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The Truman Show challenges Mulvey's supposition that men cannot stand the idea of objectification. Mulvey quotes in her essay, "According to the principles of the ruling ideology and the psychical structures that back it up, the male figure cannot bear the burden of sexual objectification-(Mulvey 63). She writes that females have always been placed as the focus of attention and that men cannot bear that burden. The Truman Show goes against this concept proclaimed by Mulvey. Truman's life, ever since birth, has been filmed and made into a show that is aired twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. His every movement has been viewed by the public his entire life. Truman is the object and center of "The Truman Show,"" a very popular show that is watched by everyone. A male character being the figure of center of attention contradicts Mulvey's idea that the male figure cannot bear the burden of objectification. Truman being placed as the center of gaze in "The Truman Show- challenges Mulvey in that it proves that a male is able to bear the burden of being the center of focus. Besides the issue of objectification, this film also disputes another aspect of the typical "Hollywood- male character. .
In cinema, the male figure is understood to be heroic, strong, and knowledgeable, but The Truman Show presents an opposing side to this stereotype. In her essay, Laura Mulvey affirms that, "A male movie star's glamorous characteristics are thus not those of the erotic object of the gaze, but those of the more perfect, more complete, more powerful ideal ego conceived-(Mulvey 64). She explains that male characters primarily have attributes that give off a sense to the audience of manhood, strength, and power. However, in The Truman Show, Truman is the primary male figure and he does not sufficiently show any of the described characteristics of a stereotypical male protagonist. Truman is not significantly powerful or knowledgeable, but rather gentle and nave.