1. McKay 1
Catherine McKay
Mr. Clover
Senior Seminar
Period 1
March 8, 2012
Morris’ perspective on Truth and Reality
In the movie, Rashomon there is a murder that occurs and it is not revealed who is the
murderer. There are four people who claim to have eye witnessed the murder. Three of the
witnesses claim to have killed the man and each person’s version of the incident are different.
Most people think this movie shows how there can be many truths to one reality. This correlates
with the ideas of Roger Ebert because he believes that truth is subjective and people’s
perspectives can influence the truth. However, Errol Morris’ position is that truth is not
subjective and there is such thing as an ultimate reality, however most people choose to overlook
the truth. Like Morris,I believe there is only one truth and that people often create their own
versions of reality through there imagination and their conscious.
In the movie there are four different versions of one event. Each of these events there is
only on truth, but peoples perspectives or imaginations change the event for them. This is an
example of selective perception and is explained when Morris says that there is a “difference
between the real and imagined” showing how Morris believes that reality is independent from
what people imagine. I agree with this because I believe that people imagine what they want, this
therefore can create a difference between reality and imagination. Therefore, there is no such
thing as more than one truth. The way one person sees one situation is different fromanother’s so
this causes people to describe a situation differently, but there is still always one true reality. This

2. McKay 2
is similar to the idea learned in class that perception is selective, because people sometimes
choose to see something different than others. Selectivity of perception proves Morris’ point that
people imaginations can get in the way of seeing the true reality of a situation. But selective
perception does not change the fact that there is no such thing as many truths to one situation.
Truth is not subjective and there is such thing as an ultimate reality, however most people
chose to overlook the actual truth. I believe Morris’ belief that truth is objective is valid because
I also believe that in reality there is a “difference between the real and imagined”. When people
believe there are several different truths to one reality, it is probably because their unconscious
helps them imagine what they want to be true. When people first watch the movie Rashomon
they believe that it is “a movie about the subjectivity of truth. That there’s no objective truth, just
subjective truth.” However, Morris believes that it is truly about how people see “the world
differently”. But Morris believes this does not mean that there is no ultimate reality. Morris said
in his interview that “images can confuse us” and that “Images are not reality” but complained to
be a reenactment. So, in the movie peoples unconscious made them believe that they saw one
thing but really the truth could be completely different. Morris points “out that consciousness,
itself, is a reenactment.” Therefore, he believes that the way people think of and see the world is
not really how it actually is. Our conscious can change the images in our world so that reality can
sometimes be hidden. So even though people unconsciously see something different does not
mean that there can be several truths to one event. There is always only one truth no matter the
way the unconscious changes your perspective.
Seeing and believing isanother way of knowing Morris talks about is how people see
certain information and choose to automatically believe its true. He says that “People like
nonfiction presented to them in a certain way, so that they don’t have to think about whether it’s

3. McKay 3
true or not.” However, this can cause issues with the truth and reality. He believes that “people
should know better” to not assume that everything they read is true “but they don’t”. This can
also cause issues with everyone seeing the reality of a situation. In the movie Rashomon the four
eyewitnesses, all saw the same reality but they all chose to see something else and believe it.
Also when most people watch the movie Rashomon they choose to automatically believe that the
situation in the movie is true, that truth is subjective and there can be many truths to one reality.
When people should really think to themselves and realize that truth is objective and there is only
one ultimate reality and there can not be more than one true version of a situation. Morris
believes that the only way to get people closer to the actual truth is to get better knowledge.
There is always only one truth and one ultimate reality, its just the way people choose to
see something can confuse people on truth and reality. Morris believes that truth is objective and
that people have no control over what truth and reality are. I also believe that people can
sometimes confuse their own perspectives with the truth and reality but in the end, there is
always an ultimate reality to a situation.