To what degree have we allowed ourselves to be owned by our institutions? We allow advertisers to manipulate our desires, society to arrange how we spend our time, religions to speak on our behalf to God, and then we have the blind arrogance to call ourselves free.
Confronting head-on this free-for-all give-away of our own personal power is Peter Weir's movie "The Truman Show." Weir's film is a microcosmic parody of the unseen control wielded over our humble lives by behind-the-scenes powers, where day to day decisions are masterfully coordinated to throw a bone to our sense of free will and lull us into the empty conviction that we are free.
Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey), the star of "The Truman Show," epitomizes the extreme of our collective lot in the modern world full of power-hungry corporations. Adopted at birth by a corporation, Truman's life is painstakingly fabricated down to the most minute detail by his "creator," Christof (Ed Harris), for the entertainment of t.v. watchers and the profits of the corporations involved. With actors calling themselves his parents in the town of Seahaven, the world's largest movie set, absolutely everything in Truman's life, even the weather, is under the direction of this producer-cum-God. All of it is unbeknownst to Truman.
The 'real-life' drama and high ratings of Christof's production are the emotionally entangled threads of Truman's existence. Christof goes to extraordinary ends to create and then pull on Truman's heart strings, like an unseen puppeteer controlling every circumstance of his beloved creation's life. Truman's childhood longing to explore is thwarted by Christof's clever use of human psychology, orchestrated to instill a paralyzing fear of adventure in his living puppet. Witnessing his father's death at sea leaves Truman with a mortal fear of water, thus ensuring his inability to cross the bridges which separate him from the "real" world-at-large. Anytime he gets a little too bold, Christof pulls out this Ace-in-the-Hole to control Truman.
We watch as all-too-familiar suggestive comments are used to herd Truman's thoughts into the socially-approved corral of mass consciousness. His heartfelt desire to travel is squelched time and again by his wife, mother, best friend, and even the travel agent. Each works to convince him that his idea is crazy and to remind him that it's time to start a family and be responsible to those house and car payments. Anyone who has had their innermost desires silenced by a threatened listener knows the frustration of being told that "it will pass."
As told from the point of view of Truman and, at times, Christof, we see the formula for constructing a veneer of reality just thick enough to satisfy a human being and simultaneously provide entertainment to t.v. viewers. Give a guy a pretty wife, a good job and a close buddy, and that should pacify his hunger for truth. If he steps out of line, scare him a little; he'll cooperate.
Truman's will battles with Christof's ability to manipulate, as Truman seeks to uncover the truth behind the inconsistencies of his life. Each thrust of his will is met with an equal pull on his heart-strings by Christof's "no holds barred" approach. Everything from the soul-to-soul conversations with his best friend to the return of his dead father are little more than fodder for the viewers, all ingeniously orchestrated and captured on film by Christof. Courageously confronting his deepest, though custom-designed, fears, Truman searches within himself to find the strength required to break through the barriers of his comfortable and safe environment.
All the while, viewers everywhere are rooting him on to the freedom lacking from their own lives. Compared to Truman, however, they believe they are free, just as we believe ourselves to be free as we lustfully devour the real-life drama found on the Jerry Springer and "cop" shows so popular these days. From the safety of t.v.-land, the viewers watch the viewed. One person's dignity is trampled upon to provide entertainment for viewers everywhere. All are arranged for our amusement.
A will weakened by a false sense of freedom simply is not strong enough to move a person towards their personal truth. It took a series of holes punched into Truman's reality to empower him to look deeper at the foundation of his cozy world. Giving away our personal power allows the Christofs of the world - and be certain there are many - to capture and hold our attention where it will best serve their purpose.
Consider how corporate America, via television, spoon-feeds us their ideas about how we should live our lives: To instill fear, we are shown murder and chaos on the news. To instill gluttony, we are bombarded with the message that it's okay to indulge in unhealthy foods. To instill anything, our well-studied psychological responses to given stimuli are triggered. Can we then honestly say that we are better off than Truman?
Truman assumed that he was exercising free will and, to a very limited degree, he was. Christof allowed him the gratification and freedom of self-expression, but only just enough to keep Truman superficially happy. This is not unlike our happiness of finding a "good" job that we can trade the best years of our lives for, or when we deny ourselves the joy of travel - or whatever - because our societal obligations, like debt, impose on our freedom. Our options have been predetermined by an unknown Christof whose very existence is unknown to us. Christof knows that if Truman really wants to be free, there is no way in the world that he can stop him. Similarly, it is up to each of us to truly want personal freedom to the extent that it becomes a driving force breaking past all of the hitherto unknown barriers.
In the end, Truman encounters the limits of his world and is faced with a choice: move ahead into the great unknown or remain in his contrived world, one which his creator assures him is better than the real one. The real world, Christof tells Truman, is no different - same lies, same set-ups, same games.
Which would you choose? To know for certain, look around you and be truthful; which one have you allowed to be chosen for you?
Copyright 1998