Truman’s World Does Revolve Around Him

Truman Burbank is the famous star of a 24-hour-a-day reality television show that is watched by millions across the world, but the catch is he doesn’t know that his every move has been recorded since his birth. All of Truman’s emotions and reactions to the people in his life are genuine because he is unaware that everything around him is fake and was created just for him. Also, all of the people in his life who have been featured on The Truman Show are actors who are paid to be a part of his life, including his wife, best friend, and coworkers. Truman lives on Seahaven Island, but he has never left the island his whole life, and this is because it is all an elaborate television studio enveloped by a dome entirely controlled by the mastermind director, Christof, and his production team. Everything in Truman’s life has never been real and his life on Seahaven Island has been carefully curated all day every day and been captured by 5,000 different hidden cameras throughout the island.

Curiosity is NOT Encouraged

      Truman had never questioned his daily life and its repetitiveness his whole life, simply because there was nothing to question when it seemed to be like every other normal person’s daily life. It was only when strange things started occurring to or in front of Truman that made him question his sanity, such as light falling in front of his house, or when he was driving down the street to work and he heard the production walkie-talkies on his car radio describing his exact location as he was moving, making him paranoid. Christof and his production team have subtly encouraged Truman to never feel the need to stray from his daily routine or most importantly leave Seahaven Island, which is the television set, and they have done this by his wife repeatedly dismissing Truman’s desire to go to Fiji and by using his fear of the water as another obstacle to keep Truman on the island. Truman keeps experiencing out-of-the-ordinary things happening like being rained on only above him and nowhere else, even when he moved, and when he questions his family and friends they keep dismissing his curious questions about his life and encouraging him that he is imagining it. 

Real or Not Real?

Truman once fell in love in high school with a girl named Sylvia who was supposed to be an extra on the show, but she and Truman were not scripted to have a romance so she was later written off the show. Truman can’t recall much about this love, but he’s almost positive it happened and that his wife, Meryl, was not her. One night Sylvia can find Truman and quickly tell him the truth about his life, and she is quickly escorted off the scene by mysterious people, leaving Truman’s paranoia at an all-time high. He forces Meryl to explain all these inconsistencies in his life and she brushes him off and starts to visibly express panic as Truman starts to become more frustrated that everyone is dodging his questions. 

The Message Behind The Truman Show

Christof tries to do everything in his power to keep his show running and claims that Truman would prefer his cell-like life to the outside world because it’s too dangerous for him and that he’s doing him a favor by raising him on a television set where there is no unprecedented danger like the outside world has. The main message behind Christof’s obsession with lying to Truman to benefit his show is that the power of the media can easily manipulate society into a reality that isn’t obtainable. The media often tricks society into believing false information just for entertainment purposes, so people will accept the reality in which they are presented but never think about the truthfulness surrounding it because it was never about the benefit of the people in the first place, it was about the profit.