I don’t know about you, but I’ve always
wondered if I lived in a TV show. Is my life orchestrated by a group of writers
who get paid to figure out good plots and subplots for me to play out? Is there
a soundtrack, or a laugh track? Perhaps this is a human question. After all,
the concept of God is just a mythological version of both a director and a
writer.
The
Truman Show attempts to expose what existence inside a TV show looks like.
The concept is this: a completely normal man (Jim Carrey) is living his completely
normal life. He lives in a completely normal town, with his completely normal
wife and his completely normal friends, going about doing his completely normal
job. Little does he know, though, that since before he was born he has been the
star of a TV show. His town is the set, a huge dome populated by the cast and
crew and made up to look like a real town.
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| What his town looks like to him... |
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| ... And what his town actually is. |
His wife (Laura Linney) and friends (Noah Emrich, Peter Krause) are
actors, paid to pretend. Even the main formative trauma of his youth, his
father’s death while at sea, was designed in order to control Truman. His
entire life has been controlled, down to the very weather. His life is even
used for product placement; his wife seems to randomly, spontaneously become an advertisement for no real reason.
However, eventually this
all falls apart. During the 30th year of the show, he starts to
notice the strange coincidences of his world. A light falls from the sky, his
car radio picks up the crew’s frequency, and his father even mysteriously
reappears, dressed as a hobo. Truman finds out about how the world revolves around
him, his wife breaks under the pressure of his increasing skepticism, he
attempts to travel abroad, and his father (Brian Delate) is brought back; yet
Truman still does not stop trying to escape. In the end, he overcomes his fear
of water (which was brought on by the death of his father) and sails out to the
sea, only to discover that it is only a backdrop. The director, Christof (Ed
Harris), attempts to talk to Truman, but to no avail. The movie ends with
Truman leaving the dome and the viewers changing channels due to boredom.
But how is this existentialist? Let’s put it
this way: Truman is the ultimate Sartrean hero, at least in terms of quietism.
Truman’s entire life is controlled. He has literally no choice. Even his wife
is chosen for him, and when he attempts to pick a different woman, she is taken
out of the show. Even when he starts discovering that his life was a lie, he
has the option to sit back and let his life take its course. If everything is
controlled, he never really has to make a lasting decision. It is almost the
ultimate quietism, where everything is provided for him and chosen for him. If
he went along with it, he would never have to take responsibility for his
actions ever again. But he doesn’t. He actively attempts to take his own
anguish on himself and be free, no matter how much pain it might bring. In a
world where everything is scripted and planned, he is the only genuine, real
person. At one point, Christof says: “if his was more than just a vague ambition, if he was absolutely
determined to discover the truth, there's no way we could prevent him.” And he
does. Truman is not a coward, either, even when faced with the concept of
God—or in this case, a seemingly omnipotent “Creator.” You can see the scene
below:
In any case, even when faced with the Creator’s idea for his
life, Truman refuses to remain passive and inactive; instead, he takes himself
out of the show, ready to create his own destiny. "You are afraid," Christof tells him, "that's why you can't leave." Truman must decide whether to accept Christof's complete control, or to make his own life with his own choices, to become a coward or a hero. He chooses to be a hero.
Intersubjectivity is also a huge part of this movie. “The Truman
Show” itself has been “designed” to appeal to viewers, and that includes Truman
himself. A good example of this is his innate fear of the ocean. Created by
Christof as a way to keep Truman from feeling adventurous, it is the perfect
example of how he is conditioned to be the perfect star for the show. Bu, most
of all, it is important to note that he is the only genuine person in the show.
Every other person he encounters, from his “mother” to his “wife.” In a movie
about a man whose entire surroundings are fake, how can he truly shape the
world around him? Strangely enough, he seems to do so quite well. He is, as
told by Christof, the star of “a television show that gives hope and joy and
inspiration to millions.” We see people outside the show with clocks counting
how long the show has been running, people with “Truman Show” paraphernalia,
people watching at all different times of the night. Truman is the person that
everyone wants to be, and by seeing him, they change how they view themselves.
But Truman’s very goodness is merely the reflection of the fake people around
him, the reflection of a world that is not real. The real world, as described
by Christof, is “the sick place.” This disconnect between Truman’s life and the
life of those outside, and the effects it has on intersubjectivity, are
interesting.
So really, if you haven’t seen The Truman Show, go watch it! It’s a handy guide of what to do if
you discover you really are trapped in a TV show.
-Emma Sterling
Credits:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120382/quotes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkZM2oWcleM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZMZYrdXtP0&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwyVbvVtL6U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhIIPbO_6xg
http://thestygianport.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html
http://seldomtypql.com/257/david-lubars-thinks-youre-dumb
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