The Tonight Show

The Truman Show (1998) directed by Peter Weir follows Truman Burbank, a man who has spent his life in a television set where his decisions are controlled by producer Christof. The Truman Show raises the question ‘Is the world within The Truman Show an illusion or does it have some reality?’ This is an epistemological issue as it is relating to the theory of knowledge and more specifically, the knowledge of reality. As epistemology is a branch of philosophy, this question is a philosophical issue…

The 1998 film The Truman Show is about Truman Burbank, who lives in an idealized, artificial world, figuring out that his whole life has been constructed to entertain a television audience. Truman, his whole life, believes he is living with the truth on his home on Seahaven Island; this belief is certainly reasonable, as this life was all he has ever known. However, after the sighting of his thought-to-be dead father and other strange events, Truman can conclude that this world is not real, or…

The World’s Stage: Limited Performers To be accepted in society, one must abandon part of their authenticity and experience loneliness. The Poser and The Truman Show examine the themes of authenticity and loneliness. Similarly, loneliness is portrayed by both protagonists, Giovanni and Truman, and their need for genuine companionship. However, the delineation of authenticity differs as Giovanni performs the personas of others, while Truman puts up self made personas. Nevertheless, the two works…

On Sepetember 27, 2008, Saturday Night Live (SNL) performed a cold open sketch of Katie Couric interviewing Sarah Palin during the presidential election of 2008. Tina Fey impersonates Sarah Palin, while Katie Couric is portrayed by Amy Poehler. The two comedians mock an actual interview done by the potential vice president and journalist that was performed a few weeks prior. The 7 minute cold open, which is longer than most of their sketches, contains a plethora of communication methods to…

To be accepted in society, one must abandon part of their authenticity and experience loneliness. The Poser and The Truman Show examine the themes of authenticity and loneliness. Similarly, loneliness is portrayed by both protagonists, Giovanni and Truman, and their need for genuine companionship. However, the delineation of authenticity differs as Giovanni performs the personas of others, while Truman puts up self made personas. Nevertheless, the two works still illustrate a similar concept in…

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POLITICAL SATIRE AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE The ‘Late Show’ employs political satire to promote the agenda of the public sphere - enable citizens to engage in critical public debate, by advocating for a ‘deliberative democracy’. Political satire is often described as humour’s most overtly political genre (Faina 2012, p. 347). The Late Show’s harnesses the power of political satire to frame important socio-political issues in a manner similar to how individuals engage with…

year into my presidency, and it’s time to finally admit that I am absolutely crushing it.” So proclaims animated President Trump to open the premiere of “Our Cartoon President,” Showtime’s half-hour comedy, created by Stephen Colbert and his “Late Show” executive producer Chris Licht, that kicks off a 10-episode run Sunday. The “satirical view of the president, his family and his inner circle when the cameras are off,” as Licht describes it, was born out of the writers thinking about…

The Armory Show was one of the most important events that took place during the 1900s due to the fact that it introduced modernized European art. Thousands and thousands of people had come from all over to see all the art styles that they have never seen before. Although the Armory Show was an exciting time for the artists who had their work displayed, it was also a controversial time since most people thought that none of the pieces on display were art. Since most of the pieces were different…

The piece “Us and Them” by David Sedaris is an amusing and thought provoking work that focuses on David’s childhood reaction to a family that “does not believe in TV”. By describing his personal experience, the author makes the reader think about human interaction and how something as simple as television can demonstrate the difference between people who merely observe the life of others, and people who actually engage with their own life and make the best out of it. Though the author does not…

Society and freedom are contradictory. Societal forces are detrimental to the human spirit. The novel, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the film, The Truman Show by Peter Weir, and the short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, all are related to the contradicting themes of society and freedom. The more one is influenced by the society, the less freedom he has. Being free in a society that is savage has negative consequences. Freedom that one does not earn…