The Truman Show - Film Essay

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The Truman Show Stasia McGehee 6/12/98

One of the most thought provoking films this year, The Truman Show, a film about a supposed documentary of the same name, posits an absurd situation with serious consequences. Truman Burbank is the protagonist of the idyllic Sea Haven, equipped with over 5000 hidden cameras, whose awkwardly oblique angles hint at their furtive placement. His every move is a recorded event, as he is the unknowing star in a show viewed by billions. Billed as "the first child legally adopted by a corporation" Truman was chosen out of five other babies because his conception neatly coincided with Hollywood production schedules. Thus, from here on out, his entire life is orchestrated according to the convenience of his director, the "televisionary" Christof. Most notably, a melodramatic enactment of his father’s drowning during a boating accident serves the dual purpose of writing the unwanted parent out of the script as well as instilling terror in the young child. Truman’s willfulness is thereby punished, for it was the young boy’s idea to prolong the outing. Thus Truman will forever lack confidence in his own authority, and will be paralyzed by an unwarranted terror of the sea.

As if this episode weren’t manipulative enough, other phobias are carefully nurtured, as kennels of snarling attack dogs seem to be at the employ of a cast intent upon keeping him at bay. Similarly, all evidence of schoolboy ambition is squelched during his formative years, in preparation for his scripted role as an insurance salesman.

TRUMAN’S PROGRESSION - A Passage of Initiation
The Truman Show showcases a rite of passage, tracing the development of the protagonist’s growing consciousness, as he slowly wakes up to the fact that for the past 30 years of his existence, his entire world has been utterly scripted. After 30 years of production, Christof’s masterpiece has gotten to be so big, that it can no longer be contained, "It takes the population of a small country to keep this production going." Gradually the unwieldy production process, behind the scenes, intrudes upon the complacency of Truman’s consciousness, hinting at a meta-existence beyond that of his own.

For example, the movie opens as a giant studio light crashes from the sky, nearly crushing our protagonist. Later Truman’s car radio inadvertently picks up the stage directions from the control room, "wait for the cue," as Truman’s passage through town is carefully monitored. After commanding "first position," feedback from the director’s suite causes tens of extras to simultaneously cringe before him. As his paranoia increases, he boards an elevator only to find himself backstage in a catered lounge. Hysterical, to his wife he predicts the ensuing traffic patterns, noting "they are all in a loop!" Such self-referential moments are often unintentionally funny. Rather than being self-congratulatory, they are refreshingly ironic, reflecting a Hollywood that is no longer enamored with itself, while calling attention to the unreliable mechanics of a large scale production.

At the beginning of the show, Truman strikes the viewer as happy-go-lucky, a fabrication of early 1960’s Hollywood complacency. But as the film progresses, Truman begins to question his life and the world around him. He desires to travel but is discouraged by his wife and thwarted by the travel agent, literally "blocked at every turn". Meanwhile Truman is still haunted by the nagging question of Sylvia, a woman who came into his life briefly, during his senior year in high school. But before she was whisked away, she warned him that it was all a lie, televised.

Truman wasn’t truly able to comprehend the significance of Sylvia’s words until much later, after the enigmatic reappearance of his long lost father. Cast off by Hollywood who no longer offers him employment, Truman’s "Dad" is a homeless derelict who wanders onto the set. After Truman spies him, cast members secure the unemployed actor; Truman is unable to catch up to them. The initial embarrassment of such an unsanctioned intrusion is rectified, as Christof is compelled to write the father back into the script, in a heart-wrenching moment that leaves billions in tears. Thus Christof, "easy on the fog," achieves wide acclaim for orchestrating another authentic performance from the unknowing Truman.

Truman’s final moment, as he embarks on his baptismal journey, offers redemption from the fully scripted world of Christof, although it nearly kills him. Having weathered the storm, and sustaining suitable injury, his creator allows him to walk off the set.

TRUMAN BURBANK as The True Man
The names given to the characters in The Truman Show are allegorically significant. Truman, our hero, acts as an Everyman; every unadulterated emotion, every mundane activity is presented unabridged. Such a literal depiction of reality is meant to offer a corrective to the hype and meaningless special effects of contemporary Hollywood, by invoking the True emotions of an everyday Man. And Burbank refers to the Hollywood suburb in which such a plot might have been conceived.

CHRISTOF - The Director
In order to simulate mundane reality, Christof takes more liberties that a conventional Hollywood director ever could, for Truman Burbank is corporate property. Recreating Truman’s world in his own image of what he likes, Christof appropriates the authority of a god, presuming to be Truman’s Creator. Thus, the megalomaniac Christof has based an entire career upon the exploitation of the unwitting Truman.

"Is Truman a Performer or a Prisoner," we are asked to ponder during a televised debate. To this Christof counters, "He could leave at any time . . . . Ultimately Truman prefers his cell." Yet he has no scruples, and nearly drowns Truman when he dares to leave the sanctuary of the set. From his lunar platform, looming over the set, Christof carefully engineers all atmospheric conditions. Wind, rain, the setting sun, and rising moon all turn in accordance with the director’s decree. As Truman himself suspiciously notes, "It’s always beautiful here," as Christof attempts to recreate an idealized version of reality. In a final act of hubris, Christof demands, "Cue the sun," after Truman manages to slip out in the middle of the night. When Truman is found defiantly at sea, Christof demands "more weather . . . more wind," nearly drowning his charge.

Christof’s relationship to Truman is akin to that of an unseen god; although invisible, his influence is all-pervasive. Christof has completely orchestrated Truman’s entire existence, for Truman’s territory is one very large set, contained within an enormous steel bubble. However, until the very end, Truman is unaware of Christof’s role. After sailing to the end of his earth in his tiny Santa Maria, instead of falling off the edge, he rams into the steel rim of the set, a stark revelation that his entire world is an illusion. In this pivotal moment, Christof addresses him as a god from on high. "Who are you?" asks Truman. "I am the Creator who gives hope and joy to millions . . . . You are the Star." Ultimately Christof grants Truman free will, admitting, "The only truth is that you are afraid. That’s why you can’t leave this place." However, Truman accepts the challenge, and walks off the set, into the unknown.

MERYL - Truman’s Wife
Similarly, other cast members function as conventionally scripted stock characters. They too are at the service of corporate interests, albeit knowingly, which makes their situation all the more compromising. Truman’s wife, Meryl, the all-American Florence Nightingale, sports a nurse’s uniform with a brightly embroidered collar. Her garb, like Truman’s, features prominently in "The Truman Show Catalogue" containing every piece of clothing, furniture, and item found within the enormous set. At the outset, Meryl says she feels good about her work; working on the show "is not a job but a lifestyle." As Truman’s on-air wife, she is destined to be the First Mother, for Christof proclaims, "I am determined that an on-air conception will take place". However Christof’s plans are foiled when Truman begins his maniacal rampage through the set. Truman and his wife confront one another wielding the blunt household instruments, the very items showcased by corporate sponsors. At this point, his wife begins to break down, demanding "get me out of here; it’s not professional!" Ultimately the facade is too much to bear; Meryl cracks when Truman refuses to comply with his scripted environment, threatening to take her along for the ride.

MARLON - Truman’s Best Buddy
Marlon is Truman’s working class, beer-toting buddy. He is ever supportive, and curiously ever present in times of crisis. He is unreflectively content, embodying the sort of complacency that Christof wishes to instill in Truman. As if to counter objections, Marlon declares, "The Truman Show is not fake. It’s controlled." However, his conviction seems to waver when he is forced to outright lie to Truman.

LAUREN/SYLVIA
Sylvia is the snake in the grass who threatens to disrupt Truman’s idyllic existence by positing a broader reality. The knowledge she offers most assuredly brings death, death to Christof and his minions, dependent upon The Truman Show for their survival. She sacrifices her Hollywood career in order to warn the young Truman, too immature to really grasp the import of her admonitions.

THE AUDIENCE
By and large Christof’s audience responds to the orchestrated melodrama predictably, weeping in unison like a Greek chorus. However, an occasional voice of dissent offers a challenge, breaking onto the set, offering Truman cause for reflection. Although it takes a huge cast of characters to support this grand illusion, gradually some staff members seem to sympathize with Truman as well. At one point Truman addresses the camera in his medicine cabinet, as if conscious of the crew, breaking the fourth wall. These same engineers unwittingly allow for Truman’s escape by their inattentions, and are reluctant to contain his movements with "more localized weather" at Christof’s request.

FABRICATED DESIRES
The Truman Show offers an interesting commentary on the nature of self and self-identity, encouraging us to examine the extent to which our lives are scripted by the agendas of the establishment. Although a seemingly implausible situation, the show sheds light on the extent to which our goals, ideas, and values are constructed by the surrounding media. Truman’s life is overtly scripted by vested interests. However, our position is analogous to those of Truman’s viewers, who are encouraged to participate in this 24 hour a day media extravaganza by ingesting the various items, values, and cliches that encompass the protagonist.

In an absurd moment, during a serious fight between Truman and his wife, Meryl breaks out in song, as she is cued to advertise another corporate sponsor. Then the show cuts to a commercial, featuring an image of Truman sipping cocoa, the unwitting vessel of a corporate advertising campaign. Thus we must ask, to what extent are our actions orchestrated by corporate concerns, fabricated desires, with little relevance to the concerns at hand.

THE NATURE OF THE SELF
The Truman Show also functions as a giant philosophical experiment. Are we a societal construct; wholly determined by a higher power; or endowed with free will, capable of self-actualization? Thus the posited question, "How will it end?" is crucial, for the outcome of The Truman Show functions not merely as entertainment, but has philosophical ramifications as well. The final episode is a huge success, for it reaffirms our belief in our own free will. For no matter how scripted his environment has been, ultimately Truman manages to break free. Yet ironically, the very audience who praises Truman’s initiative continues to be utterly passive. Having witnessed Truman’s final act of defiance, they flip the channel to see what else is on. As participating voyeurs, we too are implicated in this hypocrisy.

Stasia McGehee 6/12/98