Kenneth Coler
0034650
Movie Write Up
March 6, 2002
The Marketing of the Truman Show
Acting as Truman’s best friend would be rather amusing. There is nothing more fulfilling than playing a good trick on someone. In being Truman’s best friend, I would be incorporated into his world because it would take up the majority of my time. We would share the same memories and would have an actual friendship, which I would be getting paid a lot of money for doing because it would be a full-life job. I would not have many expenses and would be able to save a great accumulation of cash. My life would be on the set and I would probably even fall in love with another cast member while drinking Pen Pal Beer.
Truman’s life is no different than our lives. We both live in worlds of advertisements, masks, and control from higher powers. Truman’s situation was not poor by any means, he was provided an education and happy life; something that a lot of people desire. A question arises of whether it was humane or inhumane to do that to Truman? Only the person asked can answer that question.
The company made a gamble on Truman, in the sense that he was in the program from day one. For thirty years, the company curved Truman’s vision of the world and he abided by their laws. What if Truman lived his whole life out on the show with out ever knowing the truth? Would that be cruel or would it just be an accepted reality? For me I would be mad if I found out but I would not know, so I would not be angry. I am a very adventurous person and rarely accept what I have witnessed. I analyze and question just about everything and I like change. On the other hand some people do not like change, they fear it. This is the small town culture where people like to know the community and do not like change. It boils down to City life versus Small Town life.
The show’s creativity lies with in Truman’s truth. If he knew his life was fake, the reality would have been fake for the viewers. The show would then boil down to a normal eight o’clock sitcom. In Ed TV, Ed participated in a show that filmed his life. The people Ed knew tried to advertise their own products and acted differently than they did with out the cameras. This destroyed Ed’s relationship with his girlfriend. But Ed, unlike Truman, lived in the real world. Anyone who wanted to switch with Truman’s life would give up his or her freedom to live in the biodome. This sacrifice would be a very hard decision to make.
Now with concern to me giving up my freedom to be watched everyday for five years is a different question. I could not give up my freedom. I need to be free from my life every once in a while, by taking a vacation and forgetting everything I know just for a week or so. Having a camera crew surrounding me all the time, even when I am trying to escape would be a constant reminder of my life. There is also the likely hood of the company making all of my friends sign contracts to be filmed and then the company might follow them around, like on Ed TV. On the other hand, $100,000 a year would be nice and the publicity associated with it would allow me to have any job I wanted, after my contract was over with.
Privacy unconcerned is the group I would belong to because I am positive that people are all ready watching me and charting my actions. I could spend my life trying to be private but what is the point of wasting that energy? I have other more important things to attend to, than trying to be private. I hope people who follow me have a good laugh at some of the stuff I do and look at. I really do not care what people think of me or know about me because I am unique and if they want to classify me then they can but they truly will not know who I am, so their effort is wasted.
Some people think privacy is a big deal. I have had customers at JC Penney come in and yell at me, about giving their phone numbers to pick up their catalog order. If the government decides to monitor every citizen than this is a big a problem because are freedom is privacy. There are always going to be dangerous people and there is always going to be a certain point in which the government can monitor too and this limiting point is inside the human mind. The human mind is the farthest point anyone can monitor and in the future there is going to be know way around it. If too much monitoring is done then what happens when there is a threat? Will we be a police state?
The movie was very unfair to companies because it makes the viewer think every company would be in on falseness of Truman’s life. There are those companies that do believe in privacy. The show was completely funded by advertisements, both in it and in their catalog. To be a successful company, it appeared you had to participate in this show.
A company should only be obligated to tell what their product is and what it is used for, the ingredients in it and any safety issues revolving around their product. Any extra information should be regarded as a luxury. It is up to the customers to shop for any replacement or substitution products and any reviews of the product. Online companies and all companies should be held to the same standards. If someone wants to buy online without witnessing the item first hand, than it is the consumers fault if the product is not what they expected.
Customer information is an asset. There is a large effort in collecting this information and it should be able to be sold. The customer came to my company with their information and they did not have to do this. In order to have my service the customer had to willingly give up their information. But to satisfy every customer there should be a way for him or her to keep his or her privacy. This should be achieved by providing a check box or a phone line for the privacy-fiends to call. My question is “Even if the customer did call and stopped this company from sharing their information, what other companies posses it and how can this customer erase their name from these places? Even if the customer did erase their name would the companies actually erase it? Maybe all the personal information in the world should be put on a server and the public should be able to access it and erase their names if they choose.