Commentary on “The Truman Show”

The Truman Show is a 1998 American film produced by Scott Rudin, Andrew Niccol,
Edward S. Feldman, and Adam Schroeder, and directed by Peter Weir. The movie’s genre is
comedy, science fiction, satire, parody, fantasy, and comedy-drama. Aside from producing the
film, Andrew Niccol is also the writer. The film is about Truman Burbank’s ordinary life on a live
television broadcast around the world. He does not know that everything around him is fake,
including his friends and family are all just actors. But, when he arrived at the age of 29, he became
suspicious and tried to escape – which he is fortunate after almost risking his life.
When Truman was still a child, his actor-father died while with him on a boat. The accident
inflicted trauma on Truman. Christof, the brain of the show, is successful in manipulating Truman
to remain on the island. This instance made Truman afraid of the water, thus, guilty of not saving
his father from drowning. This guilt brought his mother to inflame his fear so that the hidden
agenda of making him stay on the island could be possible.
The island of Seahaven is Christof’s perception of Thomas More’s utopia – a society with
perfect qualities. Just like utopia, Seahaven Island only has one exit. But, it differs in a way that
More’s vision of utopia is desirable for everyone; Seahaven is just Christof’s alone.
According to Christof, The Truman Show is captivating, for it is a combination of fiction
and reality. Although everything around Truman is fakery, his actions, and feelings are all true.
His life is an exploration for his viewers that they can relate to. That is the authenticity that the
show has and that the audiences love. Everyone has different opinions on how he should live his
life, and they can make a rational judgment about him. These decisions that they want Truman to
convey are usually hard for everyone to apply in real life. Reality television shows and social
media have become hindrances to differentiating what is real from fraud. The actions that are
intended for audiences and those that were not. However, the film cited that even though Truman’s
life is shown on television his whole life, no one ever knows what he is thinking. He is entitled to
his own words and actions.
Christof then tries to gaslight Truman into staying on Seahaven Island through the latter’s
wife, Meryl, and best friend, Marlon. They tried to persuade him and told him threatening things
to discourage his urge to leave. However, Christof imagined himself as a god who created a utopia
for Truman, but he is not. He is only a tyrant. Truman then seeks the truth and even goes beyond
his abilities to escape Christof’s manipulation. Truman wanted to break free and possess new
experiences. Nothing matters now to him but to attain the truth and not be so passive. The quest
for truth is worth the risk to the unknown. He gained power over himself and rebelled against his
overlord, Christof, whose idea of utopia became Truman's dystopia. The film expressed how far
the media can undertake to gain audiences, thus, contain power. Christof controlled Truman for
the sake of ratings. Like how Truman’s viewers were involved in his prison-like life, Christof is
powerless without them.
Christof thought that Truman wanted to remain alive and would fight to do so, and thought
that Truman likes Seahaven Island that much to stay there. He acted as if he knows Truman more
than he knows himself. But, he is wrong because he can never read his mind.
The Truman Show is our representation of how we live. A lot of us thought that our beliefs
and traditions were all true. No one ever supposes to think outside of it. We are trapped inside a
box, and when we try to unveil what’s left to discover, we are discouraged. We are hindered by
the world around us and our very own perception of this “world”. Even the concept of god is
defined to us by religions. It seemed as though everything is known to us. But, as we grow older,
we may realize we know nothing. That all that we knew may be illusions. Then, it is up to us to
attain the truth, even if it is unknowable.