Incredibly Done Juvenalian Satire

Rating: 10/10 (8 September 2018)

The Truman Show is an incredible portrayal of the crimes of media in our society. Through the life of Truman Burbank, the film depicts the harms of the commercialization of everything in our lives, sometimes even including our lives themselves. By portraying a man who has been literally trapped within the media for the entirety of his life, this film is able to satirically describe the metaphorical trapping of society through the media. The Truman Show uses well-placed humor to lighten its Juvenalian elements of darkness throughout the film, especially at the very end of the story. In addition, the cast does a phenomenal job of depicting the emotions of their various characters. Not only is this movie incredibly entertaining, but it also confronts real issues that are more prominent now than ever. With the exponential growth of influential media over the past decade, our society has grown more and more focused on the media. From social media to television shows, the public has become deeply committed to centralizing everything around the media, almost to the point that it has become their lives.
In regards to satirical elements, there are many to be found in The Truman Show. The target of this film is clearly the media and its powerful influence of nearly everything. The audience is, quite literally, everyone with access to modern media, which is quite a few people. The most prominent satirical element in the movie is inflation; The Truman Show inflates the issue of a media takeover by making Truman Burbank's life actually revolve around media. This is a more exaggerated way of showing how the media has taken over our lives. However, perhaps the most powerful element used is deflation at the very end of the story. After Truman has escaped the television show of his life, the many viewers celebrate for a few moments, only to quickly go back to their regular lives, searching for yet another thing to watch. By showing how quickly the public turns its attention to something else, The Truman Show depicts the dangerously short attention span of society, with its main goal being to find entertainment. Overall, The Truman Show spectacularly uses Juvenalian satire to capture the attentions of viewers and show them real issues that can still be found in today's society, encouraging them to fix it.