Technology, Surveillance and Power: Changing Dimension of Control
and Regulation in Information Age. Social Research, 4(2), 76-85.