The Truman Show Research Paper

Like many other teenage kids, the dream of having to be a cool kid in high school runs through their mind almost daily a few months before high school. Danny wasn’t any different. For many years as Danny had looked forward for the moment that would make him a cool kid. Finally, he got to high school where he could meet all the pretty girls, join the cool clubs, drive to school, and go to parties and dances including prom nights. Most importantly for Danny was making new friends, going to classes and studying hard to make good grades.

Let me start off by saying this reading really opened up my eyes. It’s crazy that there is so much that comes into consideration when being apart of a society. High school is a big part of many people’s lives, they need to make it out big in the hallways. This means that people will do anything in their power just to fit in with the “cool kids”. In reality there is such a thing of a higher status and a lower status, but the fact that in high schools it’s a huge problem is sad. When I was in high schools, which wasn’t that long ago, this was a big problem. People needed to have the hottest clothes, shoes, phones, and music, in order to just be recognized. The funny thing is was that, the “nerds” were very high in demand as well. The cool kids wanted to be on their side as

Not only does this movie have great music and visuals, but also tells a lot about the high school experience. As I first watched this movie freshman year and have now watched it my senior year, I feel as though it is more revalent to my life than I have previously thought. I have wrote before in my personal responses about my own struggles with fitting into people’s preconceived notions about what type of person I am and where I belong, which is all at the heart of this movie. I like a lot of people have been labeled different things throughout my school experience and have learned how to break free from those notions and define myself. For a long time I had problems with being labeled the nerdy girl because of my glasses and braces which were accompanied by AP and honors level classes.

The media portrays high schools being full of identity stereotypes, whether it is in movies, TV shows, or sometimes music. Each school has the group of star athletes, the kids bound for broadway, and the kids who could become the next Einstein. Every show or movie has the same supporting character who each belonged to different cliques.

Ana is a girl who followed trends and participated in activities the “cool kids” did in high school. At first she did it because everyone said it was entertaining, but that was not the case for her. Ana came to the conclusion that it was not amusing; she was only doing it because others said it was for the popularity. She decided not to be like the others. Ana was her own person and was determined to do what was right for her future. Such a follow-the-leader type situation is not uncommon in high school as it is a place where people follow others’ actions to fit in. Fortunately, someone like Ana will always strive to be an individual and live the way he or she assumes is best. Unfortunately, a willingness to practice nonconformity

You’re such a hipster.” It’s a phrase heard everyday in school hallways across America, and its usage often operates as a conundrum that obscures teenagers’ perceptions of themselves and who they want to be. I, in turn, have struggled immensely with the paradoxical use of this label.

High School Musical, Mean Girls, and Hairspray; any of those ring a bell? They're all classic high school movies that our generation has grown to love. Although each of these movies present the obvious cliques of the populars, jocks, and nerds, is it really all that similar to today's society? I had the chance to interview a few students here at SouthEast Tech about the stereotypes of high school and defining what is true and what is just a movie myth. When asking freshman, Anthony Gomez about something he's seen on the silver screen that he can compare to what he’s seen on campus is the sight of the crowded hallways. “It's all pretty similar”, Anthony stated “The hallways are usually crowded with people and it's hard to navigate sometimes.”

Do you ever look back on your good old high school yearbook pictures and say to yourself “what in the world was I thinking?” You often catch yourself wanting to hide it or rip the picture frame off the wall that your mom once proudly put up. You find it hanging on relative’s refrigerators, or being the topic of laughter on holidays. Trends throughout the years often change. Many of these changes happen quickly. One week something is “in” then the next week it is totally “out”. Imagine having to go back to school 10-15 years after graduating and trying your best to fit and blend in with the teenagers of that time period. In the movie, 21 Jump Street, that is what they attempted to do. The movie is starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. It’s about two police officers who are forced to relive their high school days. They are assigned to go undercover as high school students to prevent the outbreak of a new synthetic drug and capture its supplier. An “honor roll geek” and “athletic underachiever” work together to fight crime and form an inseparable friendship while doing so. The police officers are forced to gain the mindset of a teenager. They have to learn how to fit in and interact with others during that time period. They realize that some of the things that were once “cool” are no longer as cool as they once thought they were. This movie features various different stereotypes in high school. Styles have changed, along with attitudes, and new clicks have formed. The

Many young teens dream of being the “cool” kids in high school that walk the halls like they own the place, and they constantly have a reason to be talked about, but in reality, I’ve been able to learn that independence is the key to avoiding all unnecessary drama. Throughout the past two years, I have learned to become my own person not a replica of the typical highschool girl who cares about what everybody thinks. Torpid conformity was a kind of sin; it was stupidity itself.

My high school experiences have become imprinted into my memory and parts of me. I changed entirely from the first day I walked in as a freshmen to the last day I walked across the stage with my diploma. Not only do I look different, but I act, think, and understand differently. Our identities are a process of social encounters with different groups of people, contrasting systems, and self-defining moments that we face in high school. I realize now that an individual’s character is largely constructed by other people’s opinions, unwritten rules, and a subliminal hierarchy. The reality of high school makes it difficult to escape the ideal image of a perfect student, friend, respectful significant other, and model child. With all these different forces pulling students back and forth, the primary goal is to be accepted, despite how much change one must undergo. From my high school experiences I know how to deal with peer pressure, alienation, and cliques. Thus, my former high school social lessons and knowledge allow me to reshape my perception, values, and self-image to this day.

“The Truman Show” is a science fiction film, which is directed by Peter Weir in 1998. Jim Carrey, Ed Harris, Laura Linney these great stars join this film, and their acting is fantastic to play their roles. The movie brings the audience a new experience, persuades people to explore and consider the world they live. Peter Weir uses a simple way cleverly to show his concept through a person’s growth to show the life in the world. This film can lead the audience to experience the fake, the love and the reality, to predict that after a person experiences these, what his life will be? Moreover, setting, and star's acting are also the features of the movie.

The need to “fit in” always exists for the youth, and the courage to stand up and lead is hard to do because everyone follows a certain “model” that decides what’s cool. According to Aurelia,

In high school we think that everything matters. Yes, in the long run the huge decisions we make do matter, but who you date, and what sport you’re in, may not matter in the real world. We all believe that we belong to a certain…’cliche’. When in reality that’s just who we decide to be friends with. As for me some may say i'm not the most popular and that i'm lacking style, putting me in the ‘geek/lameo’ category. People need to realize that labels don’t matter.

Truman is so blindsided by the things around him, during this movie he witnesses a lot of hints but he never quite gets it. I honestly feel for Truman , Truman is 100% me. My brother is always calling me stupid, I am so blindsided by things that are happening around me. If I was Truman, I wouldn’t have figured it out unless my brother was there to tell me. Truman is full of life, have you ever heard of the quote “live life to its fullest”. Truman has been stripped of this opportunity, the only thing real are Truman’s feelings or are they?. Truman is married, this raises the question of is he in love. In this movie you find out the answer, his married but has more feelings for another women. His marriage was staged, I feel that Truman has always thought something wasn’t right. Truman was in love with another woman called Lauren, Lauren tells Truman that his life is fake. This scene is so rushed because obviously they don’t want that. What if all Truman needed was for someone to just say what he was thinking.Truman has this desire to experience life, and why is that because he hasn’t actually done that. Yes he is living but is he really. Truman has this desire to get out of where he is. Yes Truman I feel you, I am a person that wants to experience things mentally and physically. I want to be able to live life to its fullest, there is a scene where I see myself in Truman. The scene goes

We used Sam S. to represent “cool” in our advertisement. He is wearing a tank top and is the only one in the hallway wearing the DM Slides. He could be seen as the trendsetter of the school. Sam K. notices this in the first scene of the ad. One common fear of HPHS students is not “fitting in”. I believe that this is a shared fear because people fear not having any friends and being outside of the “in” crowd. If people think that what they're wearing is no longer in style and new fashion styles are being brought in, they will likely follow these trends as a desperate attempt to assure their social status and become once again a desirable member of society.