The Truman Show: The Portrayal of the Disharmony between the Real and Technological World

Written by Ailin Barnachea

There comes a time in one’s life when one truly feels estranged from their existence. The mundanity of going to the same places, interacting with the same people, and waking up as the same person every day, induces a certain dissatisfaction that humanity is all too familiar with. As life progresses, one cannot help but experience themselves dissociating from what is considered their reality. Ultimately, these thoughts will lead to questions of existentialism such as, “Is this all my life is to be? Am I truly in control?” and most importantly, “What is the meaning of life?”. Created in 1998, The Truman Show revolves around the protagonist named Truman Burbank who unbeknownst to him lives a fabricated life. His whole existence has been structured as a reality TV show which has encapsulated the hearts of television viewers all over the world. It is only until Truman acknowledges that everything in his existence is counterfeit that he is determined to get to the bottom of his fake existence and revolt from his mundane life. As a result, the film effectively portrays the theme of how the technological age has restricted people from living a fulfilling and authentic life, which is demonstrated by the screenplay’s ingenious use of symbolism through the character’s actions and dialogue.

The Struggle of Differentiating Between the Real and Technological World

As the premise of the film entails the story of a man’s life being broadcast to the world, everyone who is a part of the ordeal is characterized to believe in a specific ideology that is carried throughout the film, thus these actions effectively demonstrate the technological world’s progressive dominance over the real world in our modern day. In the movie’s first scene, the audience is introduced to the show’s three integral characters who carry the greatest responsibility of establishing Truman’s fabricated life. Christof, the creator of the show, states that “While the world he inhabits is in some respects counterfeit, there’s nothing fake about Truman himself” (00:00:30 – 00:00:38). Similarly, Truman’s fictional wife, Meryl, profoundly claims that “there is no difference between a private life and a public life” (00:01:23 – 00:01:30) as she describes her life to undoubtedly be ‘The Truman Show’. To which Marlon, Truman’s best friend, affirms that “It’s all true. It’s all real. Nothing here is fake. Nothing you see on this show is fake. It’s merely controlled” (00:02:00 – 00:02:08). Evidently, the concept that Truman’s television life is authentic displays how there is no distinction between what is considered real and fake in the technological world. What once made life particular and unique, such as one’s interpersonal relationships, has now been replicated to the technological world. All the people that are a part of Truman’s life, from the most intimate to the least relevant, are all disguised as legitimate. Consequently, the moral judgement of the cast and crew has been compromised as a result of the promotion of this shared ideology of performing for Truman, as their actions are evidently exploiting a human life. Thus, this ideology represents how difficult it is for one to be authentic through the technological world, for the binary of the two concepts has diminished and are now overlapping. Television has become a hyperreality, as it has overcome its initial inspiration. In the eyes of society, the television world is as real as ‘real’ could get. Television is gradually becoming synonymous with the real world.

Use of Advertisements in The Film’s Dialogue and Actions

The prolific use of advertisements in the film’s dialogue and actions further encapsulates how exploitative the technological world is to society, due to the economic order of consumerism. This is apparent in the scenes when Truman is in a vulnerable state of mind, as others around him consistently carries a consumeristic intent. In the second act of the film, Truman is characterized to be erratic as he slowly realizes that the whole town is on a continuous loop that centers around his actions, likewise to a crew on a television set. When he gets home and deconstructs this idea to his wife, she is portrayed as someone who does not follow along. This is simply because Meryl is a fictional character in Truman’s world. The actress who plays Meryl, Hannah Gill, is scripted to not let him grow suspicious of his fabricated life and must continue her false performance. Therefore, it is significant that in a vulnerable situation, wherein the real world a wife would be consoling her husband, Meryl is consistently portrayed to be indifferent to Truman, as she resorts to advertising a brand, such as a kitchen tool ‘The Chef’s Pal,’ a lawnmower ‘Elk Rotaries,’ and in this particular scene ‘Mococoa Drink’. Ironically, for the brand ‘Mococoa Drink,’ Meryl is seen to promote and praise an authentic product, as it does not contain artificial sweeteners. This is a direct juxtaposition to her character, for she is heavily praised for her role in ‘The Truman Show’ due to essentially being artificial. Similarly, in most of the scenes that Marlon is in, he is displayed to be holding the product ‘Penn Paverly Beer’ with the logo facing the camera. Beer is commonly associated with the idea of letting one’s guard down, as one would share an intimate discussion with a friend. In contrast, this symbolism of beer does not apply to the character of Marlon since he is also performing whenever Truman confides in him, as later in the movie it is implied that Christof has been directing Marlon on what he should say via an earpiece. Even with the tertiary characters that Truman mundanely interacts with every day, they are characterized to be indifferent to Truman due to consumeristic intent, as they forcefully push him against certain posters to advertise a product to the public.

Additionally, throughout the film, advertisements are also used to consistently keep Truman disillusioned from his tragicreality, thus demonstrating how the technological world keeps people engaged in their platforms through consumeristicintent. Since his childhood, Truman has been conditioned to be wary of what is beyond his home, to prevent him from everleaving the island that he lives in. As a result, the show feeds into this trait of Truman to ensure that he continues to engagein his artificial world.

Whenever Truman is seen to be booking a flight, he is bombarded with advertisements of planes crashing and terrorisminfographics. When he was showing great signs of leaving the island, a TV commercial would emerge and promote the idea

that “you don't have to leave home to discover what the world's all about. And that no one's poor who has friends,” (00:38:21 – 00:38:32) to manipulate Truman to conform to the ideals of his technological world. Therefore, The Truman Show displays how the technological world is polluted with destructive values of consumerism to trap people from ever leaving the medium. This is evident through the repetitive use of advertisements in the film’s dialogue and actions, thereby demonstrating how difficult it is for one to live authentically in the technological world.

The Truman Show’s Unconventional Sky

As the movie progresses, the audience can see many instances of Truman’s sky not performing properly since his environment is a humongous television set, hence the symbolism of Truman’s unconventional sky eloquently emphasizes the struggle of pursuing an authentic life in a technological world. The sky is one of the most realistic things in our world. To a certain extent it is sacred, as humanity has made the sky related to concepts that are holy and beyond our control. This is evident through the religious symbols that the sky upholds, such as heaven or God. Within the first few minutes of the film, the audience becomes aware of the inauthenticity of Truman’s world as a set light plummets to the ground, thus setting the ambiguous tone of the entire movie. When Truman goes to the beach to reflect on his growing suspicion that he may be living in a fabricated world, the sky malfunctions once again as a stream of rain begins to pour only on the area that Truman is situated in. The repetition of the sky’s inability to act properly demonstrates how the technological world will never be able to replace the authenticity of the real world. When the two worlds are in juxtaposition with each other the technological world will always falter, as it cannot compete nor replicate the sacredness of the world’s actual reality. Towards the end of the film, Truman experiences one last interaction with this artificial sky before he leaves. As Truman rides his boat to the horizon, with the intent to finally leave the island, he crashes into the sky which is revealed to be a wall. In this instance, the sky begins to malfunction due to Truman’s passion for escaping the constricting means of his technological world. Therefore, this scene symbolizes the idea that the only way for a person to experience true freedom from an inauthentic world is if they revolt from their tragic condition. It is only when Truman acknowledges that everything in his existence is counterfeit that he is able to break through the fraudulent replications of the technological world metaphorically and physically.

Conclusion

The Truman Show is a well-written cinematic masterpiece that encapsulates the idea of how constricting the technological world is in allowing a person to live a fulfilling life. This idea is demonstrated by the screenplay’s use of symbolism through the character’s actions and dialogue to criticize the toxic relationship that humanity has with technological mediums, such as television programs. The repetition of the characters insisting that Truman’s fabricated life is authentic exemplifies how misleading the technological world is, since the differentiation between what is real and fake is no longer easy to detect. The consistent use of advertisements throughout the dialogue and action of the film portrays how manipulative the technological world is to society, as consumerism becomes the foundation of the medium, thus entrapping the people to remain engaged. The repetition of Truman’s sky malfunctioning throughout the movie exhibits the truth that the technological world will never compare to the sacredness of the real world’s complexities, for the only way to escape the constraints of technology is to revolt against one’s tragic condition and search for authenticity in the real world. Ultimately, The Truman Show warns audiences of the dangers of when the technological world becomes more privileged than real life. It is essential for one to deviate from a life that constricts oneself from experiencing the wonders of existence, as this will ensure the achievement of living a prosperous life.

Works Cited

The Truman Show. Directed by Peter Weir. Scott Rudin Productions, 1998. Film.