Discovery is a process of constant learning which broadens one’s understanding and changes one’s perspective. By learning new things, we discover; leading to a change in our perspectives positively or negatively. This change in our perspectives is influenced by our morals, values and knowledge. Together these factors shape our interactions with others and our world. These ideas are expressed and strengthened in both texts; documentary Frank Hurley: The Man Who Made History by Simon Nasht and the film The Truman Show directed by Peter Weir using various themes and techniques. Both these texts emphasise change in perspectives occurring from discoveries.
Simon Nasht expresses that discoveries provide us with renewed perceptions of ourselves and the world through the theme of discovering humanity’s barbarity towards one another. In Nasht’s documentary, Hurley’s hope to document the glory of World War I & II was confronted by discovering man’s barbarity towards one another. The use of montage through archival footage of cannons being fired in WWI establishes a brutal tone which shatters Hurley’s belief that war is a spectacular event. This discovery significantly impacted Hurley as it changed his perspective on the war. Through narration in ‘But they began to change as the reality of the machine gun and mustard gas sank in’, displays that Hurley’s perceived glory of war was shattered as he was confronted with a brutal reality. Hurley’s discoveries have broken his predilections on the war and have left him emotionally distressed as he is faced with the choice of photographing either the glory or the truth. Thus, Nasht displays that discoveries renew our perceptions and change the way we view the world through the theme of discovering humanity’s barbarity towards one another.
Similarly, Peter Weir’s the Truman Show asserts that even though necessary discoveries have negative ramifications, they are still important to our learning. Throughout the films, Truman’s necessary discoveries are shown to repeatedly lead him to emotional pain, but without them he would still be living in a false reality. The use of a wide shot of the kitchen during Truman’s dialogue ‘Why do you want to have a baby with me? You can’t stand me’, highlights the necessary discovery of the truth that his marriage is a lie and it is breaking down, even if it means immense emotional pain for him and Meryl. Likewise, during the beach scene a mid-shot portrays Sylvia frantically looking around while Truman’s eyes are fixed on Sylvia, revealing that he is willing to completely give himself to Sylvia for love. Through her dialogue in ‘they don’t want me talking to you’, Sylvia is aware of the pain that will accompany their necessary realization of love and attempts to tell Truman the truth, but is immediately torn away from a grieving and confused Truman. Where Nasht’s documentary presented Hurley being confronted by the discovery of the barbaric reality of war, Peter Weir’s Truman was also left emotionally devastated by the necessary discoveries he undertook. Thus, Weir succeeds in asserting that necessary discoveries can have negative ramifications by repeatedly distressing Truman emotionally as he uncovers fabricated relationships and deals with unexplained separation.
Nasht justifies taking risks for making discoveries by showing they lead to a positively renewed perspective. In the documentary, we are shown through montage, that the Antarctic expeditions were life threatening for Hurley through displaying blizzards, establishing the risks Hurley took. The non-diegetic sound through narration provides support through the dialogue ‘He would go to any length to get the perfect image’, highlighting the importance that Hurley gave his profession by pursuing it without hesitation. Hurley’s changed self-perspective is clearly displayed as Hurley was repeatedly endangering himself to capture history, which conveyed to the audience his passion. The use of voiceover (as Hurley) at the end of the documentary ‘I’ve lived the life that suited me. Took risks and did not complain. If I could live my life all over again, I’d do it exactly the same’ highlights that Hurley considers his life rewarding because of the risks he took. This documentary is also a giant metaphor for humans as we tend to take risks for what we believe is important and Hurley clearly believes that his passion is worth the risks. Ultimately, Hurley’s experiences justify taking risks for discoveries as they lead to a positively renewed perspective.
However, Weir takes a contrary position to Nasht by conveying that taking risks is not reasonable as the renewed perspectives are painful. Towards the end of the film, Truman takes the risk of conquering his fear of the ocean by taking a boat through it in dangerous conditions to reach the horizon, regardless of what is ahead. Truman’s rhetorical question in the dialogue ‘Was nothing real?’ displays that Truman’s risk has not led him to a reward, but to emotional pain. While he may not realize the pain in the excitement of finally uncovering the truth, it is only human to reflect upon the negativity resulting from his discovery through this risk he took, especially since this pain was inherited from people he genuinely loved. The ocean symbolizes a place for enlightenment and destruction as a wide shot is used when Truman sails through the storm with violent waves rocking Truman’s boat, almost destroying him. Truman’s hopes to escape this fake world perish as he nearly drowns in the manmade storm as a result of the risk he took. Whilst Nasht advocates risk taking by placing emphasis on Hurley endangering himself in order to capture his images where the end justifies the means, Weir’s film counters this. Instead, Weir’s protagonist is emotionally devastated to discover that the life he’s been living is false and that he will face challenges settling into the real world where he’s not the focus. Thus, Weir conveys to the audience that it’s not worth taking the risk for discoveries as the renewed perspective may be painful.
Ultimately, while discoveries are necessary in order to help us learn new things about us and the world around us, they can have negative ramifications. This is derived from the changes occurring in the protagonists in the texts ‘Frank Hurley: The Man Who Made History’ by Simon Nasht and ‘The Truman Show’ by Peter Weir.