Realism In The Truman Show

Utopias and dystopias are vastly explored in modern day. However, the thin line between them is rarely investigated. In a way, they are two sides of the same coin. One could argue that neither could exist without the other. Generally, the definitions of both are generic, subjective, and are always too easily corrupted to be realistic. Elements of this are present in the brilliant movie The Truman Show, in regular life, and are shown in Truman’s ultimately wise decision. In Christof’s eyes, he has created the perfect world for Truman. Although most of Truman’s experiences are manufactured and faked, he appears to be living in a perfect town, one widely considered to be the best, according to his fraudulent newspapers. Seahaven is Christof’s

However, for Truman, it’s a world of misery that has hurt and trapped him since he was a child. When he was young, he wished desperately to be an explorer. Through manufactured phobias and cruel, although subtle, jibes, he was forced to stay in his little town, forced to work a desk job that he doesn’t show any enthusiasm or enjoyment for, and forced to marry someone who, in his own words, cannot stand him. For him, this intended utopia quickly became dystopic. Luckily, he is not the only one with an alternate definition of paradise. Sylvia, the love of Truman’s life, calls it a prison. Although Christof insists that the man is perfectly happy “behind bars”, Sylvia still fights to get him free. Freedom, choice, and personal preferences are all missing from Seahaven. In that way, it’s unreal, as is supported by Truman’s attitude at the end. Distraught that his life had been a lie, he asked

There have been experiments and attempts. However, it gets corrupted quickly. Perhaps the greatest example is communism. In theory, a world where everyone is equal and no one feels lesser sounds like a utopia. But when put into practice, the society falls apart fast. To compare this to The Truman Show, Russia is an excellent example. The citizens lives are void of choice and freedom, similar to Truman. Likewise, the leader, Putin, controls everything due to the corrupted system. He receives everything from the hard work of the inhabitants. Similarly, Christof is selfish and wealth-oriented enough to nearly kill the star of his show than let him go free. Every minute of Truman’s life put money in his pocket. That money, in a way, should have at least in part belonged to the big name of the show. In a less widely known example, one individual tested the idea of a utopia, later writing about his findings in the book The Utopian Experiment. He put together a small, almost colonial town and invited a few thousand people to live there. In a unique choice, he decided that they should pretend that this place was created after the fall of society. Given that the book opens with the author waking up in psych ward, it can be assumed that it didn’t go well. They even had to interrupt the experiment when someone was injured chopping wood and had to be driven to the hospital. In the author’s own words, “To call something