The Truman Show

I'm assuming that everyone reading this has seen the Truman Show (if not - SPOILER ALERT!!), however I don't know if you well all agree with my opinion that it was one of the most important US films in the 1990s. Not only does the film take the possibilities of 'reality tv' to an as-yet-unfulfilled extreme, but it tells a story about a genuinely good character and celebrates the foibles of humanity (good or bad) in an age where there is genuine apathy in the world.

To me though, the most important part of the film - an aspect that is commonly overlooked - is its role as an anti-religious tract. It's an allegory for the story of Genesis, in which Adam's expulsion from the Garden of Eden is re-interpreted as a victory for the sprit of humanity rather than a fall from grace and ultimate sin.

Truman is Adam, the television studio in which he has lived his life is his own personal Garden of Eden. He is safe, he has friends, he is loved by all and has a wonderful life; but it isn't enough. What he really wants is freedom from his prison, a prison that might be paradise, but a prison none-the-less. At the end of the film he tries to escape by sailing away to an unknown land but ends up hitting the edge of the studio. As a last desperate act to keep him where he is the Truman Show's creative genius and producer speaks to Truman as if from nowhere, his booming voice telling Truman his life inside the studio is perfect in every way while outside the studio lies insecurity and difficult times - the normal trials and tribulations of being human. Truman muses this for a moment before deciding to reject the studio and the voice of God in favour of his own humanity. It's a triumphant moment, one that makes me tingle every time I see it - reproduced here through the magic of youtube.