One evening, my roommate and I were deciding what to watch for a movie night. After a couple minutes of Netflix searching, she suggested The Truman Show (1998) directed by Peter Weir, to which I revealed I had never seen before. She looked at me with shock and wonderment, curious to see what I thought about the film. It begins to play, but fifteen minutes in, I already wanted to move on to the next film. I asked my roommate to reveal the plot and that’s when I actually became interested.
I eventually was able to find so many parallels between the protagonist Truman (Jim Carrey) and the awareness one undergoes when they start to grow up and become less of the child they once were, but now more like the society they have to be a part of.
The plot of the film is of Truman, a middle-aged man who does not know that since birth, he has been watched by the whole world as the main star on The Truman Show. He is the only non-actor in a show about his own life. Truman is unaware he is being filmed or that his whole life has been fabricated. Actors are hired to fill in the role of his mother, wife, neighbors, co-workers and so on. Eventually he becomes suspicious.
The rollercoaster Truman goes through is very close to the realization that you’re no longer a child and adulthood is another stage of life where the construct of society, made by society, is now the reality you become a part of. Truman was being lied to and information was suppressed to keep him “safe.” It was difficult to see Truman go through this experience as a viewer knowing that his life was being manipulated, and information was being omitted within his own diegetic. There is also a parallel with the director showing himself as a “god” pulling the strings and directing Truman’s life.
Something else that caught my attention was the similarities between Truman and and the “Allegory of a Cave” by Plato, a Greek philosopher. In the allegory, Plato depicts people entrapped in a cave staring at their shadows, not aware of the reality outside their cave. Slowly those who start to realize come out of the cave and into a new reality. Though this depiction refers to adulthood and the inquisition of existence, pieces of this philosophical thought can be seen throughout the film.
Eventually Truman finds out the truth and eventually finds a way to escape, both literally and metaphorically. Truman through this process goes through several emotions and stages which are explainable given his circumstances. It’s very similar to the stages going into adulthood. Overall this film was better than I expected and represented many real life components that made me think and feel.