Introduction
It is the wish of almost every individual to be in a world of reality, in an environment with a feeling of acceptance, and surrounded by worthwhile relatives and friends. The environment or the existence of the global setting where an individual thrives has a composition of ethical values, realities, and perceptions that define the way such a person feels or reacts. Several films have been developed, with their settings based on reality and scrutiny of a character's life at different phases or their entire life. Some of these films have raised ethical concerns about diversified situations while facing lots of criticism on the same grounds. In this case, focusing on ethical theories, there will be a focus on the examination of Christoff's decision in making Truman the reality TV show star, in Truman Show (1998).
Living in an Artificial World
Realistically, it is not a comfortable dimension to live a life filled with follow-ups on almost every action an individual does. Many people prefer living their own lives; lives surrounded by good relatives and worthwhile friends. Nonetheless, this is not the case with every person living on the globe, as some people will wake up one day to find out that the life they thought was a good and perfect one, was under the control and investigation by other persons either known or unknown. This is the case drawn in The Truman Show (1998), a show grounded on Truman Burbank. As the show unveils, it indicates that Truman was born and brought up in an artificial world, a world surrounded by five thousand hidden TV cameras. The cameras monitor and record Truman's every move and action, and then broadcast it live (The Truman Show, 1998). This fictional world is revealed to us earlier than Truman when in the opening scene, a studio light drops from the fake 'sky'.
Christoff's Control over Truman's Life
In this setting, Christoff is responsible for the supervision of Truman's actions (Cripps, 2013, 98). The world surrounding Truman was designed in such a way that he did not come to an absolute realization that for more than thirty years of living, the community in which he belonged-Sea Heaven, was all an illusion (Cripps, 2013, 101). Such an illusion comprised of his life, the persons and affiliations surrounding Truman. In his own reality, Truman referred to his present environment as home, contrary to the audience, it is unreal. Ironically, in this case, the world in which Christoff developed for Truman, ended up in the highly rated TV shows.
Ethical Implications
According to Wheatley (2013, 27), ethical behavior is an action establishing core moral values inclusive of fairness, honesty, equality, and centrally, personal rights. In this case, ethics grounds an essential dimension of knowledge with reflection on the manner in which Truman was scrutinized. This draws some aspects of inquiry, with the inclusion of whether it was ethical to have Truman's life being manipulated by his ‘developer'- Christoff, for more than thirty years. Besides, it is also critical to draw summations, whether such grounding was a fair one or not, with an overview of what ethical behavior constitutes.
Utilitarianism Perspective
In reference to some people and researchers, they air their arguments that Truman had a chance to conduct his life in a safe environment- Utopia, which was perfect and could have favored his operations and privacy. In contrast, others make their assertions that Christoff was responsible for depriving the real world of Truman and placing him in a sickly and dangerous world. Macnish indicates that some of these arguments based on ethical dilemmas in the Truman Show have a reflection on the philosophical utilitarianism theory (2017, 147). Additionally, Ferre defines utilitarianism as a scenario where a distinct action receives justifications if the outcomes benefit the majority (2001, 84). Hence, the Truman Show fits ethically right with reflection from utilitarianism dimensions.
Violation of Human Rights
Nonetheless, I develop a belief that the Truman Show (1998), was a conduct that enforced wholly against human rights. Jeremy Bentham's principle of utility states that; individuals need to act for the greatest good for the greatest number of people (Bentham, 1879). As the show unveils, there is direct exploitation of Truman, which is done artificially to have him remain within the ideal world and environment that Christ of creates for him. Such creation and development make Truman not to escape the reality setting of the show. As the show indicates, although Truman lived in Utopia, individuals did not realize that Utopia is a perilous concept, whereby creation and development of a world to perfection, is achievable through forcing people to have their cooperation in the development of such kind of world (Elder, 2017, 111). Hence, any person who comes up with the creation of their Utopia can be taken as an enemy, as it leads to dictatorship, as it is the case with communism (Elder, 2017, 126). The juxtaposition of this concept is evident in the entire Truman Show (1998), as it commences.
Restrictions and Manipulations in Truman's Life
Furthermore, Christoff employs distinct approaches and other available means, with a focus on preventing Truman from accessing the sea and coming to a realization of the truth; he leaves a traumatic beach memory in his life, for Truman never to escape from his trapped illusion life (Macnish, 2017, 108). Additionally, Christoff goes further and places Truman in a hazardous condition- a storm, when Truman makes efforts in approaching the real world. Further, as the show indicates, Christoff shapes the identity of Truman, coercing the latter to make confirmation of his needs.
Ethical Considerations
This indicates the unfair manner in which Christoff played with Truman's life, by monitoring, manipulating, creating, destroying, and designing every dimension of his life. How unfortunate it might have been for Truman! Besides, the possessions and affiliations of Truman are unreal; there is no existence of his hometown as well as he is not married to his wife. In relation to a similar deception movie "The Matrix", Truman is in an illusory world just like Morpheus and Neo who are also fooled to thinking that they are in the real world watching football and reading books (Andy and Larry, 1999).
Violation of Free Will
'What a make of an entire fake life for Truman!' This defined the magnitude of Christoff's development in creating a whole control over Truman's rights and making restrictions for him from discovering the reality. With the assertion that Christoff, on an artificial ground, made changes, manipulations, and played around with Truman's sincerity changing his entire life to that of illusions, it arguable that such an act was unethical.
Trapped in a Dystopian World
Moreover, the world that Christof creates is a dystopia deriving its sources from Utopia, a bid in the creation of a world of perfection, hence making Truman's life a monotonous one (The Truman Show, 1998). Thus, it is evident that Christoff makes fabrications of Truman's knowledge on what he needs him to know. To Truman, he meets such kinds of people as he goes to work, meaning that an identical pattern and summation of individuals surround his whereabouts and house. Truman's life is set up in a sphere of predictability with Christoff being in charge of it. This creates grounds on which Truman is not in a position to have his views aired and actions expressed freely, hence making it hell in a cell for Truman to thrive.
Lack of Informed Consent
Consequently, I can state that the Truman Show (1998) is unethical as it lacks informed consent. Christoff neither inquired Truman's opinions about his contribution in the TV show nor was Truman given a chance to have an expression of his feeling on the conduct of living in a world that was artificially created by Christoff. Primarily, without Truman's awareness, Christoff and his affiliates made changes to Truman's life, whereby they made decisions to choose and use him as an experimentation tool to suit their curiosity purposes. This is similar to the film "Narration in Light" where Wilson states that the agents are trapped within a line of narrative action where they cannot survey (1986, 5).In addition, there is no single occurrence, where Truman made requests or pleaded to be trapped for a lifetime in a town so small and torturous.
Truman's Journey to Free Will
Personally, Truman upon coming to terms with the psychological shock that he had to undergo, makes him have a feeling of compassion on himself, and at the same time drawing of unreacted compositions. Such kind of compositions comprised of the sort of life he would live if he found himself in the real world, whether he would live a happy life upon arrival in such real world, and what he would do to Christoff and his team if at all he found the whole truth about their actions. Such compositions and dimensions of responded inquiries draw further wonder on a diversity of aspects, including the influence of lacking free will, and whether Truman had a constitution of free will in the artificial world developed by Christoff.
Importance of Knowledge and Perception
In most cases, even in prisons, individuals are provided with principles and values governing their life, and such principles can be sourced from what they believe in and affiliate with their surroundings. Elder notes that such beliefs derive their formation via experience and knowledge rooting, which is vastly the most firm tool that the society has, and contributes massively to keeping the world around every individual functioning smoothly (2017, 201). Moreover, Elder admits that when there is a disturbance to such aspects, it makes individuals develop questions about their knowledge (2017, 203). Similar elements make Truman start questioning his overall life, after the abnormal occurrences in his life, and searching for knowledge and the truth.
Lack of Free Will under Christoff's Manipulation
Despite the truth that Truman sought for came to a painful end, it makes him a free individual, free from illusions and constraints of a created illusional world. To some point, Truman has slight freedom in drawing his grounds while in the unreal world, but the freedom was limited. Ferre states that an overall freewill bases itself on having a power to respond to an act, with the constraint of fate or necessity (2001, 256). Nonetheless, Truman's freewill based itself on Christof's control. This means that Truman was not accorded his free will ethically under Christoff's manipulation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, people will always develop their arguments in relation to ethical conducts taking place in distinct regions of the world, diverse cultures, and in the society. The environment or the real global setting where an individual thrives has a composition of ethical values, realities, and perceptions that define the way such a person feels or reacts. Several films have been developed, with their setting based on reality and scrutiny of a character's life at different phases or their entire life. People define ethics as what is right or wrong on varied dimensions, as it is with the case of Truman as discussed above. Consequently, there has been a focus on the examination of Christoff's decision in The Truman Show (1998) in making Truman the reality TV show star.
References
Andy, and Larry, W., 1999. The Matrix. Britannica.
Bentham, J. 1789. An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. Canada. Clarendon Press.
Cripps, E., 2013. Climate Change and the Moral Agent: Individual Duties in an Interdependent World. S.l.: OUP Oxford.
Elder, A. M., 2017. Friendship, Robots, and Social Media: False Friends and Second Selves. S.l.: Routledge.
Ferre, F., 2001. Living and Value: Toward a Constructive Postmodern Ethics. S.l.: SUNY Press.
Macnish, K., 2017. Berghahn Books. S.l: Routledge.
The Truman Show (1998). 1998. [Film] Directed by P. Weir. S.l.: s.n.
Wheatley, C., 2013. Michael Haneke's Cinema: The Ethic of the Image. S.l: Berghahn Books.
Wilson, M., G. 1986. Narration in light: studies in cinematic point of view. Johns Hopkins University Press P. 5.
