The Truman Show
By Charlotte Dekle
Image Source: pinterest.com
logline: An insurance salesman discovers his whole life is actually a reality TV show.
Source: IMDb
Even if you’ve never witnessed the brilliance of this movie, you definitely know the premise behind it. Truman Burbank, unbeknownst to him, is the protagonist in a massive TV show. For the vain among us, having our entire life filmed, not just home videos, every moment being broadcast to the masses would be a treat. But it is a gross invasion of privacy that could sway people against the idea. But with reality tv shows like Survivor garnering millions of viewers, the public seems to have no issue with watching counterfeit “reality.” In the film, every aspect is perfectly manufactured to make sure that Truman is content with the life he leads and to make sure he never leaves the idyllic town of Seahaven. His father’s untimely death in a very dramatically filmed boating incident gave Truman a traumatic backstory that will lead him to steer clear of travel. That and when he expressed his desire to be an explorer, his teacher responded “too late, everything’s already been discovered.” But this has never really stopped his desire to see the world. Fiji, specifically. All of the other gimmicks they use to dissuade him from travel are humorous. There are fear-mongering posters with planes getting struck by lightning, many newspaper headlines boasting about the quality of this fictitious town. Some headlines even read “The Best Place On Earth, Seahaven Voted Planet’s Top Town.” All of the clandestine background mechanics and 5,000 cameras of the show are cleverly hidden in trash cans, wedding rings, and other odd places which are exciting to look for once you’ve already seen the movie once. The whole show is engineered by Christof, the puppet master, masterfully controlling every detail of Truman’s life to assure that nothing goes wrong. But things do go wrong, the glitches in Truman’s perfect life start to poke holes in this ideal universe. Like when he sees his presumed dead father, when the rain moves with him, or when another actor playing an extra exposes him to the fraudulence around him proclaiming “it’s all for you.” When Truman starts to realize the artificial world he has been living in, it’s heartbreaking. All of his friends, his family, his peers, even the moon were all meant to fill out this horrific human experiment. The only authentic part about the world is Truman himself, which the director Christof points out in the opening lines. “We’ve become bored with watching actors giving us phony emotions. We’re tired of pyrotechnics and special effects. While the world he inhabits is, in some respects, counterfeit, there’s nothing fake about Truman himself.” In recent years, with the rise of social media, this movie is relevant again. The younger generations have been creating their own Truman Shows via Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or any other social media app. But we are our own “Christof’s” as it were.
my favorite characters:
Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank: the anchor grounding this movie in reality. The paranoia that slowly overtakes Truman is perfectly encapsulated in his portrayal. He started as kind of a caricature of a classic Jim Carrey role. But it unspools into a relatable, sometimes ebullient, and sometimes terrifying character that drives the film. If anyone else was playing Truman, it would not be what it is. The perplexed expressions when something goes awry, the eyes of a dreamer who just wants to escape the mundanity of his life. His entire world revolves around him which is a scary sensation if you lived decades without knowing it. Truman Burbank was the first child to be adopted by a corporation, the people he thought were his family, his friends, everyone around him are all actors. Jim Carrey’s performance in this movie is one of the best in his career.
Laura Linney as Hannah Gill acting as Meryl Burbank: Laura Linney is so good in this movie. Her dual role as actress Hannah Gill and Truman’s wife Meryl. Every facial expression she has is exaggerated, perfect for the fake world she inhabits. Since the show relies on revenue from advertisements, it’s her job to do the product placements. At some points in the film, Ms. Linney holds up a product, label-out, to the camera and states the company brand and tagline. She does it so perfectly that it’s both outrageous and subtly worked into everyday conversation. I am a Laura Linney fan as it is so I thoroughly enjoyed her performance in this. Especially her Sears Catalogue inspired poses that perfectly demonstrate the 1950’s sugar-coated sentimentality of Seahaven.
Noah Emmerich as Louis Coltrane acting as Marlon: the best bud you could ever ask for if only he wasn’t an actor. With a never-ending supply of six-packs of beer and a hilariously dead-end job of supplying vending machines. Side note: there’s one scene where he is vending one of these machines and when Truman isn’t looking, he takes out one of the candy bars he is stocking and restocks it so that he can continue the action. It’s little moments like those that make this movie as brilliant as it is. Back to Emmerich’s amazing portrayal as Marlon, Truman’s best friend since the inception of the show. He always has the perfect nugget of wisdom that Truman needs at that moment and can always quell his desire to leave. Noah Emmerich is one of those actors that itches the part of the brain where you wonder where you know him from.
this movie is rated PG. here’s why:
Thematic Elements
Mild Language
my favorite part: the ending is a perfect storm (get it?) of emotions and climaxes that perfectly ends a beautiful movie. I will describe the sequence here so SPOILERS AHEAD. After Truman has supposedly gone missing, the entire cast and crew are sweeping the set for him. They eventually find him in a boat on the ocean. This is growth for him as a character. His desire to see the world outweighs any fears he may have. He sails the seemingly endless sea in search of Fiji, with the composite magazine photos of his dream girl in his pocket. He sails towards the abyss when Christof orchestrates a storm that is localized over the sea. There are no safety boats around him, he realizes that he would rather die than not get his freedom. He bravely helms the ship through a torrential storm. He triumphantly screams to the sky “Is that the best you can do? You’re going to have to kill me.” His boat capsizes and we think this is the end for him. But through luck and force of will, he survives. He survives to reach the end of Seahaven, he touches the canvassed sky and breaks through to a seemingly dark and bleak world. Before he can leave, he is put against his greatest enemy, Christof. Christof speaks to Truman like a god emerging from the sky, pleading with him not to go. “Say something. God Damnit! You’re on television. You’re live to the whole world.” Christof says. The viewers at home are glued to their screens, hoping he takes those few steps. As he is about to leave the world he has known for 30 years, he walks towards a black monolith shaped box and responds with the famous line, “In case I don’t see you, good afternoon, good evening, and good night.” He takes a bow and proudly takes his first steps into the abyss, not knowing what the world has in store for him.
where to watch:
IMDb:
