Taking a stylistic approach breeching on a film within a film, The Truman Show explores human life from the perspective of life as art and entertainment. The Truman Show revolves around a man, Truman Burbank, whose life is broadcast worldwide twenty-four hours a day. He has been the star of his own show since he was born but has absolutely no idea that his life is staged and televised. Truman comes to the realization that his life is a lie and leaves his false reality to join the real world (Weir).
When human life becomes something to be observed as entertainment, it develops an aura. Art comes from life; auras are based on life. The concepts of life and the aura are discussed greatly in Walter Benjamin’s 1936 essay “The Work of Art in the …show more content…
It is reproduced just as much as it is produced. “Works of art are received and valued on different planes” (Benjamin, 41). What people view as art and entertainment vary from person to person. Value of an artwork is different than the reception. One is a matter of opinion or taste; the other is a matter of how important it is. The Truman Show was critically well received, however how audiences value the film is a very different matter …show more content…
The show itself bears a strong resemblance to the reality shows on broadcast television, in particular Big Brother on CBS. Big Brother is a competitive show that “follows a group of people living together in a house outfitted with dozens of high-definition cameras and microphones recording their every move, 24 hours a day” (CBS). These competitors are willingly putting their lives under a microscope to be examined as pure entertainment by a significant number of viewers. They knowingly are making their life into a form of art-like entertainment. However, when the show is finished, what happens to participants? What happens to their aura? Often, reality show stars, who are not celebrities beforehand, shift gears and go on a different reality show to try to keep up that celebrity status, keep their aura
When human life becomes something to be observed as entertainment, it develops an aura. Art comes from life; auras are based on life. The concepts of life and the aura are discussed greatly in Walter Benjamin’s 1936 essay “The Work of Art in the …show more content…
It is reproduced just as much as it is produced. “Works of art are received and valued on different planes” (Benjamin, 41). What people view as art and entertainment vary from person to person. Value of an artwork is different than the reception. One is a matter of opinion or taste; the other is a matter of how important it is. The Truman Show was critically well received, however how audiences value the film is a very different matter …show more content…
The show itself bears a strong resemblance to the reality shows on broadcast television, in particular Big Brother on CBS. Big Brother is a competitive show that “follows a group of people living together in a house outfitted with dozens of high-definition cameras and microphones recording their every move, 24 hours a day” (CBS). These competitors are willingly putting their lives under a microscope to be examined as pure entertainment by a significant number of viewers. They knowingly are making their life into a form of art-like entertainment. However, when the show is finished, what happens to participants? What happens to their aura? Often, reality show stars, who are not celebrities beforehand, shift gears and go on a different reality show to try to keep up that celebrity status, keep their aura