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REEL TO REAL
by Chuc LaVenture
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

The Truman Show

The Truman Show revolves around a television show that is based entirely on the life of Truman Banks (Jim Carrey), as directed by the show's creator Christof (Ed Harris). Truman is the first child in the United States to have been adopted by a corporation.

He was adopted for the sole purpose of creating a show in which his entire life would be viewed by millions. The show is paid for by product placement. All products, from costuming to the very food Truman eats, are available through the Truman Show Catalogue. In order to create the show, the producers had to build a world for Truman, a world in which to grow up and live. All of the people in Truman's life are actors, although he is not supposed to know this. He is born, takes his first steps, loses his first tooth, goes to school, graduates from college and marries, all for a public that he doesn't even know is watching.

We meet Truman in his twenty-ninth year. He begins an average day, except that this particular morning one of the many lights used to create daylight falls from the sky. While driving to work Truman's car radio has some technical difficulties and he hears the crew tracing his movements for the cast and the rest of the crew. The radio announcer explains away the difficulty as a police scanner interrupting the transmission, just as he explained away the light fixture as an airplane in difficulty jettisoning parts. These were not the first problems the producers had trying the keep Truman in the dark about his life. A few people had tried to break onto the show, some seeking fame, others attempting to inform Truman that his life was a television show. Their biggest problem, though not known to them at the time, comes in the person of Sylvia (Natascha McElhone). She is an extra on the set, a student attending the same college as Truman. Unfortunately, Truman is attracted to Sylvia and she to him. When given the opportunity, Sylvia spirits Truman away and attempts to tell him what's happening to him. Living in a world of cameras, they are easily found before she can make Truman aware of his situation. Her father tells Truman that she is psychotic and that she is being sent to Fiji for treatment. The producers' mistake is that this gives Truman an unrequited love.

Things begin to fall apart as Truman becomes increasingly disillusioned with the very safe, very scripted life he lives. He begins to notice that there are recurring incidences in his life, that his movements and those of the people around him seem to be eerily repetitive. He determines that he has to get away. He tries to get his wife Meryl (Laura Linney) to plan a vacation with him, but she can't seem to get behind leaving today or any time soon. Truman is thwarted at every turn in his attempts to leave the island. I'll leave you to see the movie to find out what happens.

Putting aside the absolute absurdities of the movie, such as the incredible expense of building a world, hiring so many people, and finding people who would be willing to partake in such a heinous subterfuge, allows us to look at the moral questions raised. Could not the adoption of Truman be considered tantamount to slavery? What is the moral implication of creating a world in which all of a person's major affectional attachments are fraudulent? This movie gives one great pause for thought. If it were a book, I'd say it was a great read. Now showing at Canal Place.

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