I’m not sure where I developed my affinity for existential films that beg me to question my reality, but I see that’s been a theme lately, and if it’s getting kind of old, sorry, not sorry. I love movies that lead me to question what I think I know, movies that challenge how I perceive the world around me, and movies that cause me to dig a little deeper into my understanding of myself. Movies that can do that well force us to look inside and take stock, they help us learn, and most importantly, they can help us grow. What I’m saying is, those types of films are great. Movies like Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Groundhog Day really get me excited. But it’s really hard to do existential movies well, and I think that’s why I enjoy them so much. Go to subtle, and the messages are lost, which makes the film feel directionless. Go to heavy handed and the film feels to preachy and self-aware. There’s a fine line that must be walked in order to present a truly good existential film, and because of the rarity with which one sees them, I just enjoy them that much more.
I got to thinking about The Truman Show after watching an editorial by one of my favorite online reviewers, the Nostalgia Critic. He did a wonderful piece about whether a movie could be so good that it’s bad, and Truman Show just happened to show up in a brief list he flashed on screen. I saw this movie when it first came out and I remembered liking it, generally speaking, but it had been quite a while so I gave it another watch through, and holy crap is it awesome! At this juncture, I’ll point out that when it was released, Paramount was sued by a playwright who claimed that the idea was lifted directly from one of his stage plays, Frank’s Life. I’m not going to delve into the validity of that claim, nor could I find how the whole thing worked out. I only mention it because to me, it adds to some of the mystique of the film. That aside, let’s take a look at ourselves as we take a look at The Truman Show.
The film starts off with a pretty pretentious monologue by a character named Christof, played by Ed Harris. I won’t lie, at that moment when the film starts, I really felt like I might be in for a terrible experience. However, the pretentious, but brief setup puts us right into the life of Truman Burbank, our titular character whose entire life since before he was born has been recorded and broadcast 24/7/365. Brief, but painstaking efforts are made to give us the impression that Truman has a very mundane, and boring life; that each day plays out almost exactly like the last. This is important as it feeds into one of the major themes of the movie, which we’ll discuss soon. The day seems to be starting just like any other, when suddenly, an object falls from the sky. As the audience, we know it to be a stage light. Truman really has no idea what to make of it. During his commute to work, during which the radio DJ is literally having a conversation with him, the entire incident is blamed on an airplane. The movie wastes absolutely no time presenting us with plot and theme. It’s tasteful in how it does this. Nothing is said so long as it can reasonably be shown, and I really like that.
From that moment on, Truman starts to question his very existence and the life that he lives. His suspicions are further fueled by a chance run in with his ‘dead’ father, who died in a boating accident when Truman was a young boy. These types of fourth wall breaking events start happening more and more often as Truman’s behavior starts getting more and more erratic. Those around him start to believe that he’s having some sort of breakdown, and after a life threatening altercation, Truman’s ‘wife’ leaves him. After deciding that he’s had enough of whatever is going on in his life, and facing his deepest fears, Truman leaves the show that’s been created around him at the end of the film. I want to keep the synopsis brief for those of you who may not have seen this film, but at the same time, it’s going to be difficult to discuss certain things without delving into specific points of the plot. If you don’t want the film spoiled, perhaps stream this fine movie on Netflix and then come back to my review.
Obviously, every aspect of Truman’s life has been painstakingly engineered to serve just one purpose, to get ratings. There’s a fascinating aspect of this movie where we get to see the story from the point of view of Truman’s audience from time to time, and there’s a bar that shows the show constantly. In the bar there’s a sign that declares that The Truman Show has been on the air for 10,910 days. I did the math for you. That’s over twenty-nine years. That’s a lot of air time. But this is really where the concept gets interesting. It’s obvious that if the show was constantly the same thing day in and day out, that it would get cancelled pretty fast. As a result, the production team has to interject story arcs into the action,but out of necessity, they have to make it feel organic to Truman. That brings us to our first set of themes that I want to discuss. There’s an idea presented that the reality that we perceive to exist may not exist in the way that we perceive it at all. That’s the broad stroke of it. Just like Inception we’re challenged with the notion that perhaps life really is a dream after all. But like any great film, there are way more layers to the concept than just what’s on the surface. Through the premise, there’s commentary on just how much the media is able to influence what and how we think. There’s a question of just how much of our privacy, and indeed our very livelihood we’re willing to forfeit in order to maintain our lifestyle. These are thought provoking and poignant themes that perhaps we don’t think about often, but that we should revisit from time to time.
There are a couple of key scenes in the film where it’s revealed that Truman’s father died in a boating accident, the result of Truman himself steering them into a storm. Truman holds himself responsible and as a result is afraid to be over water in any way. He doesn’t even drive over bridges. On the other side of that manipulation is a chance encounter with a beautiful young woman named Sylvia whose real intention is to alert Truman to the fact that his entire existence is a lie. They share a brief moment and a kiss, and then he’s told that she’s moving to Fiji. Truman spends the rest of his TV days obsessing over Sylvia and Fiji. I bring this up because these two key scenes tie into another major concept of the movie. Truman goes through a process during the film where he evolves from simply accepting his life as it appears to be to really seeking the truth behind his existence. I find this most interesting because it’s a process that I think all of us need to undergo at some point in our lives. Truman makes a journey wherein he has to confront his demons, namely the death of his father and the responsibility that he feels over that event. Fortunately, he’s actually reunited with his father so that situation sort of resolves itself, but then he also has to face his deepest fear, the water that surrounds him. This process of facing our demons and our fears is crucial to the larger process of self actualization. As we continually confront who we are currently and try to reconcile that person with the person we wish to be, we evolve and we grow as an individual, and it’s through that evolution that we’re ultimately made free from our self-imposed bonds. It’s a fascinating psychological model. And it’s interesting that Truman is not able to start moving forward until the moment that he’s finally willing to face his real self and his reality as it actually exists. Once he takes his blinders off, then he can make progress. It’s all laid out very well, and it’s a very good lesson to learn. As a side note to that, one of the key points made toward the end of the film is that facing failure without giving up is one of the life lessons that we need to learn in order to be successful.
The other big theme of the movie comes as a result of the conversation being had between Truman and his audience. There are a handful of people that we’re told represent the audience watching the show and their reactions as the story unfolds really say a lot. This aspect of the film comments very well on our media obsessed culture, and I think that’s really interesting. You have to bear in mind that this movie was released in 1998. Reality TV was on the rise, but we didn’t yet live in the social media world that we live in now. The idea that we could literally keep track of our favorite stars 24/7 was a totally foreign concept, and yet here’s this film exploring what it means to be addicted to Hollywood and the media. I find the dichotomy of obsessed fans obsessing over a show in a movie that ultimately tries to suggest that we think for ourselves very compelling as well. The entire setup adds so much depth to the story, and it lends some great moments as well. When everyone is rooting for Truman to finally leave his show, it helps you to get invested in the action that’s going on. It also might leave you a little puzzled as you wonder why these fans who have invested years their lives to this show would suddenly want to see it end. It serves the plot well, and it does it in a compelling and even a fun way.
This is a film where one could go on and on about the themes. I did a little cursory research and I found page after page on the Internet where someone was analyzing the themes behind this movie. That says a lot about the cultural impact that it’s had’ Moreover, there’s now a subset diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder that is called The Truman Effect, whereby people suffering from the disorder believe that their lives are being filmed for TV and broadcast to an audience. Which brings me to the last interesting observation that I made while watching this movie. There is a little observation made about our tendency to be very self-centric in life. We often like to believe that we’re the hero in our own tale, and the movie asks just how healthy a belief that really is.
As I said, there are pages and pages of sites analyzing the themes of the film. I’d like to conclude by examining some of the technical aspects of the film. I have to say, I’m really impressed. The story and the plot are well crafted, and the overall execution of the film serves both extremely well. There are a lot of accomplished actors involved in the movie and each one gives a superb performance. The score is amazing. The shot composition is spot on. I’m not going to go so far as to say that it’s a technically perfect movie because I really can’t say that such a thing exists, but it is extremely well crafted. The film is nearly 20 years old and it took a Google search just a few days ago for me to realize that the movie is categorized as a science fiction movie. To me, it’s always just been a really great drama, but upon looking at it more closely, I can see how it might fit into the sci-fi genre as well. It’s very rare that a movie is one thing, but that it doesn’t feel like that thing. Normally, I might mark points against a movie for missing it’s identity so blatantly, but in this case, that actually works. By not feeling like sci-fi, a much broader audience got exposure to the thought provoking concepts that the movie covers.
As a parting thought, absolutely give this movie a watch. It’s smart, it’s deep, it asks some interesting questions, but most of all, it’s inspiring. It’s definitely worth the watch. I promise that you won’t be disappointed!
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