When you first take a look at this film, don’t just approach it and see Jim Carrey and immediately think “Comedy”, because truth be told this film is absolutely NOT a comedy.
The storyline begins with a television advertisement describing a popular television show, aptly named “The Truman Show”. This show is different from other television programs, however, because the main character in which the entire television world revolves around is unaware that he is on a television show. The television studio formally adopted Truman and created an entire world around Truman: a fake town with some fake buildings and hundreds of cameras recording his every move, surrounded by a dome containing a false sky.
Truman’s entire life has been scripted. Everything that happens to him during a day is planned by writers. Even his best friend and wife are actually written in, forcing Truman to “fall in love” and build friendships with other people. All of this is planned by one man: Christof, the director and mastermind behind Truman’s world. His explanation for why Truman hasn’t found out is “We accept the world with which we are presented”.
Only when some “errors” begin to be made does Truman become suspicious. First, a stage light with the name “Sirius” written on it falls from the sky unexpectedly, causing Truman to become curious. This curiosity is suppressed by little additions to the script, explaining that an “airplane” dropped some equipment, explaining the occurrence. But what draws Truman further to the truth is actually love. In college, he fell in love with a girl at first sight, a girl whose name is Sylvia. She takes Truman away and tries to explain to him that his life is false, that he deserves to know the truth, and that she is going to Fiji and he should meet her there. She is taken away by her “father” and then fired from the set, and leaves Truman with words flying around in his head for years.
Only when more and more errors are made on the set does Truman become even more paranoid. He begins acting impulsively, even seeing a break room behind a false wall in an elevator and being confused. He tries to go to Fiji, to meet the girl of his past, but is denied. Eventually, Truman does get away, but I won’t reveal the ending simply because it is so emotionally charged.
Here’s a clip of the movie:
I absolutely recommend watching this movie. It is a good reminder to everyone to question the life that we live, to question authority and what we are told on a day-to-day basis. It made me think about what has affected my life, how little events can have incredible impacts.