Voyeurism and the Media Theme Analysis

The events of Room, though fictional, draw inspiration from several real-life incidents: the 1991 abduction of Jaycee Dugard, the 2002 kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart, and, most notably, the 2008 case of Elisabeth Fritzl, an Austrian woman who was imprisoned in the basement of her parents’ apartment building and raped repeatedly by her father for years, ultimately bearing him seven children. All of these cases received widespread media attention—and in Room, Ma and Jack escape Room only to find a media wildfire awaiting them. Through the events of the novel, Donoghue criticizes the response of the media to the very real traumas of survivors of abduction, rape, and abuse. Ultimately, Donoghue argues that such intense media attention often re-traumatizes survivors—and is a machine that must be stopped.

Ma and Jack face one set of trials within the confines of Room, but when they make their escape, they must contend with a new set of difficulties. Adjusting to the world is hard enough for Ma and Jack, but as their story spreads like wildfire across the country, they must confront the media attention their case has garnered. From the moment Ma and Jack arrive at the precinct after being rescued from Room, there are already paparazzi waiting for them. The officers who saved Ma and Jack lament that the press keeps coming up with new ways to track police activity in hopes of sniffing out stories. Jack is confused by Officer Oh’s categorization of the people with “machines flashing and black fat sticks” as “vultures.” He doesn’t understand why she tries to put a blanket over his head as she helps him and Ma inside, and pushes back against her. While Ma is questioned by police and examined by doctors, Jack, in a waiting room nearby, watches TV—and is shocked to see himself and Ma on the screen. He listens to the report as a journalist describes him and Ma as “victims” with an “eerie pallor.” Footage of Jack resisting Officer Oh’s attempt to shield him with a blanket rolls as a newscaster describes “The malnourished boy […] lashing out convulsively against one of his rescuers.” This instance is Jack’s first introduction to the media. Though Jack can’t comprehend the intricacies of what’s happening to him, Donoghue makes it crystal clear that the media are sensationalizing Jack’s story, preying on two vulnerable people, and warping the events they capture on camera to fit a narrative they have constructed about Ma and Jack’s case. As Ma and Jack are transferred to a psychiatric clinic for evaluation, the paparazzi pursue them. While Ma is agitated by their presence, Jack is amused by the fact that he and Ma are “famous now, like rap stars.” Jack understands the concept of fame only abstractly from his years of TV-watching inside Room. He doesn’t understand the gradations of fame and celebrity in American society, and this conflation of the very different kinds of attention garnered by “rap stars” versus the victims of personal tragedies is part of Donoghue’s cynical commentary on the cannibalistic, voyeuristic media.

It’s not enough for Ma and Jack to put up with the “vultures” from the press—at a certain point, Ma realizes she needs to strategize not against the media but with them, in order to secure a living for herself and a future for Jack. Ma’s difficult moral bargain has resounding emotional effects for both her and Jack. When Ma agrees to do a major primetime interview, she feels anxiety and anger as the television interview approaches. Though Dr. Clay and others around her notice her agitated state, Ma chooses to press on and do the interview, stating that the profits from it will cover Jack’s college fund. Ma is leveraging the public’s intense interest in her and Jack’s story to their advantage—or at least trying to. Even though Ma has reservations about engaging with the press, she feels forced to do so, both because of her financial situation and because she knows that the press won’t back off until she gives them something. As the interview begins, the journalist conducting it asks leading questions that criticize Ma for keeping Jack with her in Room rather than asking Old Nick to bring him to a hospital or shelter. The journalist accuses Ma of being selfish for keeping Jack with her—and though Ma tries to steer the conversation towards larger issues such as the corrupt prison system and systemic abuse in orphanages and foster care, the interviewer only cares about drawing out lurid details of Ma and Jack’s story. Ma has offered herself up to the press in hopes of beating them at their own game, but Donoghue shows just how unfeeling and sensationalist the press really is—and how it abuses, indicts, and retraumatizes victims and survivors. The day after Ma’s big interview is one of Ma’s “Gone” days—she is nearly catatonic, and Jack is unable to get her attention. Jack goes on an outing with Ma’s brother Paul, Paul’s wife Deana, and their daughter Bronwyn, and leaves Ma to rest. When he returns. he finds Ma unconscious in a pool of her own vomit: she has attempted to kill herself by swallowing painkillers. Donoghue suggests that Ma’s suicide attempt is the direct result of the press’s attack on her parenting choices, her survival mechanisms, and her very existence. Donoghue shows how despicably the media treats the most vulnerable members of society, exploiting their stories rather than uplifting their voices.

Though Donoghue uses Room to explore the complex nature of humanity, on one issue at least, she is clear about what’s right and what’s wrong. The voyeurism and sensationalism of the media, she asserts, is responsible for making the lives of survivors of violence and tragedy more difficult—and for coopting and twisting the stories of those who are victimized or voiceless.