The document discusses the film Rashomon and the differing views of Errol Morris and Roger Ebert on the concept of truth portrayed in the film. Rashomon presents four different accounts of the death of a samurai from four witnesses. Morris believes there is an objective truth, while Ebert believes truth is subjective based on individual experiences. The document agrees more with Ebert's view that the multiple accounts in the film represent subjective truths, as each witness's version reflects their own perspective and memory of events. However, it also acknowledges Morris's perspective that in reality only one version can be objectively true.

1. David Yang<br />2011/3/24<br />Senior Seminar 6<br />To what extent do you agree with the views of either Errol Morris or Roger Ebert with regard to their views of truth and perception in the film Rashomon?<br />Truth can be defined as what one believes to be true, while reality is what really happened. In the Japanese movie Rashomon, basically there are four main versions of the husband's death: the woodcutter's, the bandit's, the wife's, and the husband him self’s story. What the audience is certain of is that a man, the husband, is dead, but they do not know whether he is murdered or if he committed suicide himself. Errol Morris is believer that there is such a thing as absolute truth, and that truth is objective and does not differ from person to person. On the other hand, Roger Ebert believes that truth is subjective; he stated that truth can be different from each person’s empirical experience. I agree with the views of Roger Ebert to a large extent with regard to his views of truth and perception in the film Rashomon, as Ebert believes that truth is subjective; he stated that truth can be different from each person’s empirical experience as seen in the movie that there are many versions of who killed the samurai. <br />As regards to truth, Errol Morris believes that there is such a thing as absolute truth, so in the movie Rashomon, there should not be so many versions of truth. Morris also believes that truth is objective and does not differ from person to person. In the Japanese movie Rashomon, although there are many versions of who the actual murderer is, there is only one killer. He believes that it is “foolish and unappetizing” to think that “there is no reality, that truth is up for grabs, or that truth is subjective”. In the movie, there are four main versions of the death of the samurai. The reason that there are so many versions of one’s death is that the woodcutter, the bandit, the wife, and the husband all believe their story of what really happened to the husband. Morris says that “I do not believe that truth is subjective. Just thinking something does not make it so.” So relating to his belief, although the different characters in the movie all have their own version of the death of the samurai, it does not make it true. As he mentions in his interview that “the claim that everybody sees the world differently is not a claim that there’s no reality.” However, how Ebert views truth seems to fit more with the Japanese movie Rashomon. <br />Contrary to what Errol Morris believes, Roger Ebert believes that truth is subjective; he states that truth can be different from each person’s empirical experience. In the movie, the different testimonies of the husband’s death shows how based on each person’s personal experience, the truth of what happened can differ for each individual. Ebert believes that it is possible to have multiple truths. The idea of having multiple truths is closely related to the mental map in each individual, which are one’s ideas of what is true and what is false, what is reasonable and what is unreasonable (van de Lagermaat 5). Another idea that supports Ebert’s view of truth in the movie Roshomon is confirmation bias. We tend to notice only the evidence that supports our beliefs, which might also be one of the reasons why there are multiple versions of the death of the husband. Ebert also mentions that although “we see the events in flashbacks, we assume they reflect truth”, meaning that for example in the movie, the different testimonies are based on their memories, their flashbacks of what happened. The characters in the movie believe whatever they remember or saw from their flashbacks to be the truth, therefore it is possible to have multiple truth. <br />In the movie Rashomon, the director of the movie purposefully presents four different versions of what happened to the samurai. Additionally, he presents the four different versions of truth in the form of flashbacks, which enables the audience to be the judges of what really happened, to choose one that seems to make more sense. While Roger Ebert and Errol Morris have different views on truth and perception, Ebert’s view of truth better exemplifies what happened in the Japanese film Rashomon. Ebert’s belief that there might be multiple truths seem to apply to the movie Rashomon as different versions of what happened to the husband are displayed as each character recalls the event differently. This belief of Ebert is clearly supported by the stories of the woodcutter, the bandit, the wife, and the husband. However, Morris’s idea that there is an absolute truth should also be taken into consideration as in reality, there can only be one person who actually killed the husband. Therefore, it is shown that one cannot just say either Morris’s or Ebert’s view on truth and perception is right, one must take both sides into consideration to reach an optimal conclusion. <br />Taking into consideration the two different views of truth and perception, Ebert Morris’s view on truth best demonstrate the truth in the Japanese film Rashomon by Kurozawa. However, Morris’s view on truth should also be taken into consideration since his belief of an absolute truth helps the audience to know for sure that only one of the four testimonies is right. What we should do when we decide whether an event is true or false is that we should always consider different perspectives in order to prevent any confirmation bias, and try to be more unprejudiced when dealing with anything in life. <br />