Free Will For Everyone In The Truman Show
In the Truman Show a man, Truman, is raised in a manipulated reality and his every move recorded and broadcasted to the world. In 1998, when this movie was released, people laughed at the absurdity of recording and watching someone else's life and how fake and exaggerated the product placement was. Today we follow ‘vloggers’ and social media celebrities as they present us with products they have been paid to be happy about. So my question is: Are we as manipulated as Truman?
The actors in the Truman Show endorse products several times, with things ranging from lawnmowers to beer often thrusting them into the face of the viewer. This gets to the point where Truman eventually asks ‘What the hell are you talking about? ‘Who are you talking to!?!’. Some of the products are endorsed simply by saying ‘Truman uses them and you should too!’. And we are treated in much the same way. Social media celebrities advertise products and we are expected to accept them and use them just because a Youtuber or celebrity does. This may make us as manipulated as Truman and possibly even his audience. As cool as it is to be like Jim Carrey you might want to avoid it this time.
As Truman begins to suspect his life is not all that it seems we begin to see the behind the scenes running of the Truman Show inside the Truman Show. Don’t worry my brain hurts too and I’m the one who wrote it. The scene in which Truman is speaking to Marlon on the broken bridge is when the manipulation of Truman is exposed the most. As Truman confesses his suspicions, Marlon tries to come up with answers to try to dissuade and convince him otherwise. Eventually Marlon gets instructions from Christoff to make the emotional line ‘The last thing I would ever do is lie to you’. The irony of the moment is that Marlon is actually lying to him without even batting an eye-lid. So much for a best friend. Christoff can be seen as manipulative, cruel and selfish as his desire to keep his show running outways the effect of his morals on his actions. Marlon on the other hand can be viewed in 2 ways. He may have been brainwashed, like the rest of the audience, to believe that keeping Truman in Seahaven really is the best thing for him or he is doing this for the benefit of his wallet or career. By the way, do the actors on Seahaven get paid because if they do, what would they spend it on? I mean they’re stuck there for the duration of the show, which is constantly being broadcast, so what are they spending their money on?
