Review of The Truman Show (1998) by Michael O — 21 Feb 2016

The Truman Show tells the story of Truman Burbank, a man who has had the entire 30 years of his life broadcasted on live television for the world to see. The plot surrounds Truman and his monotonous routine with a wife, a nice house and good job until he meets a girl he fancies named Lauren who convinces him that he is living in a set.

This immensely scares Truman as he comes to grips with the reality that his mother, father, wife and friends are all paid actors to continue the illusion that Truman is living in the real world and the fictitious Seahaven island.

The story seems to allude to the control that corporations have on everyday life. The world in which Truman lives has a Utopian feel to it and the people he encounters have genuine scripts without cue cards which makes it feel as if it is real-life.

Truman lives the American Dream of sorts in the suburbs outside of LA in the tremendously large set and everything that transpires is synchronized and orderly. The audience is supposed to see Truman as the hero and protagonist figure as everything that has happened to him was decided by others from birth to the current moment, even the routines he completes are suggested by people within the set.

A Foreshadow to this occurs when he sees water and he is frightened and then we are told that his father died in a boating accident that was brought about because of Truman's fascination with leaving the island.

The film seems to offer a social commentary on American life and the advertising phenomenon as things from sodas, to lawn mowers are marketed in the middle of the show. The patterns and loops that occur on the show helps him to realize that he is being manipulated by a set and the show.

A moral commentary is offered when Christof the show's director claims that what they are doing is Christian because he has created a life for Truman and that he know's what's best for him.

From the music that is played, to the weather and sets Truman is controlled by a machine and I can see the man v. machine dynamic at play. Upon the movies resolution, Truman leaves the set and breaks free from the chains of the television company.

I thought this was a well made film and I enjoyed it a lot. The messages being portrayed were complex and thought-provoking.