On The Air, Unaware

Director: Peter Weir
Writer: Andrew Niccol
Language: English
Stars: Jim Carrey, Noah Emmerich, Laura Linney, Natascha McElhone


The Truman Show is a Peter Weir movie made in 1998. It is about a man, whose name is Truman Burbank, who lives in an artificial environment(a man made island covered by a dome). He is on the air and everyone who is in the set are actors, Truman however, does not know this. The set is filled with cameras which follow Truman around, he has no privacy, and yet he is trapped in a man made world. The plot of this movie is Truman's unfolding realization that he lives, not a life of his own, but a construct devised by someone else for the entertainment of many. Paranoia and feelings of insanity set in when he starts becoming suspicious that something is not right with his world.

I thought this movie questioned many things, it suggested and contained several thoughts and ideas, and it was very powerful. In my opinion there were 5 concepts circling the storyline of the movie.

One is the recognition, or difference between a public life and a private life. When Truman thinks he is leading a private life he is balanced but when he begins to suspect that he is living a public life and his sense of privacy is stripped away, his sanity and emotional state begins to crumble. Everything that an individual considers sacred in life, such as the sense of freedom, the sense of boundaries(emotional and physical), collapses.
The second lies in the idea of a man being trapped, of a fake world with fake characters. Truman was treated like an experiment, he was influenced to think a certain way. For example when he was young his 'father' 'died' in a storm when they were both on a boat. This made Truman to have a fear of water so this way he would never be brave enough to cross the sea or to travel elsewhere. Christoff who was the man that directs the 'Truman show' really plays God in 'Truman's World'. Also he regulates the weather, the day, the night. The surroundings he created purposely manipulated Truman into thinking a certain way, acting a certain way, and doing other such things. There are certain moments in the film where one really feels the impact of the island being a stage, is when all of the people are standing motionless in 'first positions' waiting for Truman to come and to begin the 'play'. One thing Christof says when asked why Truman believes this world he has been put in is: We accept the reality of the world of which we are presented.
The third is the way the set attempts to mirror a Utopian society. The first thing one notices about the set of The Truman Show is the way it is like an imitation of the 1950's in America. In this world Truman lives the classic lifestyle. This is very obviously expressed through the clothes that the actors are wearing, the 'perfect' housewife, and the classical music which is on the radio all the time. Also this world has a need to be normal, it is clearly the only function of this fake environment- to be normal. This 'normal' element brings me to another idea of this movie, and that is if Truman's world represents ours in a way, and Truman represents us. Could this whole charade be a symbol of authority that restricts an individual from thinking freely? Not being normal supposedly scares authorities and one who thinks differently, or steps out of line is a threat. When Truman begins to notice that everything is consistent, and equal, he immediately fights that and tries to do something out of the ordinary, by suddenly deciding to drive to Atlantic city. One thing he shouts out is "I'm being spontaneous, somebody help me!". I think also he is curious to see what will happen when the continuity of this expected consistence is interrupted or when he steps out of line.
The fifth thought is a very strong statement about entertainment. The fact that people are entertained by the surveillance, and trapping, of an unsuspecting man is rather haunting. In fact the only factor which doesn't make it extreme voyeurism is that the audience is watching something which was built and set up to be watched. Also the fact that a human was legally bought by a corporation for the sake of entertainment is also a scary scenario. In this sense I think the movie is very ahead of it's time and is also a theory as to where the entertainment business is headed.

I enjoy this movie very much and consider it as one of the masterpieces. The setting, atmosphere, camera, and lighting all worked very well. I also greatly admired the acting of this movie, specifically Ed Harris who played Christof. The music was also very powerful, often off setting the underlying emotional mood of the film, it was either very strong and intense, or it would be light classical music. In the beginning we watch the events in this movie the same way the audience of 'The Truman Show' watch the events. We did not have any extra insight, however later on our insight evolved as we began to watch the people who were watching the show. There was really nothing about the film which i found negative or faulty.

When we first see Truman he is used to his environment, he doesn't really stand out, he is still mentally adolescent and does not think freely or philosophically. When he begins to question everything in his life he grows tremendously. His wife Meryl is the perfect housewife from the fifties. She is uptight, always smiles, and is painfully annoying. The actress, however, who is only shown to us in a short interview where she talks about her character in the Truman show, is rather idiotic, and the usual hollywood actress. One realizes this when she talks about her life as Meryl being a 'noble' life. Marlon is Truman's best friend, and for a while he keeps Truman sane and relatively balanced.

My final comment would be to recomend this movie to anyone who has not seen it. The way Peter Weir filmed this movie is spectacular and thought provoking. It poses many questions about existance, reality, and Utopia.I thought this movie made several very powerful statements, and was overall brilliant. It is definitely worth seeing.

This isn't exactly the trailer of the movie but rather the trailer for the show 'The Truman Show' which was shown during the movie.