Today's On Camera with Kam film is The Truman Show. The film tells the story of Truman, (Jim Carrey) who is being broadcasted to the entire world on a television show, but he has lived his whole life this way without knowing he is actually being watched. Directed by Peter Weir and released in 1998, the film Jim Carrey is more known for his comedy, so this particular film was out of his type cast that Hollywood knows him for. I tend to favor the films that challenge a type cast. Carrey was also in a film called The Majestic which I loved so much. If you haven't seen The Majestic, please give it a watch.
There is a scene in The Truman Show that I admire the most as far as character development. One minor detail shifts the lead character into believing his life isn't normal. Details are everything to him. A whole world is created for this one person to live his life in. Everyone can see him and watch him make decisions. The theme I want to focus on here is the concept of free will. While the director, Christof (Ed Harris) believes he can manipulate Truman's world, he can't control Truman.
This movie appeals to me so much because of how much it talks about the human condition. Truman figures out his world isn't real and that everything happens on a cue. He sees his wife (Laura Linney) is in on this big secret and is tempted by curiosity. Though Christof writes a script for everyone else around Truman, the actors realize they have to improvise due to Truman's new reactions. Truman isn't scripted and Truman's new revelations change the world around him. The reason I love this particular character development is because it shows the kind of affect a person can have on the world the moment they decide to make changes. All Truman is doing is making changes to himself. He's developing curiosity and a need to seek adventure.
I think the hardest concept to grasp, which still baffles me, is Ed Harris' character's obsession with Truman like he was his own son. I'm not sure why Christof has this unconditional love for Truman and what his motivation is to attach to him.
One particular scene I love is when Truman is trying to leave the city. He tries to buy a plane ticket to Fiji, but unable to get a ticket until a month later. The posters on the wall are all warning about the dangers of traveling. It's one of my favorite production design setups because it's intentionally trying to keep Truman from leaving. There follows a chain of occurrences that prevents Truman from leaving the city.
I believe one of the biggest moments is when Truman escapes from his house and Christof has to track him down. Instead of keeping the show running, Christof cuts the transmission and that's a big character transformation. The audience watches how Truman's free will affects the one person trying to control his life. A person can attempt to manipulate someone's life, but free will always wins out. Truman's need to leave his mundane life, to figure out the truth is a stronger motivation than Christof's need to make Truman the center of the world.
When Truman is on the boat, they access the weather program to try and create a storm powerful enough to stop him from leaving. Christof is almost willing to kill Truman to stop him, but Truman challenges his villain to try harder. That moment, is the first moment that Truman actually reacts to Christof as if for the first time, Truman is truly letting him know that he knows his world is being controlled by someone else. Christof's motivation to protect Truman changes and he tries to make the storm worse. Suddenly, our villain is no longer trying to take care of his star, but harm him because Truman is using his free will.
Now, I don't want to get into the touchy, deeper matter of the subject, but The Truman Show has a theme that resembles God and the world He created. Truman was going against the creator, seeking truth and following his own heart to try and discover the world that is out there. What Christof created was an ideal, perfect world where nothing could go wrong. He could protect his son. Truman defied that, trying to go on his own and for that Christof challenged him and punished him. It's a similar theme, but not entirely alike.
Today's question, open for discussion is:
What was Christof's motivation for doing what he did with Truman's life?
