It's been a while since I saw the film, but if my
recollection of the film is correct it has much to
offer if you are teaching Foucault or Goffman.
GOFFMAN
Social life is like a stage act. But what happens, as
in the Truman Show, when you never are allowed to get
off the stage? Notice that in this film Truman is
never allowed to go "backstage." This is where you
can use Goffman's analysis of total institutions:
TOTAL INSTITUTIONS: total institutions simplify
identities and roles. There are patients, criminal
inmates, and the mentally ill, all of whom are
basically flawed and the authority and staff whose
role is to control and cure. The self is monolithic
and there is no space to produce alternative selves.
There is little backstage. The whole day is spent in
a controlled environment. I can't recall the details
of the film here, but I'm sure you could do something
with this.
FOUCAULT
Foucault's concept of the Panopticon can easily be
seen here. Its spread beyond the walls of formal
institutions from, for example, prisons to our
everyday life, to every noook and cranny of social
life, is what this movie is about. The consequences
are serious: we become disciplined by the gaze, and
Jeremy Bentham's auto pilot security guard crawls into
our heads. Check out William G. Staples book,
EVERYDAY SURVEILLANCE. You'll see many connections in
the book with the film.
best,
Khaldoun Samman
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