"We've become bored with watching actors give us
phony emotions
We are tired of
pyrotechnics and
special effects.
While the world he inhabits is in some respects counterfeit,
There is nothing fake about
Truman himself
No scripts, no cue cards;
It isn't always
Shakespeare, but it's
genuine.
It's a life."
--Christof, producer of the Truman Show*
Truman Burbank is an ordinary man, in an
unordinary life. The premise of the
movie is that he is the property of a
corporation (the first person to have been legally adopted this way, according to the movie); a real
human being raised in a
fictional world for the
purpose of watching a person's life
unfold. Everything in his life has been
controlled: his
wife, his
friends, his job, everything. All he does or has is an act for his benefit, for the entertainment of the world, until it becomes
unraveled. Ironically (and most likely intentionally) the name
Truman was chosen, begging the
allusion to "
True Man", signaling in essence that Truman was pure, and untouched by the outside world in many ways. Similar
movies have shown the
innocence and purity of
television in a similar light (see also
Pleasantville).
Movie themes generally come out in twos (
Armageddon,
Deep Impact; that sort of thing). The Truman Show had a similar
Reality TV movie cousin in
EdTV, a suprisingly good movie along a similar
concept, except the man voluntarily had his life filmed.
A personal refection:
The idea behind the Truman Show is
disturbing; how long would it take someone to
discover that their world isn't right. It begs us to look at the decisions we make, and how much
free will we actually have. If one man could decide the fate of another, how much does it happen now? He spends a huge chunk of his life in a
predictable storyline, controlled and
manipulated; I see it as a good way to
question yourself on many points:
- Could I be Truman? Not so much as a paranoid that people are watching, but are we really as free as we all like to think? How predictable are we, and how much are our decisions controlled by those in positions of power?
- Do I value this form of reality entertainment? In the movie, the Truman Show was a phenominon. Some people in real life very much get into this form of voyueristically watching others, obsessing over shows such as Survivor, and their ilk. It was a big craze in the year 2000, into 2001. People in ancient Rome used to watch people get torn apart by lions; it is sad for me to think that we have evolved into watching people tear each other part.
Truman show is an
excellent dramatic movie, although I wish the ending would give a little bit more
detail. After the
final scene, the movie leaves you wondering what the
final outcome is, and what happens down the line. Otherwise it's a great "make you think" movie. I don't place a lot of stock in the
dramatic skills of
Jim Carrey, but in this outing he does rather well.
All in all, a very good
screenplay, and one that is
acceptable for all
ages, although younger
audiences may not
understand or get the impact of the movie.
Cast (Major Players):**
- Jim Carrey - Truman Burbank
- Ed Harris - Christoph
- Laura Linney - Meryl
- Noah Emmerich - Marlon
- Natascha McElhone - Sylvia (Lauren Garland)
Footnotes:
* Transcribed from the movie (DVD)
** Transcribed from the credits