The Truman Show
Have you ever wondered what it would be like, if your life was a movie? What if you were the protagonist and for everything you did, there was a sequence and consequence. What if you had a background music playing for all your emotions? I, for one, kept stumbling across this thought ever since I can remember. And then I watched The Truman Show.
This 90s science fiction thriller was the best thing you will watch today, if you haven’t already. Directed by Peter Weir, the movie casts Jim Carrey in the lead role and I must say, I can’t imagine anybody else so aptly fit for the character. Coming to the story itself, it is nothing far from mind blowing. So here goes.
Truman Burbank, one of the specially chosen infant from an unwanted pregnancy, is adopted into a show called ‘The Truman Show‘, a show which airs 24/7 showcasing his life in detail. All the characters in the show are professional actors except Truman, who is the only one who is unaware that his life is a hit show in real world. The creator of the show, Christoff, designs a giant arcological dome of a set-up of Seahaven Island, where Truman lives. He induces aquaphobia into Truman, by imprinting a memory of his father dying in a boat accident, to avoid his escape from the island.
Truman falls in love with Sylvia in his college years and she tries to take him to a no-camera zone and warn him that all his life was fake. She is promptly taken off the show and Truman later marries Meryl, another actress, whose main role is product placement for profits. Halfway through the movie, Truman starts suspecting something fishy when he comes across unexpected events, which center him and only him.
He feels odd about things happening around him and decides to take an impromptu trip outside the island. From nowhere, the director manages to create a traffic jam so that he doesn’t escape. Meanwhile, Sylvia in the real world is running a campaign to ‘Free Truman‘. In the epic climax, Truman sets across to sail through the sea, overcoming his aquaphobia. He finally runs into end of the dome set. In spite of much persuasion from Christoff, he exits the show.
The movie is a psychological drama, exploring human emotions like never-before. It exposes you to the harsh reality of how a person behaves in his own little world with no idea of the real world and how the world enjoys drama even though it is someone’s life in turmoil. Jim Carrey just shines his usual self, with his witty expressions and catchy phrases.
If you have not watched the movie yet, definitely watch it over the weekend. Let me know what you thought about it, in the likes and comments section. Subscribe to get these posts straight to your mailbox. Happy Watching!!