Metaphors and Symbols Weir this project was bristling

Metaphors and Symbols Weir: …this project … was bristling with metaphors… . . . The Truman Show is so verdant with metaphor and emotion that it works on any viewer's level. – Richard Corliss, Time A symbol is an image, an idea, a word that represents something else, other than itself – usually an abstract concept. Common examples are a wedding ring (marriage), a cross (Christianity), or a skull and crossbones (danger). Symbols may have universal significance – e. g. the Christian cross – or sometimes meaning only in the work in which they are used, such as the conch in Lord of the Flies. The meaning of a symbol is decided by convention (we agree or accept that is what it means), rather than by any direct link with what it signifies. Symbols are used in film, as they are in literature and painting, as short-cuts. Universally accepted symbols can carry a great weight of meaning and thus save film time for other developments. Symbolism requires a measure of knowledge, of instant recognition, on the part of the viewer. It is an important ingredient in allegory. Metaphors are based on comparison, and are used to illuminate or enhance one image by comparing it with another. In literature, metaphors help to create vivid images in the mind. Cinema is already a visual medium, so metaphor is the term used when one visual image is used to clarify or make more vivid or meaningful another image or idea. Metaphors are often created by juxtaposing two dissimilar but connected images. A symbol, then, has a meaning that is permanent, widely understood and is usually is based in the culture from which it comes; a metaphor gets its meaning solely from the context in which it is used, and involve comparison. In practice, most film writers do not distinguish between the two, and will use the terms interchangeably, not least because there is more than an element of symbolism in filmic metaphor anyway. For example, bars are a common symbol for the idea of imprisonment. In American Beauty, Lester is frequently filmed through barred windows to suggest the imprisoning nature of his way of life; this can be read as symbolic of the suburban prison in which he feels he lives, and at the same time as a metaphor for his feelings of being imprisoned. When Peter Weir refers to the 'metaphors' in this film, he is also referring to the symbols.

A motif is an image, a word or phrase that is repeated several times. Motifs are often used to keep the film unified, to link one scene with another. They may also be useful for thematic reasons, or be associated with specific characters. There are several significant motifs in this film dogs: Pluto the Dalmatian is part of his daily routine and then becomes a snarling tracker dog; the woman with the dachshund abandons it when she chases after Kirk; 'Dog Fancy' is a prominent product advertised. Sirius the Dog Star. Young Truman is threatened by a savage guard dog on the bridge, hence Truman's fear of Pluto. eyes: mostly Sylvia's, but the first view of Truman is an ECU of his eyes. Truman and Sylvia 'meet' via exchanged looks – at school and at the dance that follows, 'across a crowded room'. Truman's collage of Sylvia – at work, in the basement (focus is on the selection of her eyes), on the boat and her red jersey; with the pin message: "How's it going to end? " – in the basement, on the beach, in the library

"Good afternoon, good evening and good night" – at the start, sc. 47, and Truman's exit line. Fiji – Truman talks about it; he tries to call Sylvia there; he has a map of it in his chest, and hanging in the basement; he tries to book a flight to Fiji. The irony is that Sylvia is not in Fiji but in Hollywood. 'Mococoa', one of Meryl's advertised products; Marlon's inevitable six-pack , the Elk rotary several prison references – verbal and visual. Stripes are ubiquitous in Seahaven (metaphor for Truman's 'imprisonment'); the poster in Sylvia's room showing Truman behind bars; the Venetian blinds in his home suggest prison bars, especially after he has been returned home after his attempt to escape. He is shown trapped between his wife and mother [29]. the man in the pinkish suit the moon – shining on the water, being the centre of operations, becoming a searchlight.

Peter Weir creates unity is to show links between characters and situations by repeating or echoing the same camera angles and shots (visual) and sometimes the same ideas or words and phrases (verbal). the WIDE EST. shots that start each day in Seahaven; the repeated Mozart rondo; Truman purchasing his newspaper and magazine – all help establish how routine his life is the circling movement to which Truman draws Meryl's attention – "Round and round!" – starts with the revolving door of his office building. The first time we see the door, he is reluctant to go in; next time, he goes in and comes out again. A significant and symbolic moment, it marks the first real break with his usual routine and will lead ultimately to his escape from the prison of Seahaven. It is repeated several times – Truman drives his car round and round the roundabout, and then again a few moments later. Ties in with the enclosed circle that is his world. the dropped tray crashing on the operating room floor echoes the sound when the light falls from the sky – both indications of the penny starting to drop Truman touching the wall at the end echoes his tentative touching of the fallen light. Both Sylvia and Christof touch Truman's image on screen – it is both poignant and ironic that the two people who love Truman the most (in their different ways) can touch him only this way.

As Truman clings to the yacht, the man in the bath replicates his action with the shower curtain (comic effect) Sylvia looks up at the TV screen in the same way as she looked up at Truman in the library Sylvia's stripes echo Truman's stripes (see above) The crossed fingers in the wedding photo lead obviously to the "I'll cross my fingers for you" – and then Truman peers after Meryl through a St Andrew's cross in the front door. the whole of Seahaven is colour co-ordinated – the same few tones repeated endlessly the red-lit TV screen image – links Truman with Christof, since both are shown on it. fans shown wearing the same clothes, using the same china as in Seahaven a verbal link: at the start, TWIN: Beautiful day, isn't it? TRUMAN: Always. At the end: TWIN: Beautiful day, isn't it? TRUMAN: Every single day. The first time he is unaware and sincere, the second he is aware and sarcastic.

The Truman Show as Utopian/Dystopian Literature Characteristics of Utopian Literature – find three details from the movie for each characteristic. Secure lives without fear: Adequate supplies without hard work: Sameness: Characteristics of dystopian Literature: Government or structured system replaces religion or family: Lack of individualism: Warning or sign of hope:

In what ways can Truman's life in Seahaven be seen as 'heaven'? Why is he dissatisfied with this life? What could be seen as being wrong with it?

Utopia/Dystopia Christof created Seahaven Island in his vision of utopia, which Thomas More defined as "a community or a society possessing highly desirable or perfect qualities. " More's version of utopia was an island with only one exit - just like Seahaven Island. However, More's vision of utopia is only "desirable" if everyone living there shares the same definition of "perfection. " Christof's vision, though, is his alone - he tells Truman that Seahaven is better than what exists outside it, but Truman has not seen enough to make this decision on his own. Truman spends the entirety of the film looking for the truth about what exists beyond the horizons of his world, and it becomes abundantly clear that he will do anything in his power to escape Christof's grasp. Christof might see himself as the creator of a utopia, but he is really a despot. Therefore, Christof's utopia is Truman's dystopia (which is the opposite of a utopia - an environment or community that is undesirable or frightening).

Tertiary: How is ‘The Truman Show’ a representation of dystopian fiction? Accredited: Describe two of the symbols in ‘The Truman Show’ and explore why each is important. How is Truman manipulated to make him stay in Seahaven? In The Truman Show Weir explores themes trust, control and manipulation. Choose one of these and explain how it is shown in the movie

The Power of the Mass Media – and whether it can be trusted On one level, the film is a social commentary about problems created by the modern media, and the way it blurs the lines between appearance and reality. To what extent is our perception of the world the result of media manipulation? The film is essentially a sharp criticism of the dangers of a false 'reality' cultivated by the media, and a warning against losing our sense of genuine reality. It offers a playful deconstruction of our tendency to confuse reality and media-presented fiction. For its audience, 'The Truman Show' promises reality. Truman's life has a truth that they can't find anywhere else on television. He is not an actor; there are no scripts. At the beginning, Christof claims that people love the show because it is real, and that ordinary television can never reach people the same way. The only problem is that the audience has been fooled just as much as Truman. Seahaven is no more real than the set of any other show. The illusion of reality has only been created on a much larger scale. Each moment is carefully crafted. The behaviour of other characters is tightly choreographed; lines are fed to them; music dictates mood, and even the creators refer to special events as "episodes". The film demonstrates that 'reality television' is just as constructed as any other television. In some ways it's more fictional because it claims to be true: it tries to pass itself off as something it's not. But the illusion of reality gradually unravels for both Truman and the audience, until Marlon (as Meryl has done less overtly earlier) finally commits the ultimate betrayal: he breaks the fourth wall, speaks directly to the camera and shatters the lie forever.

The captive of TV is not Truman, it’s the audience, us. And our love of that captivity, the gobbling of shows – fictional drama and news or sports or politics, but always shows – engulfs us. We used to go to theatres and films; now, more seductively than radio, TV comes to our homes, entwines us. . The shows don’t have to be dramatic, as 'The Truman Show' and most TV attests. They need only to be shows, life outside transmitted to the TV inside. – Stanley Kauffmann, thenewrepublic. com Films like Truman are created by entertainment companies as a means to exploit, and at the same time dissipate, our desire to engage in genuine media criticism. In the end, the power of the media is affirmed rather than challenged. In the spirit of Antonio Gramsci's concept of hegemony, these films and television programs co-opt our enchantment (and disenchantment) with the media and sell it back to us. – Ronald Bishop, Sage Journals Online The Truman Show is timely in its reminder of the tenuous division between real and media worlds, and its one virtue is the very thorough dissection of the entertainment-complex machinery behind such life-like chimarae as its docu-soap setting suggests. The world of The Truman Show isn’t a given; it has to be manufactured and sustained by extensive technology. … The new paranoia movies have less to do with political anxieties, more to do with the feeling that there is little verifiable reality in the screen image itself, and by extension, in the world we know through visual media. It’s no longer a question of who is to be trusted, as in the Seventies, but a question of whether anything, any image, any evidence of the state of things, can be trusted – Jonathan Romney, 'The New Paranoia: Games Pixels Play' We will have to stand up to the manipulators of television and news if we want to protect ourselves from the absurdity and falsehood that now surrounds us at every turn. – Ken Sanes, Transparency The harrowing message of The Truman Show is not the grandiose contrivance of a media mogul. It is, rather, the fact that each of us can be seduced into making only those 'free' choices that the culture approves. Innocuous smiles, American dreams of manicured lawns and pleasant jobs, elections and visits to foreign countries that are little more than staged events, moralizing about saving our children while the state and economy cannibalise them, capitalism proclaimed as freedom when it is often our bondage – these are all part of the fabric of lies that hides the sky. – John F Kavanagh, American Press

Peter Weir: There has always been this question: is the audience getting dumber? Or are we film-makers patronising them? Is this what they want? Or is this what we're giving them? But the public went to my film in large numbers. And that has to be encouraging.

The Consumer Society On one level, the film criticises greed and those people who will do anything for fame and money. Meryl is the ultimate symbol of this – she is willing to sell her body in the full glare of an international audience in return for fame and fortune. It is also a criticism of our consumer society – a portrait of our alienating society where everything is commodified, including human beings. Truman is a commodity – a slave who is paid nothing for his unwitting stardom and who is denied 'permission' to leave until he finally rebels.

The Truman Show is a postmodern presentation, offering a microcosm of the post-war suburban version of the American Dream, and voicing our internal tension over such a dream. In some ways, life in Seahaven is appealing. It is safe, heavily protected from outside influences: The conservative right-wing American dream town. It has no crime because there is no real socio-economic disparity. There are very few people of colour, and the few look a lot like the Cosby family. There is no cultural diversity, just a walled city preventing any undesirables from upsetting this created upper-middle class W. A. S. P. nest. This seeming heaven-on-Earth quickly turns into a nightmare, though, as Truman physically and metaphorically looks for an escape. The level of control and lack of privacy in Seahaven isn't worth the safety and stability. The surveillance is downright chilling. In truth, we also don't want consumerist conformity anymore. Our culture is starting to embrace individualism and uniqueness now, and we no longer want to be tied down by the illusion of choice that the mainstream media has to offer us. Part of Truman's desire to explore comes from how sick he is of the bland uniformity of Seahaven. He longs to travel to Fiji, where he can find an island that no other man has set foot on before. Truman's mythic battle ends with his coming to terms with the possibility that life isn't what it seems. He is our stand-in in this fictional world. He battles his own fears, and conquers them through determination. He must also defeat nature in a physical trial, then face his creator in a challenge of willpower. The result is a sequence that is supremely satisfying, one that always leaves me a bit teary, yet hopeful as well. Although we may always be a step or two away from truth or reality, the quest for self-determination is a critical one in our own development. – Joel Pearce

'The Way the World Should Be' Christof responds to Sylvia's charge that he should feel guilty, with, “I have given Truman a chance to lead a normal life. The world – the place you live in – is a sick place. Seahaven is the way the world should be. ” Implicit in Christof’s argument is the idea that the world outside Seahaven – our world – is no less counterfeit, no less inauthentic, no less voyeuristic than Truman’s virtual-reality world. The values of the world that Christof has created are those of a (mythical) past. Christof has created a world for Truman to grow up in that is modelled not on any real time in history but in a 1950 s America as portrayed on American TV in shows such as 'Leave It t Beaver', 'Father Knows Best' and 'The Donna Reed Show'. It is a world without tension, without unpleasantness, without crime – and without creativity, without diversity, without challenge.

The Totalitarian Society: 'Big Brother is Watching You' Truman's discovery of the way his entire life is monitored provides a powerful metaphor for the increasing amount of surveillance in contemporary society. According to the latest studies, Britain has a staggering 4. 2 million CCTV cameras – one for every 14 people in the country. It has been calculated that each person is caught on camera an average of 300 times daily. Ironically 32 cameras scan the home and its surroundings of George Orwell, author of 1984 with its warnings of surveillance and so loss of privacy and independence of thought and movement. The ostensible purpose is to reduce crime but so far there has been little reliable evidence that this happened. Although there is so far nothing like these numbers of cameras in the USA, more and more cities are installing policemonitored CCTV cameras. The film makes use of our fears of surveillance and loss of privacy; at the same time, it links to the increasing fascination of many people to record their lives on camera and broadcast it to the world. The film was made before the widespread development of the internet, and long before You. Tube and My. Space etc, so it seems prescient in this as it is with reality TV. (For a look at a world where lack of privacy is carried to extremes, see Ben Elton's latest novel, Blind Faith. )

On a Personal Level The Truman Show demonstrates an individual’s struggle to gain his true self. – Robert Castle, Bright Lights Film Journal Truman's story is one of self-actualisation, of asserting one's humanity purely on one's own. When Christof speaks to Truman just before he leaves Seahaven for the unknown world outside, Truman's second question is the age-old one, asked by most people at some time in their lives: "Who am I? " Christof's answer is the answer of a media mogul: "You are the star. " And so – in the language of philosophy – the existential question of who he is and what he is doing in this world is replaced by the ontological issue of whether to accept the given identity of a star in an obviously contrived milieu, or whether to assert his individuality and free will by choosing to live in freedom. In the five days leading up to this question, Truman is shown questioning the world he lives in and trying to determine just where he fits in – the journey of discovery most thinking people make as they grow up. The flashbacks and the present time action show Truman trying to assert his individuality, being knocked back and lied to: When he climbs the rocks: Why? What's over there? / KIRK: Nothing. It's dangerous, that's all. You've got to know your limitations, Truman. In school: I'd like to be an explorer. Like the great Magellan. / TEACHER: Oh, you're too late. There's really nothing left to explore. Meryl – a baby should be an adventure enough. You want to be an explorer. . . This'll pass. We all think like this now and again. Let's get you out of these wet clothes, huh? And into bed. [She uses sex to try to distract him from the pursuit of his real self. ] His mother uses guilt against him: But I never blamed you, Truman. And I don't blame you now. Marlon mocks his suspicions: That's a lot of world for one man, Truman. You sure that's not wishful thinking?

He is handicapped in this search for himself because his world is a false and manipulated environment, yet he eventually discovers the truth. He is certain there is more to life than the bland unchallenging existence in which he is trapped, and his determination to escape this enables him to overcome the (instilled) fear of water (= fear of the unknown) and so find a way out of the studio and into the real world. To achieve this he demonstrates perseverance, commitment, determination. His battle is a metaphor for the way people need to conquer their fears to achieve their goals, the sea a metaphor for any of the obstacles in their way.

The Truman Show as Allegory Some interpretations Truman exemplifies the human spirit. He is a true man who will mature into adulthood and have a genuine relationship with a woman. He is a true man in the sense that he demonstrates courage and perseverance. He has to overcome his greatest fear in pursuit of his true self. And he is a true man in the sense that he is the archetypal man for our age, who stands up to the false god and illusions of the media manipulators and develops the potential for an authentic life. The conclusion is a triumphant chorus for humanity: he has become his own person. The most important theme is that each person should be free to make of life what they will, and not walk down a set path, no matter how comfortable and rosy it seems. See Robert Frost, 'The Road Not Taken': Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference.

An essay published in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis analysed Truman as a prototypical adolescent at the beginning of the movie. He feels trapped in a familial and social world to which he tries to conform while being unable to entirely identify with. He believes he has no choice, and his only escape is the fantasy of fleeing to a deserted island. Truman's journey out of Seahaven can be seen as an allegory of growing up within a family that seems determined to keep him a child. His mother uses an array of weapons to keep him with her; his father – Christof (it is significant that his supposed father is removed early) – controls him and tries to prevent his ever leaving the false happiness of a controlled family. Ultimately, his journey from this sanitised, happy-face world into the unknown larger world, where he will find a genuine love, is his effort to grow up, in the face of their opposition. Truman is in many ways very young: he fantasises out loud, wears childish clothes, retreats to his basement to examine his wooden treasure chest, and dreams of going to Fiji. Maybe Christof is right, that if Truman's desire to discover the truth were more than a "vague ambition", if he were a true man instead of little more than a child, a true child, he'd have found his way off the set years ago. Of course, it is Christof and his accomplices who have kept Truman that way. During the five days of the film narrative, he gains sufficient awareness of his condition to 'leave home' – he develops a more mature and authentic identity as a man, leaves his child-self behind and becomes a 'true man'.

The Truman Show is a re-creation of myth, depicting as it does a man imprisoned in the nest of a fake paradise (or heaven) by a manipulative god. At the end, after Truman comes up against the enclosing wall and finds the door to the outside, the 'god' speaks to him in a voice from above and tries to instil fear in him, to keep him under control. It is an interesting ironic touch that as Truman goes up the steps to reach the door, just before Christof speaks to him, he is in a heaven-like setting. He rejects this false paradise and chooses to exile himself into the mundane world that is his natural home. He travels from fake – fantastic and fabulous – nature to true nature.

The Truman Show is a manifestation of Plato's allegory of 'The Cave'. Plato's allegory of humankind suggests that most people are like prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave, on which are cast the shadows of puppets. The prisoners, unable to see the puppets, mistake appearance for reality. If any of them manages to struggle free and leave the cave, he is confronted with the brilliant sun, a metaphor for goodness – for Plato, the origin of everything that exists. Plato’s hero adjusts to the sun, becomes enlightened and returns to the cave, only to deduce that the masses must be ruled by a few 'learned' elite. Truman’s world is the cave, and Truman (true man), having watched only shadows of reality for nearly 30 years, is the individual who escapes the limitations of the cave. The actors in Truman’s artificial world as well as the audiences who follow the show are the ignorant masses, all of whom are fooled into believing that the shadows they see are real. The film however, suggests a different ending from Plato's. When Truman asks Christof (whose voice comes from up above, like the voice of god), “Was nothing real? ” Christof responds, “You were real. ” The movie's message is that we are real, even if our world is manipulated by pseudo-democratic governments, CNN, Disney, sitcoms, Microsoft, Apple, professional sports, reality TV, MTV, soulless technology, rigid religion and so on. We can break free. It may just be coincidental, but Truman has to overcome all four 'elements' in his fight for freedom. He drives through fire, is temporarily stopped by dangerous 'air' (nuclear plant leak), tunnels out though earth to escape his basement, and then nearly drowns in water, from which he rises triumphant to finally ascend into the 'air' again (among the clouds) before leaving.

One of the more contentious aspects of the film has been its 'religious' message, which has caused controversy, outrage and support. Many commentators have taken from the fact of Christof's name that the film is an anti-Christian film, that Christof' is the 'God' from which the 'true man' has to escape. However, I think, as I have said in the character notes, that most of the writers miss the point of Christof's name. He is the one who sees himself as 'god', as the creator; as the all-powerful. His given name was probably Christopher, but he has chosen to be known by a single name (like Madonna or Cher or Liberace – all showbiz). He calls himself "the creator…" If there is a strong religious message in the film, it seems to me it is the danger of any human being's thinking they have the right to act like God. Although the religious connotations are apparent, I think it is less an attack on Christianity than on the alternative contemporary religion of media-worship. It is difficult to avoid the religious allusions that permeate the film – though students without a church background may notice them – so teachers will need to decide whether they want to pursue this potentially contentious issue. It is easy enough to play it down. Peter Weir himself welcomed the fact that the film was open to so many different interpretations. He also stated, in more than one interview, that the film is primarily about television. "My attitude to television, personally, is too much of it is a bad thing. And that's really at the heart of what the film looks at in a major way – this disturbance to our perception of reality, as a result of the immense entertainment and actuality coming at us, to the point where you can't differentiate anymore. News programmes that are entertaining. Video everywhere. " (Of course, this may have been as a result of studio pressure to downplay antireligious interpretation in case it hurt the US box office. Just a speculation. )

The Truman Show as a Religious Allegory There are many allusions to religion in the film. How many can you identity? Give details. Christof clearly sees himself as a god figure. His name (of Christ), his reference to himself as "the creator… of a television programme…" (the pause after 'creator' is very significant), his all-powerful control of the world he has created – and he doesn't even rest on the seventh day. He dresses in black with a white collar so he looks like a priest. He makes the sun rise on command. "Cue the sun. " cf. And God said let there be light and there was light. He holds the power of life and death over Truman – the storm Christof inflicts on him in his wrath could have drowned Truman; Christof eventually stills it with a word. Twenty two years earlier he 'killed' Kirk, Truman's father. His voice, when he speaks directly to Truman, is disembodied, like the voice of God.

The Christ-figure is a particular Hollywood favourite. Truman can be seen as a Christ-figure: he seems to walk on water when he leaves the yacht the name of the boat – Santa Maria – is that of the mother of Christ he finds steps to freedom that can be seen as the 'stairway to heaven' He is shown on at least three occasions in a crucifix pose. First when he stops the traffic. Then knocked out by the storm, he lies with his arms outstretched as though he has drowned; the ropes around him form the sign of the cross on his chest, emphasising his crucified-like body posture. But he 'rises again'. Just before he walks through the exit door into the void, he holds out his arms in the traditional pose. Truman can be seen as Adam in a seeming Paradise. If so, it is Sylvia, offering the truth (knowledge), who tempts him from the place. (Her bracelet looks a bit like little green apples. ) This accords with the heretical belief that expulsion from the Garden of Eden was a good thing, that humankind is better off in pursuit of wisdom, knowledge and self-determination rather than ignorant acquiescence. Thus Truman can be seen as both Adam and Christ. He is Adam, who escapes from a false paradise and falls by choice into nature and history, and he is Christ who knows of a higher world and is crucified on the boat as a result.

Like Job in the Old Testament 'Book of Job', Truman is tested in the water. In the climactic scene, Christof calls up another storm, like the one that 'drowns' Truman’s 'father'. Truman shouts defiance: “Is that the best you can do? You’re gonna have to kill me. ” His defeat of is fear of water could be seen as a baptism of sorts. Several commentators have noted the number on the sail is 139, and the aptness of 'Psalm 139' to the film. As Truman regains consciousness and is determined to raise the sail once again, he pulls himself upright by clutching the sail precisely at the number. He then raises the sail with the 139 clearly displayed. O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. Truman is watched every moment, though he tells Christof, "You never had a camera in my head!" You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely… Christof and his crew know Truman's routine and follow him with precision. It is when Truman deviates from his 'ways' that he becomes difficult to keep tabs on. Truman' is shown 'going out' (leaving the house in the morning) and 'lying down'. You hem me in – behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Christof controls how far and how wide Truman can travel – when Truman is trying to drive off the island, he literally hems him in from behind and before with his choreographed traffic jams. Christof several times lays his hand on the image of Truman as he sleeps and during their conversation. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. Truman is on constant display, and cannot flee from the presence of Christof or his surrogates. It is when Truman literally makes his bed in the depths – he appears to fall asleep in a makeshift bed in his basement – Christof is not there, and Truman is able to make his escape.

Does all this make The Truman Show a religious or anti-religious text? Taken superficially, the film does seem to suggest that the 'true man' is better off out of his benevolent prison, away from the all-seeing, all-knowing god, and taking life as it comes. It portrays Paradise – the Garden of Eden – as a sterile and bland prison, where no sense of adventure or curiosity can be allowed. You could see [the film] as asserting God is a control freak and recommending following Truman's example and getting out from under his thumb.

Some Opinions B. C. Catholic film reviewer Alan Charlton argues that the film can be viewed in a way that is actually pro-Christian, that Christof is a rip-off of Christ – a Christ-off. "If anything, [the movie] is making an argument that you should turn your back on the false god [of security and materialism]. That's what we've got to reject. It's limiting your humanity. . . Christof is evil. And the world he set up was evil. " This movie was the most anti-Christian, pro-atheism movie I have ever seen. The entire movie was a metaphor that placed Christianity in a very bad light: God manipulating our every move, killing parents on whims, striking us with lightning when we start to question the universe, hiding the truth of 'humanism' from us, etc. The main character is applauded and praised for trusting in himself, denying his God, life and family and escaping the ever watchful (camera) gaze of the Christian God to find the 'Truth' of the Godless universe of atheism and humanism. – David Stephens I have to agree with other commentators that The Truman Show is about man finding his true self not in his Creator, but in separation and rebellion against that Creator. Taking his allegorical name cue from none other than John Bunyan, the scriptwriter creates an evil creator Christof (of Christ, else why not the standard 'Christoff') who cruelly manipulates Truman (true man). Yes, Truman Burbank is the only real man in a world of phonies, but he can ultimately confirm his reality only if he rebels against his 'Creator'. The film does say much that's correct about the manipulativeness of the modern media and our willingness to let them manipulate us, but in the end the film is disturbing in its affirming the view, triumphant in Western literature since the 19 th century Romantic Movement, that man was made whole, not shipwrecked, by his rebellion in the Garden. – John H

And a balanced interpretation: One view interprets The Truman Show as a story of the Fall, where Christof symbolises the true God, and Sylvia (who encourages Truman to escape his 'world') is a serpent-tempter figure that brings rebellion. The second view interprets The Truman Show as a story of Redemption, where Christof symbolises an anti-Christ, and Sylvia is an intercessor that brings freedom in contrast to the Judas-figure Marlon. Proponents of both views have engaged in considerable debate over these two interpretations, the former which sees The Truman Show as a secular existentialist film, the latter which sees it as a pro-Christian film. Certainly the rich symbolism in the film lends itself to an interpretation which gives the Christological imagery throughout the film a more important meaning than mere allusion. But neither of the above explanations is entirely satisfactory or consistent. Because how can Truman be a rebel who rejects God, and at the same time a Christ-like figure (he is depicted as crucified in the boat, and at the end walks on water and ascends into a stairway of heaven)? And how can Christof be representative of a deterministic creator, and at the same time an anti-Christ? A consistent allegorical interpretation fails in its application, and should already be a hint that one is not intended. Perhaps the best solution is one which is neither overly critical nor overly charitable with respect to the Biblical imagery, but sees this as subordinate to other themes about the media and television, without forcing a simplistic choice demanded by a polarised approach