Perspectives: Post-Modernism in The Truman Show (1998)

Figure 1 - The Truman Show - Film Poster

The Truman show is filmed with the theme of post-modernity and what that stands for in mind. The film is a film about a tv show set inside a giant dome housing the star who lives inside. The main character of Truman played by Jim Carrey is blissfully unaware of anything other than his quant existence in this perfect town. 

The show is controlled from the moon which is a live footage editing/control room where the character of the director Christof played by Ed Harris weives every single day of Truman's life. There is a theme of multi-layering which occurs through control, Peter Weir (Director) directs Christof who directs Truman who is merely a pawn to be spied on for entertainment purposes.

The majority of the film gets broken through the fourth wall with a continuous cutting to audiences watching the Truman show in various places, a bar, a household bath, a security booth. The audience is interviewed by someone that we never know, for a purpose we never find out. The theme creates a relationship with the film audience allowing us to empathise more with the world creates to watch the Truman Show.  

Figure 2 - The Truman Show - Truman notices imperfections

   

The Twist comes in the film in various ways, it is arguable that the show's downfall is brought on slowly and builds up over time. Truman slowly begins to notice impurities in the Idyllic world which he lives, one of the first things is when he enters a building and sees a portion of wall is missing and workers and having lunch, when they realise the star of the show is staring them out they hurridly jump up and the security whisks Truman out of the building. The idea of confronting social norms begins to destabilize the tv show which begins to cause disruption in the viewing eventually the director calls every inhabitant of the town to perform a sweep of the dome in order to find Truman, when he is eventually discovered in a boat after confronting his deepest fears of his reality, the director manically tries to capsize his boat and end the main characters life. Not even God can halt the progression of a determined Truman seeking the holy grail of knowledge. 

Figure 3 - The Truman Show - Ascent to the exit

The film ultimately ends where Truman is given the option to stay inside an Idyllic reality as the biggest fish in a small pond and go on with his head in the sand or he can leave, and stop being forced to conform to a standard chosen for him. We desperately wish to know what happens after but it is arguably better to allow our own minds to finish the story which beautifully sums up the entire idea of the film which is a line for line the idea of modernity and by extension post-modernity. The film is about reevaluating our ideas of reality and consciously striving to create our own truths to fit with our own ideology of how we live, this closely follows the ideas of post-modernity.    

Illustrations:

Figure 1: The Truman Show (1998) [Film Poste] - Peter Wier: Paramount Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions

Figure 2: The Truman Show (1998) [Film Still] - Peter Wier: Paramount Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions

Figure 3: The Truman Show (1998) [Film Still] - Peter Wier: Paramount Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions