Philosophical Analysis of The Truman Show

Philosophical Analysis of The Truman Show

The Truman Show is a philosophical science fiction comedy-drama that featured in America, 1998. It was primarily written by Andrew Nicol, who co-produced it with Scott Rudin, Edward S, Feldman, and Adam Schroeder. Peter Weir directed the film. The film focuses on the life of Truman Burbank, who unknowingly lives in the orchestrated world of a popular reality television program. Everything in Truman’s world is staged and dictated by the godlike antagonist, Christof.  Even the weather and environment is simulated technologically (Weir). When Truman finds out the truth about his supposed reality, nothing can stop his escape from his confined world. The film explores human rebellion, religion, utopia, authenticity, and the human quest for certainty, which all notably have firm philosophical foundations.

The human quest for certainty is arguably the most significant theme explored in the Truman show. For almost three decades, Truman had conformed to the belief and reality he had been presented with, the perfect world of Seahaven. Truman arguably led a good life, free of harm and premeditated by Christof. However, an unusual series of set mishaps make Truman begin to question his reality and search for his own truths. A studio light falling from heaven, his movements being broadcasted by radio, and everyone in the suburb knowing his name are all very peculiar (Weir). Truman finds his version of reality odd, and he does not give up in the search for the truth, despite the colossal obstructions by Christoph. The quest for truth to overcome ignorance culminates when he has a personal conversation with Christof, who begs him to stay, but Truman disregards him. Notably, Truman’s search for truth conforms to the doctrine of the quest for certainty by John Dewey in the context of religion””. Consequently, Truman’s rebellion further highlights portrays the role of God.

The Truman Show further explores the theme of religion, in particular, the role of God and religion. The antagonist, Christof, is the supreme deity, the creator and controller of Truman’s world, Seahaven. Christoph embodies the benevolence of the Christian God by seeking to protect Truman from harm, and providing Truman with a relatively comfortable and enjoyable life, though idyllic (Weir). Notably, there is no religion in Seahaven.  The role and character of Christoff as a god in the film posits and asserts the doctrine of philosophical theism of God. The doctrine asserts the belief that a supreme deity exists independent of the doctrine of any religion (Attfield pg 1). Truman’s discernment of Christof through the interrogation of his physical realm that defies his own version of reality assists in the reinforcement of the notion of discernment of God through natural laws (Viens para 1). As such, the errors of this particular God, Christof, makes Truman question his reality, which consequently destroys Christof’s utopia

The theme concept of utopia forms the foundation of the Truman Show. Deductions from Thomas More political fiction Utopia defines it as a perfect world, a mere figment of our imagination (More, and Turner). The theme of utopia gets illustrated by the creation of Seahaven by Christof. The antagonist asserts that Truman’s world is a perfect world, where he is free from harm. In an attempt to dissuade him from leaving, Christof dares him that leaving his perfect little world would wreak havoc on his person, as he knew nothing about the real world, and would soon get lost (Weir). Utopia is further enhanced by the role of Christof as a deity. In an attempt to create a perfect world for Truman, he fails as he uses the same lies and deceits in the real world, susceptible to human errors. Consequently, Christof’s utopia disintegrates due to set mishaps, which occasion Truman to question its authenticity.

The theme of authenticity is considerably brought into sharp focus in the Truman show. Notably, the film begins by stating that everything about Truman in the film is real and true. There are neither scripts nor cue cards for Truman. As such, Truman’s emotions and reactions to his perceived reality are normal and genuine. However, everything around Truman is a fake including his friends, career, wife and parents (Weir). He is basically leading an unauthentic existential fallacy. Truman reinforces the Martin Heidegger concept of authenticity when he begins to question every occurrence in his wake (Sherman pg 1). Truman’s interrogation of self and surroundings makes him realize that everything about his world is not authentic. For instance, he meets the same people at the same spot at the exact time.Furthermore, his wife has her fingers crossed in their wedding picture, which renders their marriage void (Weir). All these questions on the authenticity of his reality culminate into a successful escape into the real world, whose authenticity is genuine. Therefore, Truman’s interrogation and subsequent flight reflect the rebellion by Eve against God in the utopia of the Garden of Eden.

Human rebellion is a major theme in the Truman show. The quest for certainty and interrogation of the authenticity of the protagonist’s world culminates in the outright rebellion against the godlike antagonist. Human resistance stems from free will, which is inherent in every human being (Oconnor et al., 3.2). As such, free will predisposes human beings to errors.  Even though Christof controlled everything in Truman’s world, he did have complete control over Truman’s natural human inclinations and desires. Truman exercises his free will by leaving the show, which is against Christof’s wishes and commands. As such, his rebellion of an inauthentic world can also be viewed as the search for an existential authenticity.

I concur with the prominent idea in the Truman Show that posits that one cannot fully dictate the reality and existence of a human being. Such dictations are limited as they are susceptible to rebellions, which stem from the inherent free will of a human being. Such dictations lead to a revolt by the victim, who is in search of an authentic exterior environment to realize his true existent self. Even though one might try to control and mitigate such desires like being adventurous, eventually, the controller will play catchup to the natural passions and behavior of human beings. From the Truman show, we can deduce that indeed God is the creator of the world, but not the sustainer. Human beings, though his creation, are not his puppets. The rebellion against the Christo’s utopia may be deduced as a justification of the rebellion of Eve in the alleged perfect world of Garden of Eden. As per the fore mentioned, one cannot utterly dictate the existence of a human being.

As per the preceding, it is irrefutable that the Truman show indeed has philosophical implications, as evidenced by the variable themes such as rebellion, quests for overcoming ignorance, and achieving authenticity. As such, the utter limitation of the reality and existence of human beings is a fallacy. Notably, the film, upon reflection, assists in giving deeper meaning and understanding of the workings of the world, and the nature of human beings