ipl-logo

The Truman Show Essay

1488 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Introduction to the truman show

A great analogy for the Game of Life, and the truth realisation process, can be found in the 1998 movie, ‘The Truman Show’. The movie follows the exploits of a man named Truman, who was adopted at birth by a television corporation to be the star of a reality TV show. The show’s cast are all paid actors who help to create the illusory world that Truman lives in. But Truman has no idea that his world is a stage managed production that is being manipulated from the outside by directors and producers. He simply believes, like normal people do, that everything that’s happened to them since birth is real and true. The show, which has chronicled Truman’s life into adulthood, is filmed in an enormous self-contained bio-sphere that perfectly …show more content…

He is now standing on the edge of the metaphorical abyss. He can either go back to his safe comfortable illusory life, or he can make the final leap into the unknown and see the truth for himself. As Truman makes his final decision a big smile spreads across his face. He then turns and walks through the dark doorway that will lead him to the truth. When asked why Truman took so long to realise that his world wasn’t real, in a sombre tone Christof replies, ‘we accept the reality of the world as it’s presented. It’s as simple as that.’ This movie serves as a fantastic analogy for the Game of Life and the truth realisation process. It shows how the Gamekeeper uses his intimate knowledge of our lives, and how we think, to keep us focused on the Game. It also shows how people blindly accept their surroundings, and how the truth can be discovered by observing and investigating the world around you. It also demonstrates how a desire to uncover the truth quickly intensifies into an all consuming obsession. And finally, it shows the glorious yet bittersweet moment when everything has been released and all that remains is the truth. *** Seeing a concept visually can sometimes be more valuable than words alone. So I highly recommend finding a copy of this fantastic movie and discovering all of the parallels that it has with the truth realisation process and the Game of

Show More
Related
1592 Words | 7 Pages

By pulling from problems which rip apart our own social fabric, Sayles uses these patterns of lives to better exhibit the role played by many complex levels of history. With this being said, the movie comes to a conclusion which shows how classically believed concepts regarding the nature of history to illustrates how lack of knowledge on history functions

Read More
855 Words | 4 Pages

The characters and the theme of Fahrenheit 451 have many distinct characteristics that allow for it to be compared to The Truman Show. Fahrenheit 451 and The Truman Show both present the theme that people generally accept the reality they are given. Characters in the film and novel portray this theme by setting artificial reality against actual reality. What is shown as reality to the people in the film and in the novel is not what the actual world is. The reality presented is that knowledge is power and in both Fahrenheit 451 and The Truman Show there are people without knowledge and people with knowledge.

Read More
687 Words | 3 Pages

In “Plato’s Allegory of the Cave”, Socrates writes “Would not the one dragged like this feel, in the process, pain and rage?”. This statement correlates to the scene where Truman attempts to leave Seaside with his wife. Truman is recklessly driving, acting ludacris, and making any attempt to leave the only world he is familiar with. Although, with the crew of the show becoming aware of his antics, they do everything possible to keep Truman from leaving. The outlandish incidents that occur to keep Truman make him behave in an outaged and lunatic way again, as he is confused and attempting to uncover the

Read More
1061 Words | 5 Pages

The Truman Show does differ in some ways; the first obvious way is that there is only one man who has an unintentional blindness to the world. Truman Burbank is the protagonist or the prisoner in this story and his life appears seemingly normal initially, until it is revealed that he is the center of a reality television show that he has been the star of since the moment he was born. He has lived in the same town for all of his life and has not ever ventured outside of the town despite being nearly thirty years old. Every time he attempts to leave or plan a vacation, the television show director sends some kind of a disruption to keep him from leaving, although he is actually in a large dome that prevents him from simply leaving. Everyone in his life is an actor, however, many of them genuinely care for him and do not want him to live like this anymore.

Read More
200 Words | 1 Pages

His every move is captured by hidden cameras and continuously broadcasted to the rest of the world. Everything in Truman’s life is part of a massive television set which is ultimately controlled by Christof, the creator and director of the program. The theme of manipulation is highlighted throughout

Read More
1373 Words | 6 Pages

However, one prisoner is released and forced out into the reality, allowing the reader to understand that the world one sees and experiences is not the reality, but rather an illusion. Similarly, in The Truman Show by Andrew Niccol, Truman Bank has been growing up in Seahaven Island, a place created just for him to live in for a television show that is all about him. Throughout the film, Truman realizes that Seahaven is not the real world, and viewers see his journey to get out of this illusion, and into reality outside the false world. Both The Allegory of the Cave and The Truman Show prove that the physical world is an illusion that prevents one from discovering reality. The concept of illusion versus reality is evident in both works through similarities in plot, similarities in symbolism, and differences in character.

Read More
629 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the movie, Truman begins to realize that the whole world revolves around him and how the producers of the show have created his reality, thus developing his sociological imagination. To start,

Read More
1390 Words | 6 Pages

Not only are all his “loved ones” paid actors, but his entire existence is monitored by thousands of cameras and every aspect of his life is carefully controlled by Christof and his production team who go to great lengths to keep him clueless about the reality of his existence. In fact, his team kills off his “father” to make Truman afraid of the ocean and prevent him from venturing beyond his island hometown, which is housed in gigantic dome-shaped

Read More
1202 Words | 5 Pages

Truman is trying to find out the truth about what happened to his father that day many years ago and to try and find peace with his past. After a long talk both of the most important people in his life tell him he is crazy and is only using his imagination. This leaves Truman feeling completely confused and still in awe for meaning. He is overwhelmed with the feeling that his whole life is a lie and wants the

Read More
755 Words | 4 Pages

So I thought, why would we still want Freedom anymore. That was when I realized, the best way to live life, is to live in detainment. The world that Truman lives in a is a very simple world, because it was a world with very limited freedom. Truman was always being

Read More
948 Words | 4 Pages

As Truman goes in search of his knowledge by exploring the world first by sea, and undergoes some bumpy seas and turbulence, but he still manages to reach the end of the “sea,” which is really just the end of the stage (The Truman Show?). As Truman approaches the end of the sea he manages to hit a wall, and after that he examines it and he comes across a set of stairs and he follows them and they lead to an exit door, at this point Christof comes over the speaker and he proves that there is a creator (God) and that he does truly in fact exist. Once Truman proves that God exists he then proves that there is a world, and it does

Read More
764 Words | 4 Pages

Truman is portrayed as a sweet and goodhearted insurance adjuster who is living the American dream. His life gets shattered when he realises that everything in his surrounding are fake which makes

Read More
610 Words | 3 Pages

When Truman starts to see the truth, he starts to believe he's crazy. He thinks that he's imagining everything, because it's hard to accept the truth. Plato writes, “if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take and take in the objects of visions which he

Read More
1464 Words | 6 Pages

When the film The Sixth Sense, directed by Night Shyamalan debuted in 1999, it mesmerized audiences near and far with its appealing paranormal plot, its deceptive nature and its top-shelf talent from its actors. The film was immensely prosperous and quickly became a cultural phenomenon. However, most casual moviegoers overlooked its underlying philosophical significance. The Sixth Sense is driven by the big questions of life from almost every aspect of philosophy specifically metaphysics and epistemology. In this specific scene Shyamalan relies on subtlety to create a creepy atmosphere of something beyond our ordinary beliefs and understanding.

Read More
765 Words | 4 Pages

All of the aforementioned situations and occurrences help to perpetuate Truman’s attempt to escape and life free of restrictions, limitations, and coercion. After a multitude of attempts to stop his resistance and attempted escapes from The Truman Show, Christof carefully details why Truman should stay in the bubble that he is currently trapped in instead of releasing himself to the freedom that is the real world. Despite all of Christof’s persuasive words, Truman ultimately chooses the path that will lead to true free will. This resolution solves the problem of Truman having absolutely no free will since at the end, as he rejects the choice to maintain his Edenic lifestyle and chooses instead to pursue one with true free will where not every outcome of every situation is determined for him. A freedom from coercion and an unreal life that has been pressed upon him since he was a baby is obtained by Truman once he leaves the show.

Read More

More about The Truman Show Essay

Related Topics

Open Document