The Truman Show

524 Words3 Pages
In Peter Weir’s philosophical film ‘The Truman Show’, the central character is a real man in a fake environment. Truman Burbank (Jim Carey) is unaware that he lives in a studio environment created by the director Christof. While his world is fabricated for entertainment, Truman himself is a genuine character. He makes his own decisions and his ultimate choice to live in the outside world, shows just how ‘real’ he is. Through out the whole movie, Christof is given this, somewhat god like analogy, which merely shows how much control he has. Marlon (Truman’s best friend) is perceived as an injudicious man with an awful job to raise Truman’s self esteem, and keep him on the set. Christof at the end of the movie, speaks to Truman through the clouds as they glow a bright white, to try and convince Truman to stay, simply showing how god like Christof is. Truman’s world is simply the ‘American Dream’. White picket fences, beautifully aligned houses, and the perfect neighborhoods. All the ads you see in the movie are there to sell the ‘American Dream’. Nearly everyday, Meryl (Truman’s wife) tells Truman about a new product she has bought, except she explains it as an advertisement. And yet after the world being perfect, marrying a cheerleader, and having a terrific job, Truman still isn’t happy. Truman has never been forced to do anything, but is merely controlled by limiting his options. At the end of the film, Truman has the choice to leave, and go into the real and unforgiving world, or to stay, in the fake paradise Christof has created for him. Truman, being the discontent man he is, makes the ultimate decision to live in the outside world, and proves how ‘real’ he is. With the final thing he says to Christof being, and I quote “Good morning, and in case I don’t see ya: Good afternoon, good evening, and good night.” The Truman show presents certain
Open Document