Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and Peter Weir’s The Truman Show both depict a judgemental society that affects how people act and think about themselves. In In Cold Blood, two murderers, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, are on the run after viciously murdering a very popular family of a small Kansas town, and in The Truman Show, Truman Burbank is convinced that his life is real and perfect, but it is really a television show that is using him for entertainment. In both works, the characters are shaped by the people around them who are telling them how life should be and manipulating people into thinking that they cannot live their lives the way they want to. Society has the potential to influence an individual’s self-identity and ability to make decisions for oneself; however, this influence is not a foregone conclusion, should …show more content…
Stereotypes have always been a part of our society which have contributed to our culture and way of life. For example, In Cold Blood portrays two criminals who feel inferior to the rest of the people surrounding them because of society’s perceptions of these men due to the actions they had perpetrated in their past. The two men were viewed as criminals by the people in their lives and they did not believe they could overcome what people thought about them. Both men began their bad decision by stealing money and after being labeled as bad people, they continued their actions by murdering because they did not think they could change their reputations (Capote). People also force themselves to think inside the box and hinder themselves from exploring