By Anders Norton, age 14
The Truman Show is a movie about a man who is born and raised in a giant movie set. He doesn’t know that he is being filmed and is on live tv 24/7. He starts to realize this, however, when strange things start to happen and he starts to notice that his town of Seahaven isn’t a real town at all. I personally like this movie because it is very smart and you can tell that a lot of thought was put into the creation of this movie
In the movie, there are lots of subtle hints that Truman is trapped in this world that’s made for him. An example of this can be how there are always lots of lines and windows in the town or wherever he is. I think the director put these lines here to symbolize a jail cell with all of the bars and windows showing how lots of people are always looking in, watching him wherever he is or whatever he is doing. They hide all little cameras throughout the movie and, when you start to pay attention, you will be able to see them. They use lots of hidden cameras, like the ones on the garbage cans, on the posts, and at his desk. They’re so small that you don’t really even notice them when you are just first watching the movie. (I only noticed them on watching the second time.)
In addition to this, the town also looks “safe”, as if nothing bad can happen and he should stay there and not leave as townspeople are quick to act whenever something strange happens. Whenever he is trying to leave, something always is stops him, whether it is sudden traffic or there aren’t any flights available. When the light falls from the sky, the radio quickly reports that a spacecraft dropped it. When he unexpectedly goes on the bus, they quickly break it down so he can’t leave, and when he tries to drive away, they stop him by setting up a “leak at the nuclear power plant”. These moments show how they try to make sure he doesn’t find out about the show.
When I watched the movie, I felt like the director was trying to tell us that we just want to escape. I think this because of many reasons but, for starters, he is trying to leave throughout the whole movie, even though he isn’t supposed to. He wants to leave to go to Fiji but lots of little things are happening to try and get him to stay. Posters up in lots of areas that say that flying and boating can be very dangerous and the radio is saying stuff like that as well. They also traumatized him with a fear of water so he wouldn’t try to leave. Still, he wanted to go and find out what is out there or where he is. Even the name of the town makes him sound like it’s a good and safe place, with the word “haven” in it. Another reason I think the story is about escape is because of the “jail-like setting” and how it makes you feel like you’re trapped, but safe. Near the end of the movie, he is given the choice to stay in this “perfect town” or leave into the unknown and he decides to leave anyways.
In conclusion, I think The Truman Show is a good movie because of how every detail usually has something to do with the movie and, if you watch it again, you can really see all the little things that make this movie so interesting.
The Truman Show is available on VOD and BluRay.
