The Truman Show

 

The Truman Show is one of the most captivating films to watch and to analyse. In my opinion also it should be recognised as one of the most expensive art films rather than typically labelled as a comedy, drama and Sci-Fi. At the first Andrew Niccol’s The Truman Show the film was foreseen as too dark and that the director Peter Weir and other producers wanted the film to be seen as more as comedy. Niccol’s vision for Truman’s life and journey was that it wasn’t meant to be a funny. For someone to say that The Truman Show is great comedy is just utterly rubbish and in all honestly it should be taken out of the comedy genre. The Truman Show isn’t a depressing film but somewhat a journey into self-discovery and discovery of knowledge of beyond Truman’s hometown Seahaven.

 

Seahaven is a utopia dedicated to cater under Truman. Everything in this domain is designed to perfection and is a fine representation of the perfect world. However in this perfect world there is no escape. All the actors, product placements, weather and buildings are all placed there for a specific reason. To help create the illusion of a place we all wish to live in. But knowing from an external point of view we see The Truman Show only as a reality TV show and we only see the real world when they are watching the show. We have no knowledge where these people come from, who the president is or even what year it is.  The only world we the viewers and the people watching the Truman Show are always focused on is Seahaven. When we watch films we know what city there in from the iconic shots such as; Big Ben is London, The Ethel Tower is Paris and the White House is Washington DC. But Seahaven is a fantasy utopia, so how do we straight away feel that we want to live in Seahaven without even knowing where the hell it is. It’s the symbolism implanted in our heads that lure us into this world. The Picket Fence’s we see are the symbolism of the American Dream. This is seen in other films such as both of Sam Mendes Revolutionary Road, American Beauty or David Lynch Blue Velvet.  The picket fence is the symbol of the middle class suburban life; A life of family, peace and beauty. From an external point this is implanted to make us feel at ease however internally there is more to see from the naked eye. Within this perfect American Dream it is actually a lie within itself.

The utopia surrounding Truman is an entire world revolving around his life to capture every human emotion and behaviour. Putting him in situation we’re rest of the world will see how he will act. In this giant dome it is not the world but the universe revolves around him. Christof is not only just the director of the Truman Show but he’s architect that laid down the path of Truman’s life. He is the creator of the utopia Seahaven and he alone decides what lies ahead of Truman.  “I have given Truman the chance to lead a normal life. The world, the place you live in, is the sick place. The entire dome is at the hands of Christof and that he has all control and all power of not just Truman but the crew and the actors. Christof tells the crew what and what not to film and tells the actors word by word what to say. If we look at this in a religious view he is God and I wouldn’t say Truman is the son of God but rather representing the beginning of human kind; Adam and Eve. One can even say that Truman represents Adam and Eve. Just like them they were given knowledge. The name Lucifer comes from the Latin word for 'light-bearer'. In a parallel theory between the two stories one can when Truman finally discovered the truth that this world is actually a lie and he wants to escape Christof tries to stop his creation from escaping. The last scene when Truman is just about to leave the world and Christof is looking down on Truman is another fantastic example of another Religious analogy with Moses and God in the Book of Moses.