The Truman Show Q1

'The Truman Show' is about a man who's entire life is really a controlled television show, and he just doesn't know it. His world is a set and everyone around him, including his wife and best friend, is an actor. Nothing is real and he has no idea, until...

Question 1 - 2. Give three examples from the film where Truman’s perception of reality is deliberately manipulated.

1) When Truman starts to fall for the rouge actress and she begins to stir up the director's plans of a romance with a pre-planned actress as well as gives Truman hints on the falsity of his world, she is constantly whisked away to remove the threat, first by being taken away during a dance, and the second time being removed on the beach by her 'father' who says she is mentally ill. The producers of the Truman Show want to be able to continue to make Truman not question his surroundings, which means that anyone who does not fit into his perception of the world, must be removed before he realises the truth. They get rid of the actress in order to prevent Truman from realizing the truth of his reality.

2) The second time is when Truman starts to try to leave his world, so at first he goes to a travel agency, and they tell him there are no flights available for months. Then he goes to the bus station and the bus breaks down as soon as he goes on. Finally he gets fed up with everything and tries to escape by car, with his panicking wife in shotgun. Cars move in the way, his wife constantly tries to deter him and a nuclear plant apparently leaks at the end of the road. Truman ends up running into a forest but the police officers stop him and make him unconscious. Eventually his wife tells him that he is getting mentally ill, and the police officers were just trying to make him safe. In reality, the producers just want to prevent Truman from attempting to leave his world, in order to maintain the illusion of his reality.

3) The third time Truman's perception is deliberately manipulated is when his 'father' dies in the sea. A natural explorer, Truman insists his father takes him out into the water on a sailboat. A storm hits, which was already prepared, and his father drifts off, seeming dead to Truman. That leaves Truman with a fear of open water, which leads to further containing him in his prison of reality, as he lives on an island. He is too scared to pass the water, so he ends up being trapped by the limits of the island. The producers also bring his father back, saying he never died, in order to distract Truman from his recent string of escapes. This ends up backfiring, as Truman sees loses his fear of water, therefore allowing him to end up escaping on boat. The whole concept of his fathers death was just an invention to prevent Truman from leaving his reality, using his own fears to ground him to his world.