Blog #3 The Truman Show

The Truman Show is the story of a man whose entire life is a lie. Its aim is to make people laugh, but watching the film you can’t help but start to think about the similarities that this has to real life. For example the blatant use of advertisement and product placement. It seems nowadays you can’t walk down the street without stumbling upon some sort of advertisement also product placement has become obvious and ridiculously shameless. In the movie Truman is forced into participating in advertisement’s for “Kaiser Chicken” or “mococoa-made from the world’s finest cocoa beans, grown on the upper slopes of Mt. Nicaragua”. This, in the movie, is humorous but when you really think about it, it’s pretty sad. To me this is sad because I start thinking about the big picture. His entire life is a lie and they use these ads to fund the lie, and of course to fill their wallets. I feel bad when some of these reality show participants subject themselves to embarrassing things for the guilty pleasure of others and for the monetary gain of the producers so, watching Truman do things that we only do behind closed doors and in front of a mirror for the entertainment of others, I can’t help but feel pity for him. Another aspect of the movie that catches my attention is when the director Christof says that he has given Truman the chance to lead a normal life and that the world we live in is sick. When I hear this I think that Christof has become so obsessed with the “life” he has given Truman that he starts to believe that the world outside of the huge set is horrible. There are a lot of bad things that happen in the world but there is also a lot of good. You can’t expect a person to lead a normal life if they don’t experience the good as well as the bad things that the world has to offer. So in making sure that Truman never sees the bad he is taking away the chance to lead a normal life that he thinks he is giving Truman.

Another thing that caught my attention is when Christof says that Truman could leave at any time if his desire to do so was more than just a vague ambition. He says this and still he tries to prevent Truman from escaping. He tries so hard that he almost kills him. Watching this part and really thinking about it you can't help but compare the film to real life. I don't want to sound preachy but If the Government does not want to let the public know something they will do, like Christof, everything in their power to prevent people from knowing the truth. Although if a person digs deep enough they might find what they are looking for, like Truman.