With this reading, Truman is systematically trying to figure out "Is ANYONE else a 'real person'? Who might need to escape WITH me?" and it truly breaks his heart when he figures out that he is the only one.
Ya know? That compounds the pain of the Marlon betrayal. This would have been maybe the *one* person who he thought was also real. Someone who might also be trapped in this terrible simulation, because they've just been together for so long. Since kids. All that's real time they spent together, every birthday, every broken bone, every guys night, highschool and college graduation -- *EVERY* moment. Surely, if *anybody* was also a "real person", a person who he needs to get out, it would be the guy he's known since childhood. Surely, he *also* was brought in as a kid, raised here, surely, they get on so well because they're in the same boat... *AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR!*
Yes! And it seems that he will even allow for a 'real person' to be an actor who doesn't remain complicit in keeping up the illusion of the world. So his first question is probably: "is anyone else in my situation?" His second question is, "can I trust anyone?" No and no.
The fact that we don’t get to see his escape really cements this for me. We are just like the at home audience, we only know what the actors and producers know. We aren’t actually with Truman on this journey, we’re with the actors and directors and producers.
@@gimligimlass5509 we get to see some more of the behind the scenes stuff, but yes. You'll notice that my comment does say "we are just like the at home audience," and we only see what the cast and crew can. We as viewers may be morally on Truman's side, but we are on the journey with the cast and crew because we only see Truman through their eyes. We don't actually get to know Truman's inner world, just his performance.
@@OcyTaviAhhe escaped, realized he has absolutely no idea how to survive in the real world, gets followed around by fans shouting his name, jumps off the Golden Gate Bridge
i think what sells this theory is the fact that truman has enough awareness of where the cameras are that he can successfully shield what he’s doing from view
@@Dude-oy9dl I remember reading about a year and bit prior that Jim was really looking for a dramatic role to get into to get away from being typecast as the kooky comedian and to show case his dramatic acting skills, then he landed this drama and body was it was well done, excellent photography, director that knew what to get out of his actors for each shot, excellent all around performances
ya, broke my heart that of all the people who should have been on his side, you'd think it would be his Best. Friend!, but no, he was one of the most loyal of the lackies to the man in the moon!
@@EndoftheBeginning17it’s sad to me we never got many more dramatic roles from Carrey because he’s one of my favorite actors in a serious context. His performance in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is incredible
Yeah he had been planning his escape and until that moment he had a reason to stay. A friend. But that was the moment he realized Marlon had never truly been his friend. And he decided to finally leave.
I've always interpreted the movie as Truman knows SOMETHING is weird and strange where he is, but he doesn't know what it is or who is in on it. The movie starts with the light falling because that is the moment Truman knows WHAT is going on, its a spotlight so its some sort of entertainment. So he goes to his family and friends to see if anyone will break for him. He questions them and confronts them and sees if they'll break like the girl-that-got-away and his 'father' did. He's hoping that it happens. He starts to go off the rails when he figures out just how insane the lengths they'll go to keep everything together are and when talking to his best friend, I think that look Truman gives is heartbreak. The one person he always thought would be on his side isnt going to break, isnt actually on his side, and doesn't care about him at the very least enough to break script. So he 'ruins' his life to break all the fake relationships and lets them get comfortable with a new routine with nobody in person to watch him, then escapes.
Watching this video I was thinking 'there's no way, why so many scenes where it seems like he's trying to figure things out in that case?' But now I wonder, what if he really is probing everyone? He doesn't know who all is in on it, so he might think the ones closest to him might be just as oblivious as he was. He wants them to not be in on it, he wants to bring them with him. But in the end it turns out that it really was The Truman Show, and everyone else really was in on it... except for her.
I think you've nailed it.. there's a definite moment where he's using the thrill of finding out the truth to cover over the nagging itch of "who actually am I?," and I think he was assuming that, at any point, he could break character and they'd end the show, he just wanted to see how far it would go. And once he realized oh, they are _trapping_ me here... he has a clear moment of dread and panic. Like everybody here cares more about their job than they do about *me.* That, plus when he realizes the SCOPE of it. I think for a hot minute, he thought it was a prank show, a reality show, something like that (even though he's been raised on old TV so he might not know the concept). That most people around him were normal, with only a few plants. The more he found out, the more messed up it becomes. Then when he hits that wall and just starts laughing, it's like... yeah that's how we'd react if we only just found out.
Plus as soon as that happened, he started to see patterns in his life. Like everything odd he has experience before like always falling asleep when going on trips, everyone discouraging him from leaving. Marlon traveling often (because of the actor keeping going in and out of rehab) even though he has said to Truman that it isn't fun to do so. Everything starts to click for him. But there is no conclusive proof yet, hence him testing stuff.
i always thought him saying the catchphrase like that at the end was his "final reveal". It feels like the sort of line he would have been fed as a kid via "say goodbye to the neighbors son!" and then as he grew up one day someone prompted him to say it and he did but he realized fully that he was being prompted to say it to some unknown audience and his mental journey to reality began (probably as an early teen). Hes not only saying it as a sincere goodbye to fans but as a way to scare the people in charge by revealing just HOW LONG hes been putting on a performance.
There definitely does seem to be some sort of acknowledgement of it in that moment. There are certain phrases that all of us tend to say but in that exit he seems to know that it's specifically his *catchphrase*. I feel like, if we were to follow him through the rest of his life, he would NEVER say those exact words ever again.
Sometimes I like to imagine that he and Ed Harris's character were in on it together to create the best series finale ever. If not Harris than some other higher up producing deus ex machina when called for.
It’s also a jab at the creators of the show, because him having a whole breakdown and giving an angry speech would have made great content, but instead he just said one simple frequently repeated thing to close it off
@@twineberry Oh! also... he did it to ruin the show and the creators reputation. Because viewers would watch him do that and then be outraged that he seemed to be in on it and exiting in a scripted way. I can picture viewers saying "Wait a minute... he knew? He was part of it? They tricked us! What a waste of time watching this show for so long!" They would feel like it was an extremely long play on the audience. To captivate them into tuning in for years to a show about a man's life but at the very last broadcast, it turns out that all of it was planned, even his escape.
The one thing I always think about is the "obvious" signs that would hint that something was not genuine would be harder for Truman to spot. Everyone pushing him into odd "product placement" scenarios or everyone around always watching him, he would not come across as strange to Truman because it would have been happening to him his whole life and would seem normal.
That's because it's "Obvious to the viewer but not to the character," and you're very correct. It's the truly "odd" things, like how people go in circuits around the block, or how a literal false star falls from the heavens and he's allowed to pick up the fallen fake star. Eventually the behaviour during product placement is just part of the load and it ends up being what breaks Truman further. It never came off as odd until *everything else* started happening too.
I think the staring might be something he could clock as weird because he can see they don't do it to one another, just him. But yeah, the product placement would just be "a weird thing people of my culture do".
I teach this film twice a year to Year 9s and Year 11s. Every year, I find new clues and readings. This year, I came to the realisation that he knows and believes from the moment Silvia/Lauren tells him. Suddenly, the hole digging became obvious. One of the most amazing readings, though, came from my student, who said, "I think that the light falling is symbolic, because it foreshadows that a star (Truman) is about to fall. I just stood, blinking at her, because - of course!
The film isn't about Truman realizing he needs to escape; I suggested that he already knows and is seeking *whomever else might be trapped too.* A kind of "I'm not leaving until I get *everyone* else out too." kind of thing, and over time he realizes that *everybody* is against him, nobody else reacts the way he does and he himself is the only person whom is trapped and cannot leave whereas the rest are given agency to do so. Truman wasn't just seeking a way out, he was seeking if anyone else was stuck in there too.
I just watched the Lie to You scene with Marlon and Truman, and Marlon's face is almost dripping with guilt. This must be how Truman knows that Marlon is in on it.
@@Dude-oy9dlno, there were cut scenes with him behind the scenes in the movie talking to a therapist because of how torn up. He felt he hated doing it
@@Dude-oy9dl I think that the reality of the situation was dawning on Marlon, but he was in too deep to get out. And how could he explain this whole mess to Truman without driving Truman crazy?
Y'all ain't right. Marlon did tell Truman with his face on purpose. Truman knew what his real answer was. It seemed like pretty obvious subtext which I never get irl but here it was clear. They both were regretting losing their game friendship because it's real as well.
For me there is a C story throughout the movie talking about the developments of Truman's fear of water... and why they did it. He planned to run away for a long time, but the only way out was across the water. They worked hard to psychologically twist him into being afraid of the only door that let him escape, but he never stopped trying to find another way. I agree he dug the hole before the movie started, but I also believe that he did it with the intent of just leaving the town he grew up in and never looking back. Then he learns the truth about the lies and that pushes him to overcome his cultivated fear, and carry on with the plan he has had most of his life; just with a different perspective.
I think you're right. It doesn't make sense that he's aware just ten minutes in that he was being constantly watched. He instinctively knew something weird was going on, but it was more of an existential, unfocused suspicion. The movie is about him learning how far the false reality extended. He wouldn't be motivated to dig the hole until he realized how trapped he truly was. And he didn't know that till he got past the bridge and was captured by those wranglers.
why would he need to dig a hole to escape? unless he is already aware he's being watched. Someone who isnt being watched could just get in their car and drive
Completely 100% agree with this. It feels like Truman has laid awake at night thinking of what Sylvia said to him about everything not being real, but he doesn't understand it until the events of the film unfold. But he is digging a tunnel because getting to her is his secret mission. The fact he knows how to sail a boat in the climax despite his fear to me suggests that's the thing holding him back.
I think he knew instinctively, the first scene is him talking to the Mirror like he's talking to an audience, his way of saying goodbye, he always knew instinctively he was being watched
I think he was just taught to do that. He was raised to be a TV star, so he was probably encouraged to talk to himself as much as possible to raise entertainment value. Just like his catchphrase.
If he doesn't know all along, then I think the first mirror scene is just him goofing off. The second mirror scene if definitely him talking to the producers, and they're oblivious to it. If anything, the movie goes from him being oblivious to 2/3 of the way the production staff being oblivious to the fact that he knows.
Let's not forget that cameras were everywhere all the time. He wouldn't be able to get away from them and he couldn't have conversations with just anyone, just with the principals, not the extras and not the crew. There would constantly be these weird happenstances of people knowing his name without him ever saying it, people gawking at him etc. I found a video showing when the hole was found and it is in the same spot as where Truman is digging, so it's probable that he knew and had dug the hole some time prior. This makes the movie not about his discovery but about how to execute his escape without raising suspicions
@@MichaelMerrittCT Yeah he even taunts the staff by saying that one's free. Plus on rewatch, you can tell in all the scenes afterwards he isn't behaving like he used to at the beginning of the movie, because now he is acting. But he plays exactly how the Christof wants Truman to be like that nobody bats an eye.
@@saucevc8353 I just realized, he's been living around people with earphones his whole life, he probably saw enough actors asking about stage directions or stuff to think that everyone talks to themselves.
Man, this would recontextualize his magazine artwork of lauren from obsession to actually trying to send her a message without them knowing he knows she'll see it.
The Truman Show is one of those movies which I cannot fault. It's essentially a 10 for me. It seems so unbelievably well planned out and executed I can just watch it a thousand times.
My friend taped this on VHS when we were kids and we liked Jim Carrey films. He didn't catch the first five to ten minutes of the intro, so the whole movie turned into a thriller where you start to question if Truman is losing his sanity. To me, the movie worked even better that way.
Ehh it'd be more suspenseful maybe. But its crucial to the story they were trying to tell that we know from the beginning. Because the audience and crew know. And this is specifically told from their perspective, NOT Truman's. That's why it ended as soon as he stepped off the set. The movie even hammers it home by having the in-film audience cut to credits by changing the channel (something something we live in a society).
My favorite movies are Shutter Island and Trumann Show because their different interpretations. Up until now Im realising most people takes for a fact that Andrew was a murderer and Trumann didnt know from the beggining.
@@dianalombanastube How's he not a murderer? Why would he want to die a hero, rather than live a monster? He killed his wife, no? (Technically he was in the army, so... but truthfully, no hate, just want to know :D)
That's funny, I had a similar experience. The first time I saw it, I missed the first 10 to 15 minutes, so I didn't truly understand what it was about until around halfway through it. Then I watched it at least twice more, but due to different circumstances I always ended up missing the first five minutes or so. I obviously already knew what the premise was, but I think I never got to see how the film opened until I was older.
Truman digging a hole to escape while still 'probing' the town to see how far they'll go to keep him there by trying to leave by ferry plane and car feels like too much forethought. I think he started digging the hole after his failed attempts to leave normally.
@@CamerHD No, but it's the position you get into when trying to hide the hole you've been digging from your wife to make it look like you've just been gardening.
I really like this. In the Truman universe, consider the fact that we were privy to a minuscule period in Truman’s life, yet we witnessed dozens of production errors. By the time we see Truman, the show should have been a well oiled machine with no room for mistakes. Consider for a moment how many errors have been there for his whole life.
I read a theory abt that. When the show started , they didnt need the dome bc its easy to keep a child contained. As he grew older, the set had to grow with him. The producers have had to build and improvise as they went along. It was probably only a well oiled machine in the beginning. By the time he was in college, everyone was flying by the seat of their pants
I agree, I've actually thought this before but you've got the words out of my head. There would be no way he hadn't had inklings by this point, but imagine how much more he'd be thinking about it once he Sylvia literally tell him. It'd be from that moment onward he started plotting his escape for sure.
9:21 Our movie is the “episode” where we start to see the shift in Truman. Kinda as If the producers from the movie were trying to figure out when he noticed as well, and made it into a feature length film.
The fact that he has a collage photo of the girl he fell for once who was taken to 'fiji' at the films start, and makes a scene of acting casual in the office just to tear an innocuous piece of paper off a magazine, I think shows he definitely knows something is up and has known some kind of conspiracy exist around him for a long time, because he doesn't trust anyone, not his friend and not his coworkers, and definitely not his wife who the studio most brazenly shoved into his life against his will. The one thing he knew that was outside of whatever conspiracy was ruling his life was a girl he was saw who tried to tell him something who at first tried saying 'I'm not supposed to talk to you'. A girl who was wearing things that hinted at how she was an activist there to save him and not a regular part of the cast. I think the girl was the first true inciting incident that told him he is in a cage of some sort. The studio light though, thats named after a star was maybe the first thing to let him contextualize the conspiracy in the form of actors and a television set.....maybe. unless his catchphrase really was fabricated because he's known for a long time. But it's after the the studio light he starts making his most brazen test against all of the 'extras' on set, realizing they won't react even if tries to get their attention, and they will deliberately stop for him and not make a further scene of him stopping traffic.
@veezopolis his friend had been there since he was a kid and it was probably unthinkable to him that whatever conspiracy was going on went that far back.
@@veezopolis I'd suggest he thought Marlon was trapped too. Truman wanted to take Marlon with him. I think the entirely of the show Truman knows that his life isn't fully "real" but is some sort of facsimile of life, and we get to witness the probing and scientific process that goes into proving that he's trapped, and just how he's going to get out. He even takes his wife hostage, an unwilling passenger on Truman's escape, when he tries to literally drive as far as he can go before encountering *every possible blockade humanity could throw at him.* He knows she's in on it, and that probing is to find out how far the system lets him go. I forget the exact scene, but I think when he talks about the light and things with Marlon that's when he starts to clue in that Marlon really isn't stuck here neither and only Truman is. That realization is when he stops trying to "free the others" because the others are not stuck whatsoever and can go as they please. In particular was his wife, whom he's clearly quite estranged with and puts *no* effort into preserving their relationship; I think the prodding there is done akin to "Salting the Pile" when figuring out whom is a rat fink: you tell 10 people the same story but with a twist and see what suddenly comes back out. Truman tells her the order that everyone is doing stuff, and specifically wants to see "if it changes and how it does" because of him talking to whom is supposed to be his most trusted person in his life. TL:DR? *Watch the show again.* You'll see more stuff.
@@EddieSpaghetti69 building on this idea: It's possible that the various extras and many of the staff wanted to help Truman, and DIDN'T report seeing him when he was going for the boat.
What's "the" hole he's digging? I've always thought he knew something was up before the film starts, but only figures out more concretely what that is during the course of the film. He reveals his doubts to too many people if he already knew the full extent.
Think about it this way He starts with digging the hole as soon as the camera falls from the sky, because he knows 100% something is wrong. He spends the entire movie testing the limits of what he can and can't get away with, knowing where the boundaries are to the site, how they spy on him, if they have earcoms, and especially _who is in on it_ Picture this, he gets more and more irrational in the way he acts as the movie goes on not BECAUSE what he's seeing get covered up, but because he's testing who is in on it. He goes crazy around his wife because she sets herself up to be in on it, and he has a 1 to 1 with Marlin, breaking friendships and getting space from everyone who spies on him to see if they needed to escape too, or if it was just him and everyone around him was an actor too.
Disagree that he knew all along, at that point he was simply gardening in the borders, not digging a hole. He may have gotten the idea to dig the hole FROM doing the gardening however. The hole Truman escapes through is in the middle of the lawn, not where the plants are, you can see a circle in the lawn when he's mowing the 'new Elk Rotary' mower. I always thought he gave away that he knew in the throwaway line 'That one's for free' (after he draws Trumania in the bathroom mirror). He had suspicions something was up from when he first saw his father again in the town square. From then on he started to join the dots. His behaviour changes from that point onwards.
I just checked the movie and the hole he escapes from, where Marlon pops out from, is in the exact spot where Truman was digging at the beginning of the film. The "Lawn Cam" Christof uses to show Truman gardening is the same one that catches Marlon. He may or may not have been digging the hole at the beginning (I say he wasn't), but the hole does end up in that exact spot. In supplemental material, I think in the official shooting script book specifically, it said Truman kept a patch of the lawn uncut as a form of rebellion. This is what you see him cutting with the Elk Rotary mower. His example of childish rebellion is done because he's going to be escaping for real that same night.
yeah somehow being able to dig an escape hole out in the open without the constant camera surveillance noticing is quite the stretch, and if he knew all along then changing his behavior as if he's figuring it all out puts too much suspicion on himself.
This movie has always stood as an example of how good of an ACTOR Jim Carrey is. Yes, he's an amazing comedian, everyone's always known that. But he's a great ACTOR too, and that's something too many people gloss over.
How is it that the greatest film about social media ever made was released in 1998? Kristof’s line “Cue the Sun” is my favourite line from any movie and I think the whole thing is just perfect.
I just realized Fiji is a red herring he's throwing at the audience and crew. They try to dissuade him from sailing and flying and being an explorer so he keeps saying he's going all the way to the other side of the world so when he escapes they'll look for him there and find nothing
What? No lol. He wants to go to Fiji because he was told that Sylvia (the girl he fell in love with) moved to Fiji. He hasn't been planning his escape for over a decade and is using Fiji as a cover so no one can find him, he just wants to go there so he can see Sylvia again.
I think you are wrong that Truman is digging the hole in that gardening scene. I believe that scene is our Chekovs gun for later. It shows Truman digging in the front yard, while also showing us the chef's pal that leads to the climactic moment when all of Truman's suspicions are confirmed beyond any doubt. This is a well crafted and subtle scene where important pieces of the climax are put into the viewers mind.
•"Missed A Spot"(Giant hole behind Truman) •Be had to know where the camera was in order for it not to see the hole •He constantly stares directly at the camera's unlike most movie actor's, since during advertisements people stare at them, and they put it in his face. •He Remembered the girl being taken away in school,and he never forgot what she said. He knew he was being watched, but didn't know Why. The movie was him trying to figure out why.
@@almessasorrow4950 You think "the spot" that he missed was a man-sized hole in their front yard? His wife wouldn't have been so casual about it. It doesn't matter if it was in view of the camera that we (the audience) are viewing him through, because his wife and all of his neighbors would have seen the giant hole in the front yard. Are they in on it too? Are they secretly trying to help him escape by not snitching on his hole that he's been digging in the front yard? I think you're reading way too much into that scene.
@@Shleppy_ never said it was man sized. Just that there was a pretty big hole behind him. He cleared out a patch for the flowers that hole would be head sized at least for most of them, "missed a spot" insinuates that he left a head sized hole behind him.
@almessasorrow4950 Have you ever planted flowers before? You don't make a head-sized hole to plant the flowers, and you don't dig very deep either. It's way more likely that "missed a spot" is either referring to some grass that he missed with the mower, or some weeds that he didn't pull up.
To add on to your thoughts, and maybe provide you a new idea for further discussion - I have grown to think that Paul Giamatti's character as the technical Director was finding ways to give Truman hints and help. The Light falling could have been set up by him. The localized rain storm also. He was also in prime position to make sure the cameras did not show Truman digging the actual hole. Him using the "intern" as a trainee made it easy for Truman to escape when he does. Him directing the searches also gave Truman help in that he never sent anyone to the places Truman had to go to escape. Take another look at him while watching the movie. There are so many layers to his performance.
That's interesting. He's presented as getting a bit careless but he's clearly apprehensive about going through with Christof's storm at the climax. I have always wondered about the rain falling on just Truman - I think Truman thinks it's just coincidental or odd since he's grown up in the world and things like that might have happened before, but it's never explained why it happens and why it takes to long for the rest of the rain to kick in. Dramatic effect for the cameras?
Yeah I can fully accept this. Always kinda assumed he knew there was something wrong when we see him collecting and cutting out the faces in the magazines. But the pointing out of the gardening scene really does feel like a major tell. I dont know that he knew he was in a dome until the light falls, but he definitely knew that his life was fabricated from the start of the film.
truman knows he is being watched and contained but he doesnt know the what's,who's,why's and how far whoever group influence goes so he cant just escape,he needs to get a idea of why he is being kept away and how many of the people around him are 'in it' by the time of marlon convo he fully realizes is EVERYONE
Just watched this and immediately started rewatching. I think it must be true. 18 minutes in, when Truman is in the basement, his wife comes in and he says "I saw my dad today". She responds "I know" and his face says "shes gonna tell me everything" until she says "your mom called", and he shakes and drops his head.
Man you're absolutely right, he is digging the hole there. Because at the end, he says his line and then says "yup", like "yup, it was just a line" (which the director realises, hence the expression change), and then the bow to end the performance. Brilliant spot.
One of my favorite parts in the movie is watching him go around and around in the revolving door. In that moment, he began to view the events around him in a different perspective.
That’s a pretty solid theory. I never thought that he dug the hole out of the basement. I thought he found an access tunnel that came up under his yard
I have a copy of the script book _literally on hand right now._ Interestingly enuf, the script only specifies that he's using a lawnmower...which means that, *possibly,* Jim Carrey himself worked out that Truman ought to be covertly gardening/digging the hole.
@solrac4512 because if he was already planning to escape, he had to figure out how to have a reason to move to the basement. In this theory if he knows he's on tv, then he also seems to want to give the audience some captivating drama. He never seemed to love his wife, so it makes sense to reverse the table and manipulate her to get what he wants in the end. His end goal has always been Fiji, the audience always knew that. he's proven capable of long laid plans simply by never forgetting Lauren's face.
The Truman Show is very close to a story about a person suffering from a manic depressive episode believing he's at the center of a grand conspiracy, but then turns out he really is and everyone around him really are lying... Would be interesting to see a version of the story where that part is left to the audience to decide. Digging a tunnel in your backyard is a pretty innocent thing to prepare. Very useful thing to have in an escape and easily filled back up if it's all in your mind. But digging a tunnel is a pretty unreasonable thing to do in a normal state of mind. Would have loved to see a version where we don't really know if it's all a lie or not.
I think he knows something is up, but doesn’t know the extent to it. which is why throughout the movie he tests the boundaries (literally) as well as who all is involved in the conspiracy to help him know what is actually going on and how he can properly escape it. I don’t think he really even knew what he was escaping in the beginning, only that things around him didn’t add up to reality. He might have thought he was in a virtual reality, not a tv show set. The light falling likely gave a huge hint that it was a stage and not virtual reality, purgatory, etc.
I don't buy it. He subjected his escape to so much unnecessary scrutiny by making increasingly wild attempts to pull back the veil. The only way that would make any sense is if he had someone else helping him set up the final escape and was keeping everyone else distracted. It would have been infinitely easier for him to get out if they thought he was completely in the dark and then one day he was simply gone. I suppose you could make the argument that the purpose was to make the production look foolish and get his revenge on live TV, but I think that implies a level of awareness of how the world "should" be that wouldn't be possible for someone that grew up in a completely controlled environment, and would also have to mean that the seeds of the plan were planted at an exceedingly young age.
Is it possible that this is Plato’s allegory of the cave and that even tho he has only ever known symbols divorced from reality, those symbols became the tools he would utilize to free himself?
I think this interpretation makes sense if he does not suspect those closest to him are in on it. So, this may suggest that Truman has some sense that things aren't right in his town. Maybe he's found the hidden camera's before and didn't let on. Probably suspects the government, the town leadership, or something along those lines of being responsible for a conspiracy to trap multiple people not just himself. In this variation of the theory, Truman may believe or even just hope, that Marlin is a prisoner like him. This explains that heartbreaking look in the moment where he seems to convince himself that it's not the case and even his best friend is a part of the deception. His antics leading up to the mistake is a play from Truman to sus out the difference between prisoner and jailer. He didn't yet understand that he was the only prisoner and had grand ambitions of bringing people he cared about with him on his escape.
Well, there is a deleted scene if i am not mistaken where Marlon of all people actually FINDS Truman during the search and he stares at him for a solid minute before looking away and going with the others shouting "TRUMAN WHERE ARE YOU?"
I think overanakyzing the film on its surface level premise that he is the unwitting star of a reality TV show can cause one to miss the point entirely. The plot is symbolic. The story is about a man who starts to question his choices in life until he realizes they weren't choices at all. The movie is about social engineering, which we all experience and if you dare to follow your own path in a way that doesn't conform, you suddenly become acutely aware that everyone around you is watching and steering you toward the socially acceptable path. The wife ensuring he does not act on a less practical but more passionate relationship, the mother working with the wife and the father trying to warn him because he himself was once in his own version of "The Truman Show". Truman had been planning his escape from this life he had become trapped in for a long time, but it's only when he started to act on it that he realized everyone around him would try to stop him at all costs, because of "the director", which I would interpret as all the tools of social engineering that have traditionally reinforced only one acceptable path in life: religion, schools, employers, the media, etc. If you've ever done this in real life; questioned your "picture perfect life", your stable career, marriage, you would see that your wife, your mother, your best friend, etc. would just become pawns of a system designed to keep you in a predetermined state; a cog in the wheel. So yes I think he was definitely planning his escape in the same way everyone who feels trapped in a life that was created for them does. Not in some ingenius heist like fashion, but in a major existential breakdown where he ultimately said f it and walked away. He always could. He wasn't trapped. He just felt trapped because of all the pressure everyone put on him. What he realized is that everyone around him were "actors" fulfilling the role they were supposed to play. And if Truman questioned his role, then their whole world collapsed. T The older I get, the more eery this film becomes.
5:00 Truman looks at Marlon with sadness, a look of betrayal - because he knows he’s lying to him, and it hurts ! Jim is sooo good in this movie !! 🎥 🍿
That is a crazy different way to watch the film. Truman isn’t oboist, but rather he is playing EVERYONE. That flips the narrative on his head! This only proves how much this film is a work of art
I've only seen the movie a few times, but I recall several flashback scenes where people are seemingly trying to tell him and get their own 5 minutes of fame. But if I had to pick a point where Truman truly begin to question, it would have to be in high school when the girl is taken away and he's told she's moving to Fiji. She tells him it's fake, and it seems to be glossed over, but we also see throughout the film that he never forgot her. He may not have understood then, but when the light fell at the start of the movie, it seems to have jump-started the conspiracy theory that was implanted long ago, and the cast probably thought they had suppressed but good. The radio glitch shortly after likely only reaffirmed his notions. But the final straw before we really kick it into high gear is when he sees his dad, and sees him get carried away, and probably catching the resting area behind the elevator walls. It's a lot going on, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that all happen before he's working in the garden? So you may be right, by the time we see him in the garden, he at least knows enough to begin hatching an escape plan. The rest of the movie is him trying to gather clues while also hiding what he knows, but he does still end up going further and further off the deep end. I don't think he knows knows when working in the garden, I don't think he figures that out until the cop calls him Truman (at the earliest), but he at least knows more than enough to know his world is falling apart around him. Perhaps I should watch it a few times, and see how much of this post I also remember, to see how right or wrong I am.
you just reminded me about his father.. that part of the movie kinda hits a dead end, doesn't it. Because how would his dad, who was taken off the show for refusing to lie to him, agree to lie to him? how would they TRUST him under any circumstance? and what does he tell Truman? we don't get to see any of that.
@@nickbob2003 I did a bunch of lookinups, and it seems that I fully misinterpreted his dad's role He got written off the show, not because he was trying to tell Truman the truth, but because it would make him afraid of the ocean. The actor didn't WANT to leave the show, so that's why he kept sneaking back in. Not because he cared about Truman. But we got so little explicit stuff about him, so I mixed him up with the girl who absolutely got taken off because she was gonna tell him.
What endears this movie to me is that Truman is surprised to learn that he is, in fact, the main character. I know far too many people in real life who are surprised to learn that they are not.
....or at least 'he knows something'. The things you mention in this video are some of the things I wondered about, and quite honestly, the scenes you mention as clues that he knew something or everything all along...they leave me scratching my head. The sequence they are in go from an early 'he knows everything' to 'he's suspicious about these odd occurrences and odd behaviors" to "he is starting to get a clue' and back and forth between all three. That being said, it is a good movie.
I took all the video production classes at my high school. I saw a “The Truman Show” poster along with other movie posters. The poster for “The Truman Show” stuck out to me like a sore thumb. I haven’t heard of it and I looked it up and watched it on Netflix. I don’t regret watching it whatsoever. Such a good movie! Man I love it!
I thought he figured it out when the light fell and he was digging the hole in that "missed a spot" scene. The rain scene was definitely a clue in. He wasn't really bewildered, he was goofing around Im obsessed with this movie because i grew up in the neighborhood where the bridge scenes were filmed, and grew up in a cult that i found out my parents knew wasnt true all along.
I love the direction in the scene where he’s reunited with his dad. It’s made to seem so hopeful and triumphant (aka what Christof WANTS this moment to represent) and on first watch that seems like a valid interpretation of Truman’s response, he seems to be crying with joy. It kind of validates Christof’s narcissism by suggesting that he really does have a superior insight into Truman’s needs and emotions and therefore of course he should completely control his life. But then - if you watch it again - you realise that that’s not what’s happening at all. Truman’s not crying with joy, he’s crying because he’s realised that he’s alone and his entire life is some kind of lie. When you really watch him properly in that scene and ignore the triumphant music and the big dramatic camera angles and the sentimental dialogue - all of which is stuff that Christof demands - you understand the sleaziness of the operation. People claim to adore him and spend their lives watching him, but they don’t know the first thing about how he thinks or feels. He’s just a prop in a story that has nothing to do with his actual inner life.
I always thought that it was odd that Truman bowed at the end, its like he knew but I couldn't figure out how he knew. I thought it was when Silvia was taken away from him is when he started rebelling against everyone, and sort of just played with them, and wow it actually makes sense that he was self aware even from the start of the film
It seems more like he’s got this crippling feeling that something is wrong but everyone around him is acting like this is how life should be, and he’s just staying ready for reality to break so he can make his exit. He’s prepared but is reserving his plans and thoughts because others wouldn’t understand him. Like how many people who go through a dull and inauthentic life just physically living and maintaining sustenance could never fully express to others this feeling of needing to break the cycle and find something more. And the ones who you can express that too and relate with are your true friends. The closer he gets to the breaking point the less he can believe it all because it is so psychologically shattering. So he knows something is wrong but just can’t admit it. I don’t think he ever knew much, he just knew this wasn’t real life.
I think it's common when you watch a movie or read a book too many times, where you've juiced it for all it's got, but you still want more. That's where fan theories can come into play. Grant Morrison did this with The Killing Joke graphic novel, desperately trying to find more story. But this fan canon isn't in the text, or even the subtext, of the story itself. It's a mirage from staring too long, looking for more and more clues to the deeper meaning. The reason for that scene wasn't to indicate he's digging the hole to escape, it's just to set up the idea that he'd know where to dig later, once he realizes what he'll have to do to escape.
Yeah this theory doesn’t make much sense. The hole was made in the basement when he moved in there. Why would he start the hole in the garden and end in the basement???
@@solrac4512 I think, if you're looking for these links, you could say he knew where that hole in the basement would come out for the very reason he'd been digging in the garden a few weeks before. But the notion that he'd been planning this specific escape all along doesn't actually fit the movie. But I think it's interesting how these theories pop into our head, and become difficult to dislodge. It can happen to anyone. It's the same sleuthing instinct that leads us to real insights and subtle clues in the film. But I think what happens is, when you want to uncover more, and there's no more to uncover, you can start seeing what isn't really there. I think this is the point in analyzing a film where you have to stop asking yourself what's happening, and start asking yourself what it means on a more symbolic level. The Truman Show has endless layers of meaning, many of which might be contradictory. For instance, you can read the film as actually a guy LOSING his grip on reality rather than gaining it. One could read the Truman Show as a guy going insane, becoming convinced of a delusion that his reality is a grand conspiracy. And as his delusion takes hold, he seals himself off from anyone who could convince him otherwise. Of course, this isn't the intended meaning of the film, but because the subtext of a man waking up TO reality is done just so, the opposite reading emerges, perhaps unbidden by the author, as the opposing but equally compelling subtext. It's like the top at the end of Inception. We never see it topple because the answer to the question of whether the protagonist is still dreaming is both no and yes. The truth is within the contradiction. Anyhoo, my point is, this is the point of film analysis when we have to stop asking what is literally happening in the story, and begin to ask what it means. Because that question has endless answers.
You gotta change that thumbnail for "What The Truman Show Reveals About Its Characters..." This video is performing so much better and I felt like clicking it because of the thumbnail.
I think it’s confirmed in his mind when his best friend says, “if everyone’s in on it, I’d have to be in on it too.” He immediately goes back to “normal” but is planning his escape.
Now that I think about it...along this line of thinking is the scene where Truman is 'back to normal' acting like his old self when he is drawing on the bathroom mirror again but after wiping it away...he says "That one (was/is) for free." And shortly after, he makes his great escape. Even years and several viewings later, this movie is still opening my eyes on so many new levels! I love it!
Him digging the hole at the start of the movie actually makes so much sense, like when Lauren tells him that everything is fake and that he needs to leave, that could have been when he started to realize things werent as they seemed.
I feel like Truman's collage is evidence enough he's always known he was being watched, that he had something to hide. That said him digging the tunnel early is perfect.
i figured he knew something was wrong, but not what. he did act curiously in reconstructing the girl's face which he had spent a lot of time working on previously. the scary part for truman was to see just how deep the problem was and just how artificial his world had been. [in short, suspected, but short of knowing all along] love the movie!
I think he can’t possibly know before the light drop because reality is only what we personally have experienced but he’s unhappy and he suspects, far more importantly what leads Truman to wanting to leave is that he’s always wanted to leave ever since he was a kid. What lets him in on anything being bizarre is that the entirety of his world is stopping him from doing that which is more obvious than any of us get in real life where we convince ourselves that our connections and responsibilities are the real things holding us back from leaving unhappy situations to pursue our interests, the movie is fun because in fact the world is against this man and he keeps going anyway.
In a lot of abusive upbringing, one can know something is wrong without knowing what that something is. It may well be that Truman is aware something is wrong without knowing what is wrong until the light falls, and he realizes the star is missing, at which point the glamor falls off and he stays trying to sus out who knows, only to realize he's the only one who didn't.
We see lots of suspicious things in the flashback sequences. It's easy to see how Truman may have brushed off this or that slip up as a child, but as an adult he is definitely suspicious. The whole Sylvia episode was definitely enough for him to figure out something is up. Like anyone else however, he would've second guessed himself. He evidently trusted some of the people around him still (he grew up with them after all), and they did everything they could to reassure him that everything was normal. I think the light is the straw that broke the camels back, the thing that cemented his suspicions, but it definitely wasn't the start of them. He obviously didn't have the full picture at any point in the movie, but he's not dumb enough to miss all the weird stuff in the flashbacks even before the light drops. His desire to explore the world is a powerful motivator, but it is not his biggest motivation to leave. His fear of drowning has more effect on his behaviour as we see. It's arguable that without the fantasy of Sylvia in Fiji, he'd have given up on that dream that everyone around him (who he still trusted at the time) were telling him to give up on. It's only when he completely loses all trust in those around him (cemented by his "dad" being revealed to have never drowned at all) that he finally overcomes his fear of drowning. In other words, the total confirmation of his lifelong suspicions are the main reason he leaves, in particular the realisation that nothing in his life was real so nothing is tying him down.
@@lampostsamurai2518 I agree with that, im not saying he doesn't suspect. However suspecting your sense of reality is off is different from subverting the constraints of your environment. But also knowing is not the catalyst that begins his need for escape. It's been in him all along and constantly needed to be suppressed to keep him put.
If he knew for sure he would have left sooner. Like really tried to leave. The first time he ever properly tried to leave was during the movie, no one could even fathom him getting onto the bus before he decided to do it. They subtly tried to keep him to stay, made him scared of water, always told him that the world wasn' worth seeing. But they never actively prevented him from leaving until the events of the movie. There's no way he "knew" beyond a sense that something was odd about his life.
I'd suggest that the first half of the movie is him prodding to see if anyone else is trapped. He isn't trying to leave because a human thing to do is to seek enclaves and refuge; and I think Marlon is what holds him back. It's when he realizes that Marlon isn't trapped he truly probes for ways to leave.
He's actually probing the staff and seeing how far it goes a good chunk of the movie. He already knows there's a major problem when it starts... but the light from the sky? That didn't tell him he was in a tv show, that told him HE WAS INSIDE. That's what the laughter is about at the rain, he confirms a CIELING, and the names of everything and the fact kids could answer science questions as a kid confirms that it's mimicing the outside. It's the light and the rain that 100% confirm there's a cieling which means something supported, which means there's a wall. He now 100% knows there's a wall and where there's a wall there's also an exit. His driving attempt earlier was to see potentially how far it is as well. He knows, he's just afraid and is collecting info.
@@Folsomdsf2 That's an interesting thought. I was going to say that he doesn't know for sure there is a ceiling, but then I checked what was on the label on the fallen light, it's labelled Sirius which is the brightest star in the night sky. I didn't know that, but Truman would have because he had a good education, it's the brightest star too so the average person probably would know it. If the light is meant to be a star then yes that would clue Truman in that the sky is actually a roof (even if it takes until the very end of the movie for it to sink in). Assuming he is meant to recognise it as the name of a star of course.
Then again, maybe they really would have kept space knowledge from him, if it caused him to study the stars then it could be trouble for the show. They would have had good reason to keep from him anything that could inspire an interest into space.
This made me think that yes, Truman has known for a while and he is testing to see who’s in on it and who else is unaware. He may think his best friend is also in this experiment. That is until the “I would never lie to you” scene. And he realizes he’s the only one.
5:25 Excellent acting by Jim Carrey - I agree, this is when he knows "yeah even Marlin is in on it too". I've given that exact look to people before when I realized they've been lying to me about something the whole time.
He knows that something is up from the beginning and has had his escape plan in place before the movie starts? So his plan is to slowly escalate his behavior to confirm his suspicions which when confirmed emboldens him to enact his escape plan? That makes the movie so mind bending, especially the farewell at the end suggesting he's been putting on a performance for a long time.
There’s also the scene where Truman is tearing out strips from the magazine, which he apparently buys everyday, to reconstruct Sylvia’s face. He knew he had to hide what he was doing. This was presented as an ongoing project of his, and he did it in a relatively protected space in his bunker. Later in the movie it was revealed that there had been several successful infiltrators who had told him he was in a TV show. Somewhere along the line he understood what was going on.
It makes sense he'd always be suspicious, or know at least something is going on. After all, at the beginning of the film the Sirius star ends up falling and throughout the film, all these little things occur that lead up to the end. He got confirmation during the films time line, but before that, he might have always had his suspicions, just no confirmation. There's no way he was completely in the dark prior to the start of the film if all these little accidents were occurring over the years. Which they did imply happen, for example, with the compilation of clips of fans trying to intervene and tell Truman he was on TV. With all that happening over the years, there's no way he was at least suspicious.
I just wanted to say that it has kind of became like a bit in my friend group that when they ask what my favorite movie is I always say "The Truman Show". That has always been my answer since I watched a cried so hard at the ending. So glade to see that someone enjoys this movie as much as I do!PLSSSS make more episodes. I LOVE THIS SERIES!! keep up the great work.
Also, something I was wondering: does Truman actually have a phobia of water? When he's sailing, he doesn't look scared in the slightest. It's like he let the producers think he has this phobia so they will let their guard down. It's like he knew that was the one way he could escape, where they couldn't create a phony blockade to stop him.
they really never had a camera in his head. this reading makes that scene and the whole movie even more heart-breaking and gut-wrenching.. and i love it!
I figured this out a few years ago but could never put it into words. He's always known he was being held prisoner. His shock is him realizing it was all for entertaining the masses.
Saw it first in theater opening weekend and dozens of times since and I’ve NEVER noticed it before! Brilliant analysis. You’ve changed the entire way I see the film from here on.
I rewatched with this in mind and saw 3 things at the start that really strongly support this: 1. At the very beginning where he's talking to himself in the mirror, when he walks away he does a little look back that really makes it seem like he knows there's a camera there. 2. When he's buying his boat ticket to the island, the ticket seller asks him "one way or return" and Truman looks at him with a real look of disdain, as if that's the dumbest question in the world. Truman knows the seller should know who he is and that he will be coming back. 3. Right after the gardening scene he tells Marlon he's "thinking about getting out."
I just rewatched this movie a couple of days ago, and my first thought when he escaped was, "When did he have time to dig that hole?!" Now you've got me wanting to watch it again.
theres another layer where Its a documentary explaining the movie that is the movie we watch, explaining the episodes of how truman finally escaped. Its not a live feed its a finale , Thats why it shows how people reacted when the thing he did happend. We are a different audience watching what the audience experienced watching the actual show.
I think its a stretch to say he was coming up with his escape plan at the beginning of the movie because that would make some of his other actions weird. Because that escape plan assumes hes being watched and i think if he was digging a big hole Kristoff wouldve caught it, especially in broad daylight like that. Theres a camera facing the hole (shown later). I think that he couldve thought something was suspicious just because there’s no way nothing weird has happened in his life like, nothing truman did caused the isolated rain to fall there was definitely things like that that happened his whole life. Also if he thought he was being watched the whole movie then the scene where he called for Sylvia on his company phone wouldn’t of have made sense.
Yeah in fact being bent over in such an exposing position for a camera makes me think he didn't know the camera was there? Truman knew that something was weird all his life and this feeling was building up more and more but in that shot he was not at the point of realization and deconstruction yet.
This is such a fascinating take!!!! It's so BRILLIANT that he's digging the hole in that scene!!!! My interpretation of this was that he was planning an escape to find Sylvia, not necessarily the constructed world, though I can absolutely see how it could be him knowing. I always got the impression he knew more than he was letting on--I mean, he'd have to had at least picked up on SOMETHING, right? But now I DEFINITELY have to rewatch this film--I've seen it so many times, and you pointed out details I'd never noticed!!!
I didn't realize he was digging the damn hole at the start! Why didn't I notice that, it was staring me in the face harder than Truman' ass. Nice catch!
first time i watched this movie i stayed up for hours cause something about it didnt make sense to me, and i also ended up having the eureka moment, realizing he's digging the hole at the start like, thats way too much dirt to get through in what, a few hours? at most? he also magically gets over his fear of water and sails into the sea, and manages to perfectly not get caught on ANY of the cameras in his basement? way too much of a writer oversight for it to not be intentional awesome video :3
I think this take is spot on! I always noticed him digging in the garden at the beginning as a bit weird, but didn’t know why! Us as the audience first see him at the catalyst of what we all think is him starting to figure it out. Truth is is that we saw the Real Truman show that he put on for All of us! Love it ^_^
I do think Truman knew for most, if not all, of the film. However, something interesting to think about is what we would consider suspicious versus what Truman would. For us, someone doing an advert for a product they found is obviously odd, as we see it as someone in real life doing an ad read like they were on tv. But for Truman it's more likely (at least at first) that ad reads are on television because people do them in real life.
There is a scene that only last a few second where we see Truman mowing the lawn and you can see a round plug in the grass and that happens in the daytime before his escape so the hole was already done.
I am actually glad I found this, because, I’d say that before watching this I thought of the gardening scene as “Nice cheeks Jim Carrey” but I will never look at it the same. It now feels like it makes so much sense why instead of standing up and turning around, he sat there on the ground straining his neck, it was to cover the hole.
I'm not convinced that he's digging the hole at the beginning. That would be a man-sized hole with a garden trowel, certainly people would have noticed earlier if he was using a whole shovel, and going in from the outside the hole would have been noticed from another angle. I interpret that more that he is used to that area of Earth though, so he would know where to aim when he's digging out.
Well but that's the thing, all of the angles we see in he movie are meant to be like in universe, meaning the angles we see are the same angle everyone else sees, so him sitting like that in front o the camera at the garden doesn't make sense, someone should've cut to another angle, UNLESS he found a spot that doesn't have cams and no-one could put one up to get that angle without raising his suspicion that were coming into the discussion with understanding he has of the situation, more than what is let on by Truman himself throughout the movie to his captors
I agree on the spot thing tho too, i just think he DEF knew something was wrong enough to have been specifically there for that, but it's just an insanely long-con
Yeah, that makes perfect sense. It's like The Shawshank Redemption or The Count of Monte Cristo. Truman is imprisoned, from birth to middle age. At some point he figures out he's trapped and so he plans his escape, long before the film has even began. It's similar to why slavery, imprisonment, or false knowledge doesn't last forever. The human mind must be free and it will stop at nothing to live by it's own rules. By any means necessary.
Him digging the hole is a good detail I've never noticed but by the start of the movie he already knew. The Fiji girl is what opened his mind to think about it all being fake, by the start of the movie he already knew.
The scene where they find the tunnel from the basement, it comes up right next to that dome shaped lawn decoration. Even if he wasnt digging he may have been covering up where he was gonna come out. I just rewatched that scene and it definitely lends credence for this theory in my opinion. Plus i cant help feeling like it would have taken a long time to dig that tunnel just when you weren't being watched. Couple inches at a time. Unloading the dirt while "gardenning" gives me shawshank vibes. I dont think he did it in one night.
5:06 I’m not trying to be pedantic or come off as superior but I love this facial expression because it’s the exact opposite of recognition. It’s the sudden awareness that you do not know the person in front of you. It’s the deepest narrative satisfaction you can often draw from a horror movie or thriller and it comes from this Jim Carrey movie. It’s so good.
"It's the exact opposite of recognition, it's awareness"" That's... the same thing, not the exact opposite at all. Awareness = recognition of the situation.
You mentioned articles written about the movie and calling Truman unaware. That actually shows how brilliantly Truman tricks everyone. He wants everyone to think he has no idea, and in a meta way, he did it so well he tricked people watching the movie. After all, he can't trust anyone, let alone the viewers. God, I love this movie so much.
I've always seen the movie as Truman knowing something was going on from before the movie starts, but it doesn't hit him until later on that absolutely EVERYONE is in on it. That scene with his best friend is what just finally makes him snap.
Rewatched it after this video and I'm convinced. The hole that Marlon discovers pops up right where he was digging (in front of the garden gnome). It's pretty conspicuous, actually, if you are looking for it.
This theory gives another meaning to the name of the movie: "The Truman Show". The movie isn't about the in-universe TV show called "The Truman Show". Rather, it's about TRUMAN putting ON A SHOW.
Look at the gnome in front of him. Sitting on scale model of the dome, same red shorts, hat, blue shades. Sitting on top of the world. Probably he uses the world to cover the hole he's going to use to escape.
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
With this reading, Truman is systematically trying to figure out "Is ANYONE else a 'real person'? Who might need to escape WITH me?" and it truly breaks his heart when he figures out that he is the only one.
Ya know? That compounds the pain of the Marlon betrayal.
This would have been maybe the *one* person who he thought was also real. Someone who might also be trapped in this terrible simulation, because they've just been together for so long. Since kids. All that's real time they spent together, every birthday, every broken bone, every guys night, highschool and college graduation -- *EVERY* moment.
Surely, if *anybody* was also a "real person", a person who he needs to get out, it would be the guy he's known since childhood. Surely, he *also* was brought in as a kid, raised here, surely, they get on so well because they're in the same boat...
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Yes! And it seems that he will even allow for a 'real person' to be an actor who doesn't remain complicit in keeping up the illusion of the world. So his first question is probably: "is anyone else in my situation?" His second question is, "can I trust anyone?" No and no.
That is HEARTBREAKING
Perfect
@@nananamamana3591 nailed it
The fact that we don’t get to see his escape really cements this for me. We are just like the at home audience, we only know what the actors and producers know. We aren’t actually with Truman on this journey, we’re with the actors and directors and producers.
he literally escapes at the end of the movie tho
@metalmario1231 we're not with him when he leaves until the crew find him though, we only know things when they do
Wouldn't that make us, the audience, more aligned with... the audience, not the producers and actors?
@@gimligimlass5509 we get to see some more of the behind the scenes stuff, but yes. You'll notice that my comment does say "we are just like the at home audience," and we only see what the cast and crew can. We as viewers may be morally on Truman's side, but we are on the journey with the cast and crew because we only see Truman through their eyes. We don't actually get to know Truman's inner world, just his performance.
@@OcyTaviAhhe escaped, realized he has absolutely no idea how to survive in the real world, gets followed around by fans shouting his name, jumps off the Golden Gate Bridge
i think what sells this theory is the fact that truman has enough awareness of where the cameras are that he can successfully shield what he’s doing from view
5:06 “you son of a bitch…don’t do this to me…don’t you tell me you’re in on it too…please” with just the eyes is crazy acting
Some of Jim's best.
@@Dude-oy9dl I remember reading about a year and bit prior that Jim was really looking for a dramatic role to get into to get away from being typecast as the kooky comedian and to show case his dramatic acting skills, then he landed this drama and body was it was well done, excellent photography, director that knew what to get out of his actors for each shot, excellent all around performances
ya, broke my heart that of all the people who should have been on his side, you'd think it would be his Best. Friend!, but no, he was one of the most loyal of the lackies to the man in the moon!
@@EndoftheBeginning17it’s sad to me we never got many more dramatic roles from Carrey because he’s one of my favorite actors in a serious context. His performance in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is incredible
Yeah he had been planning his escape and until that moment he had a reason to stay. A friend. But that was the moment he realized Marlon had never truly been his friend. And he decided to finally leave.
I've always interpreted the movie as Truman knows SOMETHING is weird and strange where he is, but he doesn't know what it is or who is in on it. The movie starts with the light falling because that is the moment Truman knows WHAT is going on, its a spotlight so its some sort of entertainment. So he goes to his family and friends to see if anyone will break for him. He questions them and confronts them and sees if they'll break like the girl-that-got-away and his 'father' did. He's hoping that it happens. He starts to go off the rails when he figures out just how insane the lengths they'll go to keep everything together are and when talking to his best friend, I think that look Truman gives is heartbreak. The one person he always thought would be on his side isnt going to break, isnt actually on his side, and doesn't care about him at the very least enough to break script. So he 'ruins' his life to break all the fake relationships and lets them get comfortable with a new routine with nobody in person to watch him, then escapes.
Watching this video I was thinking 'there's no way, why so many scenes where it seems like he's trying to figure things out in that case?'
But now I wonder, what if he really is probing everyone? He doesn't know who all is in on it, so he might think the ones closest to him might be just as oblivious as he was. He wants them to not be in on it, he wants to bring them with him.
But in the end it turns out that it really was The Truman Show, and everyone else really was in on it... except for her.
yeah and I don't think he was digging the hole in that scene. I think he always does the gardening.
I think you've nailed it.. there's a definite moment where he's using the thrill of finding out the truth to cover over the nagging itch of "who actually am I?," and I think he was assuming that, at any point, he could break character and they'd end the show, he just wanted to see how far it would go. And once he realized oh, they are _trapping_ me here... he has a clear moment of dread and panic. Like everybody here cares more about their job than they do about *me.*
That, plus when he realizes the SCOPE of it. I think for a hot minute, he thought it was a prank show, a reality show, something like that (even though he's been raised on old TV so he might not know the concept). That most people around him were normal, with only a few plants. The more he found out, the more messed up it becomes. Then when he hits that wall and just starts laughing, it's like... yeah that's how we'd react if we only just found out.
My sad thought was that he was also trying to test to see if there was anything genuine in any of the relationships he has with them...
Plus as soon as that happened, he started to see patterns in his life. Like everything odd he has experience before like always falling asleep when going on trips, everyone discouraging him from leaving. Marlon traveling often (because of the actor keeping going in and out of rehab) even though he has said to Truman that it isn't fun to do so. Everything starts to click for him. But there is no conclusive proof yet, hence him testing stuff.
i always thought him saying the catchphrase like that at the end was his "final reveal". It feels like the sort of line he would have been fed as a kid via "say goodbye to the neighbors son!" and then as he grew up one day someone prompted him to say it and he did but he realized fully that he was being prompted to say it to some unknown audience and his mental journey to reality began (probably as an early teen). Hes not only saying it as a sincere goodbye to fans but as a way to scare the people in charge by revealing just HOW LONG hes been putting on a performance.
There definitely does seem to be some sort of acknowledgement of it in that moment. There are certain phrases that all of us tend to say but in that exit he seems to know that it's specifically his *catchphrase*. I feel like, if we were to follow him through the rest of his life, he would NEVER say those exact words ever again.
Sometimes I like to imagine that he and Ed Harris's character were in on it together to create the best series finale ever.
If not Harris than some other higher up producing deus ex machina when called for.
Yeah the final line and bow is him saying he was putting on a show and knew
It’s also a jab at the creators of the show, because him having a whole breakdown and giving an angry speech would have made great content, but instead he just said one simple frequently repeated thing to close it off
@@twineberry Oh! also... he did it to ruin the show and the creators reputation. Because viewers would watch him do that and then be outraged that he seemed to be in on it and exiting in a scripted way. I can picture viewers saying "Wait a minute... he knew? He was part of it? They tricked us! What a waste of time watching this show for so long!" They would feel like it was an extremely long play on the audience. To captivate them into tuning in for years to a show about a man's life but at the very last broadcast, it turns out that all of it was planned, even his escape.
The one thing I always think about is the "obvious" signs that would hint that something was not genuine would be harder for Truman to spot.
Everyone pushing him into odd "product placement" scenarios or everyone around always watching him, he would not come across as strange to Truman because it would have been happening to him his whole life and would seem normal.
That's because it's "Obvious to the viewer but not to the character," and you're very correct.
It's the truly "odd" things, like how people go in circuits around the block, or how a literal false star falls from the heavens and he's allowed to pick up the fallen fake star. Eventually the behaviour during product placement is just part of the load and it ends up being what breaks Truman further. It never came off as odd until *everything else* started happening too.
To this day, the big majority of Humanity doesnt get any hint either. Even the obvious ones. And this is real life.
I think the staring might be something he could clock as weird because he can see they don't do it to one another, just him.
But yeah, the product placement would just be "a weird thing people of my culture do".
Like being a royal kid in the U.K.?
Hints about what? @@palkys.
I teach this film twice a year to Year 9s and Year 11s. Every year, I find new clues and readings. This year, I came to the realisation that he knows and believes from the moment Silvia/Lauren tells him. Suddenly, the hole digging became obvious.
One of the most amazing readings, though, came from my student, who said, "I think that the light falling is symbolic, because it foreshadows that a star (Truman) is about to fall. I just stood, blinking at her, because - of course!
You should of asked your student if she was Sirius with that reading.
Oooh perfect!
The film isn't about Truman realizing he needs to escape; I suggested that he already knows and is seeking *whomever else might be trapped too.* A kind of "I'm not leaving until I get *everyone* else out too." kind of thing, and over time he realizes that *everybody* is against him, nobody else reacts the way he does and he himself is the only person whom is trapped and cannot leave whereas the rest are given agency to do so.
Truman wasn't just seeking a way out, he was seeking if anyone else was stuck in there too.
@@EddieSpaghetti69a Moses
@@EddieSpaghetti69 Don’t use whom if you are going to use it incorrectly…
I just watched the Lie to You scene with Marlon and Truman, and Marlon's face is almost dripping with guilt. This must be how Truman knows that Marlon is in on it.
Marlin seems more like a sociopath than any of the rest of them. I don't know he gives me Todd from Breaking Bad vibes.
@@Dude-oy9dlno, there were cut scenes with him behind the scenes in the movie talking to a therapist because of how torn up. He felt he hated doing it
@@Dude-oy9dl I think that the reality of the situation was dawning on Marlon, but he was in too deep to get out. And how could he explain this whole mess to Truman without driving Truman crazy?
@@Dude-oy9dlMarlin’s vacations were rehab since he was doing drugs to cope with the guilt.
Y'all ain't right. Marlon did tell Truman with his face on purpose. Truman knew what his real answer was. It seemed like pretty obvious subtext which I never get irl but here it was clear. They both were regretting losing their game friendship because it's real as well.
For me there is a C story throughout the movie talking about the developments of Truman's fear of water... and why they did it. He planned to run away for a long time, but the only way out was across the water. They worked hard to psychologically twist him into being afraid of the only door that let him escape, but he never stopped trying to find another way. I agree he dug the hole before the movie started, but I also believe that he did it with the intent of just leaving the town he grew up in and never looking back. Then he learns the truth about the lies and that pushes him to overcome his cultivated fear, and carry on with the plan he has had most of his life; just with a different perspective.
I think you're right. It doesn't make sense that he's aware just ten minutes in that he was being constantly watched. He instinctively knew something weird was going on, but it was more of an existential, unfocused suspicion. The movie is about him learning how far the false reality extended. He wouldn't be motivated to dig the hole until he realized how trapped he truly was. And he didn't know that till he got past the bridge and was captured by those wranglers.
why would he need to dig a hole to escape? unless he is already aware he's being watched. Someone who isnt being watched could just get in their car and drive
@@Hephera Yeah, he tried that. But after the hole digging scene.
Completely 100% agree with this. It feels like Truman has laid awake at night thinking of what Sylvia said to him about everything not being real, but he doesn't understand it until the events of the film unfold. But he is digging a tunnel because getting to her is his secret mission.
The fact he knows how to sail a boat in the climax despite his fear to me suggests that's the thing holding him back.
His father also did not die in the water… his whole fear of water was based on that fact.
I think he knew instinctively, the first scene is him talking to the Mirror like he's talking to an audience, his way of saying goodbye, he always knew instinctively he was being watched
I think he was just taught to do that. He was raised to be a TV star, so he was probably encouraged to talk to himself as much as possible to raise entertainment value. Just like his catchphrase.
If he doesn't know all along, then I think the first mirror scene is just him goofing off. The second mirror scene if definitely him talking to the producers, and they're oblivious to it. If anything, the movie goes from him being oblivious to 2/3 of the way the production staff being oblivious to the fact that he knows.
Let's not forget that cameras were everywhere all the time. He wouldn't be able to get away from them and he couldn't have conversations with just anyone, just with the principals, not the extras and not the crew. There would constantly be these weird happenstances of people knowing his name without him ever saying it, people gawking at him etc.
I found a video showing when the hole was found and it is in the same spot as where Truman is digging, so it's probable that he knew and had dug the hole some time prior.
This makes the movie not about his discovery but about how to execute his escape without raising suspicions
@@MichaelMerrittCT Yeah he even taunts the staff by saying that one's free. Plus on rewatch, you can tell in all the scenes afterwards he isn't behaving like he used to at the beginning of the movie, because now he is acting. But he plays exactly how the Christof wants Truman to be like that nobody bats an eye.
@@saucevc8353 I just realized, he's been living around people with earphones his whole life, he probably saw enough actors asking about stage directions or stuff to think that everyone talks to themselves.
Man, this would recontextualize his magazine artwork of lauren from obsession to actually trying to send her a message without them knowing he knows she'll see it.
The Truman Show is one of those movies which I cannot fault. It's essentially a 10 for me. It seems so unbelievably well planned out and executed I can just watch it a thousand times.
Yeah. It’s my favorite movie
It’s a masterpiece.
My friend taped this on VHS when we were kids and we liked Jim Carrey films. He didn't catch the first five to ten minutes of the intro, so the whole movie turned into a thriller where you start to question if Truman is losing his sanity. To me, the movie worked even better that way.
Ehh it'd be more suspenseful maybe. But its crucial to the story they were trying to tell that we know from the beginning. Because the audience and crew know. And this is specifically told from their perspective, NOT Truman's. That's why it ended as soon as he stepped off the set. The movie even hammers it home by having the in-film audience cut to credits by changing the channel (something something we live in a society).
You just made Shutter Island starring Jim Carey 😂
My favorite movies are Shutter Island and Trumann Show because their different interpretations. Up until now Im realising most people takes for a fact that Andrew was a murderer and Trumann didnt know from the beggining.
@@dianalombanastube How's he not a murderer? Why would he want to die a hero, rather than live a monster? He killed his wife, no? (Technically he was in the army, so... but truthfully, no hate, just want to know :D)
That's funny, I had a similar experience. The first time I saw it, I missed the first 10 to 15 minutes, so I didn't truly understand what it was about until around halfway through it. Then I watched it at least twice more, but due to different circumstances I always ended up missing the first five minutes or so. I obviously already knew what the premise was, but I think I never got to see how the film opened until I was older.
His gardening might have explained that he _could_ dig the hole, even inconspicuously.
Truman digging a hole to escape while still 'probing' the town to see how far they'll go to keep him there by trying to leave by ferry plane and car feels like too much forethought. I think he started digging the hole after his failed attempts to leave normally.
Yeah, I think that was more just an example of set-up/foreshadowing, rather than him actually digging the escape tunnel already.
@@jazzy4830 Yea right? This isn't the position in which you actually dig a hole
@@CamerHD No, but it's the position you get into when trying to hide the hole you've been digging from your wife to make it look like you've just been gardening.
Wouldn't explain why he's in such a weird position like he's trying to hide something
I really like this. In the Truman universe, consider the fact that we were privy to a minuscule period in Truman’s life, yet we witnessed dozens of production errors. By the time we see Truman, the show should have been a well oiled machine with no room for mistakes. Consider for a moment how many errors have been there for his whole life.
I read a theory abt that. When the show started , they didnt need the dome bc its easy to keep a child contained. As he grew older, the set had to grow with him. The producers have had to build and improvise as they went along. It was probably only a well oiled machine in the beginning. By the time he was in college, everyone was flying by the seat of their pants
I agree, I've actually thought this before but you've got the words out of my head. There would be no way he hadn't had inklings by this point, but imagine how much more he'd be thinking about it once he Sylvia literally tell him. It'd be from that moment onward he started plotting his escape for sure.
9:21 Our movie is the “episode” where we start to see the shift in Truman. Kinda as If the producers from the movie were trying to figure out when he noticed as well, and made it into a feature length film.
The fact that he has a collage photo of the girl he fell for once who was taken to 'fiji' at the films start, and makes a scene of acting casual in the office just to tear an innocuous piece of paper off a magazine, I think shows he definitely knows something is up and has known some kind of conspiracy exist around him for a long time, because he doesn't trust anyone, not his friend and not his coworkers, and definitely not his wife who the studio most brazenly shoved into his life against his will. The one thing he knew that was outside of whatever conspiracy was ruling his life was a girl he was saw who tried to tell him something who at first tried saying 'I'm not supposed to talk to you'. A girl who was wearing things that hinted at how she was an activist there to save him and not a regular part of the cast.
I think the girl was the first true inciting incident that told him he is in a cage of some sort.
The studio light though, thats named after a star was maybe the first thing to let him contextualize the conspiracy in the form of actors and a television set.....maybe. unless his catchphrase really was fabricated because he's known for a long time. But it's after the the studio light he starts making his most brazen test against all of the 'extras' on set, realizing they won't react even if tries to get their attention, and they will deliberately stop for him and not make a further scene of him stopping traffic.
Except he fully does trust his friend. Not his wife but his friend was the final nail.
@veezopolis his friend had been there since he was a kid and it was probably unthinkable to him that whatever conspiracy was going on went that far back.
@@veezopolis I'd suggest he thought Marlon was trapped too. Truman wanted to take Marlon with him.
I think the entirely of the show Truman knows that his life isn't fully "real" but is some sort of facsimile of life, and we get to witness the probing and scientific process that goes into proving that he's trapped, and just how he's going to get out. He even takes his wife hostage, an unwilling passenger on Truman's escape, when he tries to literally drive as far as he can go before encountering *every possible blockade humanity could throw at him.* He knows she's in on it, and that probing is to find out how far the system lets him go.
I forget the exact scene, but I think when he talks about the light and things with Marlon that's when he starts to clue in that Marlon really isn't stuck here neither and only Truman is. That realization is when he stops trying to "free the others" because the others are not stuck whatsoever and can go as they please. In particular was his wife, whom he's clearly quite estranged with and puts *no* effort into preserving their relationship; I think the prodding there is done akin to "Salting the Pile" when figuring out whom is a rat fink: you tell 10 people the same story but with a twist and see what suddenly comes back out. Truman tells her the order that everyone is doing stuff, and specifically wants to see "if it changes and how it does" because of him talking to whom is supposed to be his most trusted person in his life.
TL:DR? *Watch the show again.* You'll see more stuff.
@@EddieSpaghetti69 building on this idea:
It's possible that the various extras and many of the staff wanted to help Truman, and DIDN'T report seeing him when he was going for the boat.
What's "the" hole he's digging?
I've always thought he knew something was up before the film starts, but only figures out more concretely what that is during the course of the film. He reveals his doubts to too many people if he already knew the full extent.
The one he escaped through in the final act, or so the theory goes.
i believe ur right
Think about it this way
He starts with digging the hole as soon as the camera falls from the sky, because he knows 100% something is wrong.
He spends the entire movie testing the limits of what he can and can't get away with, knowing where the boundaries are to the site, how they spy on him, if they have earcoms, and especially _who is in on it_
Picture this, he gets more and more irrational in the way he acts as the movie goes on not BECAUSE what he's seeing get covered up, but because he's testing who is in on it.
He goes crazy around his wife because she sets herself up to be in on it, and he has a 1 to 1 with Marlin, breaking friendships and getting space from everyone who spies on him to see if they needed to escape too, or if it was just him and everyone around him was an actor too.
FWIW, the spot Marlin pops his head out of the ground in the garden is the same spot Truman was digging. I just checked... lol...
Disagree that he knew all along, at that point he was simply gardening in the borders, not digging a hole. He may have gotten the idea to dig the hole FROM doing the gardening however. The hole Truman escapes through is in the middle of the lawn, not where the plants are, you can see a circle in the lawn when he's mowing the 'new Elk Rotary' mower. I always thought he gave away that he knew in the throwaway line 'That one's for free' (after he draws Trumania in the bathroom mirror). He had suspicions something was up from when he first saw his father again in the town square. From then on he started to join the dots. His behaviour changes from that point onwards.
Regardless, now I have to re-watch it
That's also just not a position to dig a hole in. He's almost laying on the ground
Yeah, he's just gardening and polishing the statues.
I just checked the movie and the hole he escapes from, where Marlon pops out from, is in the exact spot where Truman was digging at the beginning of the film. The "Lawn Cam" Christof uses to show Truman gardening is the same one that catches Marlon. He may or may not have been digging the hole at the beginning (I say he wasn't), but the hole does end up in that exact spot.
In supplemental material, I think in the official shooting script book specifically, it said Truman kept a patch of the lawn uncut as a form of rebellion. This is what you see him cutting with the Elk Rotary mower. His example of childish rebellion is done because he's going to be escaping for real that same night.
yeah somehow being able to dig an escape hole out in the open without the constant camera surveillance noticing is quite the stretch, and if he knew all along then changing his behavior as if he's figuring it all out puts too much suspicion on himself.
This movie has always stood as an example of how good of an ACTOR Jim Carrey is. Yes, he's an amazing comedian, everyone's always known that. But he's a great ACTOR too, and that's something too many people gloss over.
This movie convinced me that Jim Carrey missed his true calling as a dramatic actor. He really has the chops for it.
Terrible person though irl. Epstein list.
How is it that the greatest film about social media ever made was released in 1998? Kristof’s line “Cue the Sun” is my favourite line from any movie and I think the whole thing is just perfect.
I just realized Fiji is a red herring he's throwing at the audience and crew. They try to dissuade him from sailing and flying and being an explorer so he keeps saying he's going all the way to the other side of the world so when he escapes they'll look for him there and find nothing
What? No lol. He wants to go to Fiji because he was told that Sylvia (the girl he fell in love with) moved to Fiji. He hasn't been planning his escape for over a decade and is using Fiji as a cover so no one can find him, he just wants to go there so he can see Sylvia again.
I think you are wrong that Truman is digging the hole in that gardening scene. I believe that scene is our Chekovs gun for later. It shows Truman digging in the front yard, while also showing us the chef's pal that leads to the climactic moment when all of Truman's suspicions are confirmed beyond any doubt. This is a well crafted and subtle scene where important pieces of the climax are put into the viewers mind.
•"Missed A Spot"(Giant hole behind Truman)
•Be had to know where the camera was in order for it not to see the hole
•He constantly stares directly at the camera's unlike most movie actor's, since during advertisements people stare at them, and they put it in his face.
•He Remembered the girl being taken away in school,and he never forgot what she said.
He knew he was being watched, but didn't know Why. The movie was him trying to figure out why.
@@almessasorrow4950 Good assessment, im on board with this, really wanna watch the film again. :)
@@almessasorrow4950 You think "the spot" that he missed was a man-sized hole in their front yard? His wife wouldn't have been so casual about it. It doesn't matter if it was in view of the camera that we (the audience) are viewing him through, because his wife and all of his neighbors would have seen the giant hole in the front yard. Are they in on it too? Are they secretly trying to help him escape by not snitching on his hole that he's been digging in the front yard?
I think you're reading way too much into that scene.
@@Shleppy_ never said it was man sized. Just that there was a pretty big hole behind him. He cleared out a patch for the flowers that hole would be head sized at least for most of them, "missed a spot" insinuates that he left a head sized hole behind him.
@almessasorrow4950 Have you ever planted flowers before? You don't make a head-sized hole to plant the flowers, and you don't dig very deep either. It's way more likely that "missed a spot" is either referring to some grass that he missed with the mower, or some weeds that he didn't pull up.
To add on to your thoughts, and maybe provide you a new idea for further discussion - I have grown to think that Paul Giamatti's character as the technical Director was finding ways to give Truman hints and help. The Light falling could have been set up by him. The localized rain storm also. He was also in prime position to make sure the cameras did not show Truman digging the actual hole. Him using the "intern" as a trainee made it easy for Truman to escape when he does. Him directing the searches also gave Truman help in that he never sent anyone to the places Truman had to go to escape. Take another look at him while watching the movie. There are so many layers to his performance.
That's interesting. He's presented as getting a bit careless but he's clearly apprehensive about going through with Christof's storm at the climax. I have always wondered about the rain falling on just Truman - I think Truman thinks it's just coincidental or odd since he's grown up in the world and things like that might have happened before, but it's never explained why it happens and why it takes to long for the rest of the rain to kick in. Dramatic effect for the cameras?
So in Truman's world, Paul Giamattis character is like God showing him the way
Yeah I can fully accept this. Always kinda assumed he knew there was something wrong when we see him collecting and cutting out the faces in the magazines. But the pointing out of the gardening scene really does feel like a major tell.
I dont know that he knew he was in a dome until the light falls, but he definitely knew that his life was fabricated from the start of the film.
truman knows he is being watched and contained
but he doesnt know the what's,who's,why's and how far whoever group influence goes
so he cant just escape,he needs to get a idea of why he is being kept away and how many of the people around him are 'in it'
by the time of marlon convo he fully realizes is EVERYONE
This is one of those rare movies that warrants a video essay series. Probably seen it 2 dozen times since I was a small child. Phenomenal film.
Just watched this and immediately started rewatching. I think it must be true. 18 minutes in, when Truman is in the basement, his wife comes in and he says "I saw my dad today". She responds "I know" and his face says "shes gonna tell me everything" until she says "your mom called", and he shakes and drops his head.
Man you're absolutely right, he is digging the hole there. Because at the end, he says his line and then says "yup", like "yup, it was just a line" (which the director realises, hence the expression change), and then the bow to end the performance. Brilliant spot.
7:00 actually people use what they know and he probably did gardening and later used that knowledge about this spot (and it's soft earth
Good point, as we don't really see him attempting to hide a hole from her or cameras view
The same tool he's using while gardening is seen in the escape seen by the hole.
One of my favorite parts in the movie is watching him go around and around in the revolving door. In that moment, he began to view the events around him in a different perspective.
That’s a pretty solid theory. I never thought that he dug the hole out of the basement. I thought he found an access tunnel that came up under his yard
I have a copy of the script book _literally on hand right now._ Interestingly enuf, the script only specifies that he's using a lawnmower...which means that, *possibly,* Jim Carrey himself worked out that Truman ought to be covertly gardening/digging the hole.
What’s so solid about it?? He moved into the basement after his wife left him. The home was in the basement not the garden
@ I just meant that his overall theory of Truman planning his escape the entire time was valid
@@bryanmcdonald4351 yeah what’s so solid about it?
@solrac4512 because if he was already planning to escape, he had to figure out how to have a reason to move to the basement. In this theory if he knows he's on tv, then he also seems to want to give the audience some captivating drama. He never seemed to love his wife, so it makes sense to reverse the table and manipulate her to get what he wants in the end. His end goal has always been Fiji, the audience always knew that. he's proven capable of long laid plans simply by never forgetting Lauren's face.
The Truman Show is very close to a story about a person suffering from a manic depressive episode believing he's at the center of a grand conspiracy, but then turns out he really is and everyone around him really are lying...
Would be interesting to see a version of the story where that part is left to the audience to decide.
Digging a tunnel in your backyard is a pretty innocent thing to prepare. Very useful thing to have in an escape and easily filled back up if it's all in your mind. But digging a tunnel is a pretty unreasonable thing to do in a normal state of mind. Would have loved to see a version where we don't really know if it's all a lie or not.
That makes me think of 23 Cloverfield Lane, though in that, we do find out.
That would make a great psychological/mystery, a look into that mindset in a more grounded and personal sense. I would watch that.
So, Total Recall?
The comment above you suggests cutting the first ten minutes to achieve something similar
Cringe! 😄
I think he knows something is up, but doesn’t know the extent to it. which is why throughout the movie he tests the boundaries (literally) as well as who all is involved in the conspiracy to help him know what is actually going on and how he can properly escape it. I don’t think he really even knew what he was escaping in the beginning, only that things around him didn’t add up to reality. He might have thought he was in a virtual reality, not a tv show set. The light falling likely gave a huge hint that it was a stage and not virtual reality, purgatory, etc.
I don't buy it. He subjected his escape to so much unnecessary scrutiny by making increasingly wild attempts to pull back the veil. The only way that would make any sense is if he had someone else helping him set up the final escape and was keeping everyone else distracted. It would have been infinitely easier for him to get out if they thought he was completely in the dark and then one day he was simply gone. I suppose you could make the argument that the purpose was to make the production look foolish and get his revenge on live TV, but I think that implies a level of awareness of how the world "should" be that wouldn't be possible for someone that grew up in a completely controlled environment, and would also have to mean that the seeds of the plan were planted at an exceedingly young age.
Is it possible that this is Plato’s allegory of the cave and that even tho he has only ever known symbols divorced from reality, those symbols became the tools he would utilize to free himself?
I think this interpretation makes sense if he does not suspect those closest to him are in on it. So, this may suggest that Truman has some sense that things aren't right in his town. Maybe he's found the hidden camera's before and didn't let on. Probably suspects the government, the town leadership, or something along those lines of being responsible for a conspiracy to trap multiple people not just himself. In this variation of the theory, Truman may believe or even just hope, that Marlin is a prisoner like him. This explains that heartbreaking look in the moment where he seems to convince himself that it's not the case and even his best friend is a part of the deception.
His antics leading up to the mistake is a play from Truman to sus out the difference between prisoner and jailer. He didn't yet understand that he was the only prisoner and had grand ambitions of bringing people he cared about with him on his escape.
Well, there is a deleted scene if i am not mistaken where Marlon of all people actually FINDS Truman during the search and he stares at him for a solid minute before looking away and going with the others shouting "TRUMAN WHERE ARE YOU?"
@@ronaldharding494 oh that actually closes that loophole for me. Great great point
I think overanakyzing the film on its surface level premise that he is the unwitting star of a reality TV show can cause one to miss the point entirely.
The plot is symbolic. The story is about a man who starts to question his choices in life until he realizes they weren't choices at all.
The movie is about social engineering, which we all experience and if you dare to follow your own path in a way that doesn't conform, you suddenly become acutely aware that everyone around you is watching and steering you toward the socially acceptable path.
The wife ensuring he does not act on a less practical but more passionate relationship, the mother working with the wife and the father trying to warn him because he himself was once in his own version of "The Truman Show".
Truman had been planning his escape from this life he had become trapped in for a long time, but it's only when he started to act on it that he realized everyone around him would try to stop him at all costs, because of "the director", which I would interpret as all the tools of social engineering that have traditionally reinforced only one acceptable path in life: religion, schools, employers, the media, etc.
If you've ever done this in real life; questioned your "picture perfect life", your stable career, marriage, you would see that your wife, your mother, your best friend, etc. would just become pawns of a system designed to keep you in a predetermined state; a cog in the wheel.
So yes I think he was definitely planning his escape in the same way everyone who feels trapped in a life that was created for them does. Not in some ingenius heist like fashion, but in a major existential breakdown where he ultimately said f it and walked away.
He always could. He wasn't trapped. He just felt trapped because of all the pressure everyone put on him. What he realized is that everyone around him were "actors" fulfilling the role they were supposed to play. And if Truman questioned his role, then their whole world collapsed. T
The older I get, the more eery this film becomes.
5:00 Truman looks at Marlon with sadness, a look of betrayal - because he knows he’s lying to him, and it hurts ! Jim is sooo good in this movie !! 🎥 🍿
That is a crazy different way to watch the film. Truman isn’t oboist, but rather he is playing EVERYONE. That flips the narrative on his head!
This only proves how much this film is a work of art
bro do you obtuse? oboist is someone who plays the oboe lmfao
@@brynniefresh9746 I meant to say oblivious lol
@@brynniefresh9746I thought I learned a new word for a second 😂
Thanks for not having a click bait title. Honestly, very refreshing.
I've only seen the movie a few times, but I recall several flashback scenes where people are seemingly trying to tell him and get their own 5 minutes of fame. But if I had to pick a point where Truman truly begin to question, it would have to be in high school when the girl is taken away and he's told she's moving to Fiji. She tells him it's fake, and it seems to be glossed over, but we also see throughout the film that he never forgot her. He may not have understood then, but when the light fell at the start of the movie, it seems to have jump-started the conspiracy theory that was implanted long ago, and the cast probably thought they had suppressed but good. The radio glitch shortly after likely only reaffirmed his notions. But the final straw before we really kick it into high gear is when he sees his dad, and sees him get carried away, and probably catching the resting area behind the elevator walls. It's a lot going on, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that all happen before he's working in the garden? So you may be right, by the time we see him in the garden, he at least knows enough to begin hatching an escape plan. The rest of the movie is him trying to gather clues while also hiding what he knows, but he does still end up going further and further off the deep end. I don't think he knows knows when working in the garden, I don't think he figures that out until the cop calls him Truman (at the earliest), but he at least knows more than enough to know his world is falling apart around him.
Perhaps I should watch it a few times, and see how much of this post I also remember, to see how right or wrong I am.
you just reminded me about his father.. that part of the movie kinda hits a dead end, doesn't it. Because how would his dad, who was taken off the show for refusing to lie to him, agree to lie to him? how would they TRUST him under any circumstance? and what does he tell Truman? we don't get to see any of that.
@@KairuHakubi yeah I'd say the ending with the dad was the only part of the movie that really left me scratching my head
@@nickbob2003 I did a bunch of lookinups, and it seems that I fully misinterpreted his dad's role
He got written off the show, not because he was trying to tell Truman the truth, but because it would make him afraid of the ocean. The actor didn't WANT to leave the show, so that's why he kept sneaking back in. Not because he cared about Truman. But we got so little explicit stuff about him, so I mixed him up with the girl who absolutely got taken off because she was gonna tell him.
I think you're right. I have had the same theory myself since I last watched the movie about a year ago. Hard to catch on a first time viewing.
What endears this movie to me is that Truman is surprised to learn that he is, in fact, the main character. I know far too many people in real life who are surprised to learn that they are not.
I knew I recognized that voice! I was a huge fan of your videos back in the day, and I’m stoked that I found my way back. Keep up the great work!
i read this comment and went oh... yeah, this voice is familiar but i'm not sure how... and then BAM it's bing
Welcome back!
You ever gonna post again
7:56 "That ones for free". I think that was the moment I was like "He knows. He knows everything"....
....or at least 'he knows something'. The things you mention in this video are some of the things I wondered about, and quite honestly, the scenes you mention as clues that he knew something or everything all along...they leave me scratching my head. The sequence they are in go from an early 'he knows everything' to 'he's suspicious about these odd occurrences and odd behaviors" to "he is starting to get a clue' and back and forth between all three. That being said, it is a good movie.
I took all the video production classes at my high school. I saw a “The Truman Show” poster along with other movie posters. The poster for “The Truman Show” stuck out to me like a sore thumb. I haven’t heard of it and I looked it up and watched it on Netflix. I don’t regret watching it whatsoever. Such a good movie! Man I love it!
I thought he figured it out when the light fell and he was digging the hole in that "missed a spot" scene. The rain scene was definitely a clue in. He wasn't really bewildered, he was goofing around
Im obsessed with this movie because i grew up in the neighborhood where the bridge scenes were filmed, and grew up in a cult that i found out my parents knew wasnt true all along.
I love the direction in the scene where he’s reunited with his dad. It’s made to seem so hopeful and triumphant (aka what Christof WANTS this moment to represent) and on first watch that seems like a valid interpretation of Truman’s response, he seems to be crying with joy. It kind of validates Christof’s narcissism by suggesting that he really does have a superior insight into Truman’s needs and emotions and therefore of course he should completely control his life. But then - if you watch it again - you realise that that’s not what’s happening at all. Truman’s not crying with joy, he’s crying because he’s realised that he’s alone and his entire life is some kind of lie. When you really watch him properly in that scene and ignore the triumphant music and the big dramatic camera angles and the sentimental dialogue - all of which is stuff that Christof demands - you understand the sleaziness of the operation. People claim to adore him and spend their lives watching him, but they don’t know the first thing about how he thinks or feels. He’s just a prop in a story that has nothing to do with his actual inner life.
I always thought that it was odd that Truman bowed at the end, its like he knew but I couldn't figure out how he knew. I thought it was when Silvia was taken away from him is when he started rebelling against everyone, and sort of just played with them, and wow it actually makes sense that he was self aware even from the start of the film
It seems more like he’s got this crippling feeling that something is wrong but everyone around him is acting like this is how life should be, and he’s just staying ready for reality to break so he can make his exit. He’s prepared but is reserving his plans and thoughts because others wouldn’t understand him. Like how many people who go through a dull and inauthentic life just physically living and maintaining sustenance could never fully express to others this feeling of needing to break the cycle and find something more. And the ones who you can express that too and relate with are your true friends.
The closer he gets to the breaking point the less he can believe it all because it is so psychologically shattering. So he knows something is wrong but just can’t admit it. I don’t think he ever knew much, he just knew this wasn’t real life.
I think it's common when you watch a movie or read a book too many times, where you've juiced it for all it's got, but you still want more. That's where fan theories can come into play. Grant Morrison did this with The Killing Joke graphic novel, desperately trying to find more story. But this fan canon isn't in the text, or even the subtext, of the story itself. It's a mirage from staring too long, looking for more and more clues to the deeper meaning. The reason for that scene wasn't to indicate he's digging the hole to escape, it's just to set up the idea that he'd know where to dig later, once he realizes what he'll have to do to escape.
Yeah this theory doesn’t make much sense. The hole was made in the basement when he moved in there. Why would he start the hole in the garden and end in the basement???
@@solrac4512 I think, if you're looking for these links, you could say he knew where that hole in the basement would come out for the very reason he'd been digging in the garden a few weeks before. But the notion that he'd been planning this specific escape all along doesn't actually fit the movie.
But I think it's interesting how these theories pop into our head, and become difficult to dislodge. It can happen to anyone. It's the same sleuthing instinct that leads us to real insights and subtle clues in the film.
But I think what happens is, when you want to uncover more, and there's no more to uncover, you can start seeing what isn't really there. I think this is the point in analyzing a film where you have to stop asking yourself what's happening, and start asking yourself what it means on a more symbolic level. The Truman Show has endless layers of meaning, many of which might be contradictory. For instance, you can read the film as actually a guy LOSING his grip on reality rather than gaining it. One could read the Truman Show as a guy going insane, becoming convinced of a delusion that his reality is a grand conspiracy. And as his delusion takes hold, he seals himself off from anyone who could convince him otherwise.
Of course, this isn't the intended meaning of the film, but because the subtext of a man waking up TO reality is done just so, the opposite reading emerges, perhaps unbidden by the author, as the opposing but equally compelling subtext. It's like the top at the end of Inception. We never see it topple because the answer to the question of whether the protagonist is still dreaming is both no and yes. The truth is within the contradiction.
Anyhoo, my point is, this is the point of film analysis when we have to stop asking what is literally happening in the story, and begin to ask what it means. Because that question has endless answers.
You gotta change that thumbnail for "What The Truman Show Reveals About Its Characters..." This video is performing so much better and I felt like clicking it because of the thumbnail.
I think it’s confirmed in his mind when his best friend says, “if everyone’s in on it, I’d have to be in on it too.” He immediately goes back to “normal” but is planning his escape.
Now that I think about it...along this line of thinking is the scene where Truman is 'back to normal' acting like his old self when he is drawing on the bathroom mirror again but after wiping it away...he says "That one (was/is) for free." And shortly after, he makes his great escape. Even years and several viewings later, this movie is still opening my eyes on so many new levels! I love it!
Him digging the hole at the start of the movie actually makes so much sense, like when Lauren tells him that everything is fake and that he needs to leave, that could have been when he started to realize things werent as they seemed.
I love this. The Truman show is so disturbingly good.
I feel like Truman's collage is evidence enough he's always known he was being watched, that he had something to hide. That said him digging the tunnel early is perfect.
i figured he knew something was wrong, but not what. he did act curiously in reconstructing the girl's face which he had spent a lot of time working on previously. the scary part for truman was to see just how deep the problem was and just how artificial his world had been. [in short, suspected, but short of knowing all along] love the movie!
I think he can’t possibly know before the light drop because reality is only what we personally have experienced but he’s unhappy and he suspects, far more importantly what leads Truman to wanting to leave is that he’s always wanted to leave ever since he was a kid. What lets him in on anything being bizarre is that the entirety of his world is stopping him from doing that which is more obvious than any of us get in real life where we convince ourselves that our connections and responsibilities are the real things holding us back from leaving unhappy situations to pursue our interests, the movie is fun because in fact the world is against this man and he keeps going anyway.
In a lot of abusive upbringing, one can know something is wrong without knowing what that something is. It may well be that Truman is aware something is wrong without knowing what is wrong until the light falls, and he realizes the star is missing, at which point the glamor falls off and he stays trying to sus out who knows, only to realize he's the only one who didn't.
We see lots of suspicious things in the flashback sequences. It's easy to see how Truman may have brushed off this or that slip up as a child, but as an adult he is definitely suspicious. The whole Sylvia episode was definitely enough for him to figure out something is up. Like anyone else however, he would've second guessed himself. He evidently trusted some of the people around him still (he grew up with them after all), and they did everything they could to reassure him that everything was normal. I think the light is the straw that broke the camels back, the thing that cemented his suspicions, but it definitely wasn't the start of them. He obviously didn't have the full picture at any point in the movie, but he's not dumb enough to miss all the weird stuff in the flashbacks even before the light drops.
His desire to explore the world is a powerful motivator, but it is not his biggest motivation to leave. His fear of drowning has more effect on his behaviour as we see. It's arguable that without the fantasy of Sylvia in Fiji, he'd have given up on that dream that everyone around him (who he still trusted at the time) were telling him to give up on. It's only when he completely loses all trust in those around him (cemented by his "dad" being revealed to have never drowned at all) that he finally overcomes his fear of drowning. In other words, the total confirmation of his lifelong suspicions are the main reason he leaves, in particular the realisation that nothing in his life was real so nothing is tying him down.
@@lampostsamurai2518 I agree with that, im not saying he doesn't suspect. However suspecting your sense of reality is off is different from subverting the constraints of your environment. But also knowing is not the catalyst that begins his need for escape. It's been in him all along and constantly needed to be suppressed to keep him put.
If he knew for sure he would have left sooner. Like really tried to leave. The first time he ever properly tried to leave was during the movie, no one could even fathom him getting onto the bus before he decided to do it. They subtly tried to keep him to stay, made him scared of water, always told him that the world wasn' worth seeing. But they never actively prevented him from leaving until the events of the movie. There's no way he "knew" beyond a sense that something was odd about his life.
I'd suggest that the first half of the movie is him prodding to see if anyone else is trapped. He isn't trying to leave because a human thing to do is to seek enclaves and refuge; and I think Marlon is what holds him back. It's when he realizes that Marlon isn't trapped he truly probes for ways to leave.
He's actually probing the staff and seeing how far it goes a good chunk of the movie. He already knows there's a major problem when it starts... but the light from the sky? That didn't tell him he was in a tv show, that told him HE WAS INSIDE. That's what the laughter is about at the rain, he confirms a CIELING, and the names of everything and the fact kids could answer science questions as a kid confirms that it's mimicing the outside. It's the light and the rain that 100% confirm there's a cieling which means something supported, which means there's a wall. He now 100% knows there's a wall and where there's a wall there's also an exit. His driving attempt earlier was to see potentially how far it is as well. He knows, he's just afraid and is collecting info.
@@Folsomdsf2 That's an interesting thought. I was going to say that he doesn't know for sure there is a ceiling, but then I checked what was on the label on the fallen light, it's labelled Sirius which is the brightest star in the night sky. I didn't know that, but Truman would have because he had a good education, it's the brightest star too so the average person probably would know it. If the light is meant to be a star then yes that would clue Truman in that the sky is actually a roof (even if it takes until the very end of the movie for it to sink in). Assuming he is meant to recognise it as the name of a star of course.
Then again, maybe they really would have kept space knowledge from him, if it caused him to study the stars then it could be trouble for the show. They would have had good reason to keep from him anything that could inspire an interest into space.
This made me think that yes, Truman has known for a while and he is testing to see who’s in on it and who else is unaware. He may think his best friend is also in this experiment. That is until the “I would never lie to you” scene. And he realizes he’s the only one.
5:25 Excellent acting by Jim Carrey - I agree, this is when he knows "yeah even Marlin is in on it too". I've given that exact look to people before when I realized they've been lying to me about something the whole time.
He knows that something is up from the beginning and has had his escape plan in place before the movie starts? So his plan is to slowly escalate his behavior to confirm his suspicions which when confirmed emboldens him to enact his escape plan? That makes the movie so mind bending, especially the farewell at the end suggesting he's been putting on a performance for a long time.
That is so cool, I hadn't thought about that before but now you point it out I can't unsee it.
There’s also the scene where Truman is tearing out strips from the magazine, which he apparently buys everyday, to reconstruct Sylvia’s face. He knew he had to hide what he was doing. This was presented as an ongoing project of his, and he did it in a relatively protected space in his bunker. Later in the movie it was revealed that there had been several successful infiltrators who had told him he was in a TV show. Somewhere along the line he understood what was going on.
It makes sense he'd always be suspicious, or know at least something is going on. After all, at the beginning of the film the Sirius star ends up falling and throughout the film, all these little things occur that lead up to the end. He got confirmation during the films time line, but before that, he might have always had his suspicions, just no confirmation. There's no way he was completely in the dark prior to the start of the film if all these little accidents were occurring over the years. Which they did imply happen, for example, with the compilation of clips of fans trying to intervene and tell Truman he was on TV. With all that happening over the years, there's no way he was at least suspicious.
I just wanted to say that it has kind of became like a bit in my friend group that when they ask what my favorite movie is I always say "The Truman Show". That has always been my answer since I watched a cried so hard at the ending. So glade to see that someone enjoys this movie as much as I do!PLSSSS make more episodes. I LOVE THIS SERIES!! keep up the great work.
Also, something I was wondering: does Truman actually have a phobia of water? When he's sailing, he doesn't look scared in the slightest. It's like he let the producers think he has this phobia so they will let their guard down. It's like he knew that was the one way he could escape, where they couldn't create a phony blockade to stop him.
I think it’s a genius idea, and I must say, that final line in the video was IMMACULATE, amazing video.
"He's digging.. the hole. He's Digging. The Hole." got me
they really never had a camera in his head.
this reading makes that scene and the whole movie even more heart-breaking and gut-wrenching.. and i love it!
I figured this out a few years ago but could never put it into words. He's always known he was being held prisoner. His shock is him realizing it was all for entertaining the masses.
Saw it first in theater opening weekend and dozens of times since and I’ve NEVER noticed it before! Brilliant analysis. You’ve changed the entire way I see the film from here on.
I rewatched with this in mind and saw 3 things at the start that really strongly support this:
1. At the very beginning where he's talking to himself in the mirror, when he walks away he does a little look back that really makes it seem like he knows there's a camera there.
2. When he's buying his boat ticket to the island, the ticket seller asks him "one way or return" and Truman looks at him with a real look of disdain, as if that's the dumbest question in the world. Truman knows the seller should know who he is and that he will be coming back.
3. Right after the gardening scene he tells Marlon he's "thinking about getting out."
I just rewatched this movie a couple of days ago, and my first thought when he escaped was, "When did he have time to dig that hole?!" Now you've got me wanting to watch it again.
theres another layer where Its a documentary explaining the movie that is the movie we watch, explaining the episodes of how truman finally escaped. Its not a live feed its a finale , Thats why it shows how people reacted when the thing he did happend. We are a different audience watching what the audience experienced watching the actual show.
I love the idea that he knew the entire time. The garden scene at the beginning... I never even thought about it. Brilliant.
I think its a stretch to say he was coming up with his escape plan at the beginning of the movie because that would make some of his other actions weird. Because that escape plan assumes hes being watched and i think if he was digging a big hole Kristoff wouldve caught it, especially in broad daylight like that. Theres a camera facing the hole (shown later). I think that he couldve thought something was suspicious just because there’s no way nothing weird has happened in his life like, nothing truman did caused the isolated rain to fall there was definitely things like that that happened his whole life. Also if he thought he was being watched the whole movie then the scene where he called for Sylvia on his company phone wouldn’t of have made sense.
Yeah in fact being bent over in such an exposing position for a camera makes me think he didn't know the camera was there?
Truman knew that something was weird all his life and this feeling was building up more and more but in that shot he was not at the point of realization and deconstruction yet.
This is such a fascinating take!!!! It's so BRILLIANT that he's digging the hole in that scene!!!! My interpretation of this was that he was planning an escape to find Sylvia, not necessarily the constructed world, though I can absolutely see how it could be him knowing. I always got the impression he knew more than he was letting on--I mean, he'd have to had at least picked up on SOMETHING, right? But now I DEFINITELY have to rewatch this film--I've seen it so many times, and you pointed out details I'd never noticed!!!
NOOOO but this is the best interpretation of the movie, I have to go watch it again right now
I didn't realize he was digging the damn hole at the start! Why didn't I notice that, it was staring me in the face harder than Truman' ass. Nice catch!
first time i watched this movie i stayed up for hours cause something about it didnt make sense to me, and i also ended up having the eureka moment, realizing he's digging the hole at the start
like, thats way too much dirt to get through in what, a few hours? at most? he also magically gets over his fear of water and sails into the sea, and manages to perfectly not get caught on ANY of the cameras in his basement? way too much of a writer oversight for it to not be intentional
awesome video :3
Truman figures it out in the flashbacks with Sylvia. This happens before the movie begins, so, by definition, he knows the whole time of the movie.
1:21 Thank you. You convinced me to watch the film. Did enjoy.
I think this take is spot on! I always noticed him digging in the garden at the beginning as a bit weird, but didn’t know why!
Us as the audience first see him at the catalyst of what we all think is him starting to figure it out. Truth is is that we saw the Real Truman show that he put on for All of us! Love it ^_^
I do think Truman knew for most, if not all, of the film. However, something interesting to think about is what we would consider suspicious versus what Truman would. For us, someone doing an advert for a product they found is obviously odd, as we see it as someone in real life doing an ad read like they were on tv. But for Truman it's more likely (at least at first) that ad reads are on television because people do them in real life.
I’ve always wondered when he dug the tunnel and how he did it when they were watching him so closely post-breakup. This makes so much more sense
There is a scene that only last a few second where we see Truman mowing the lawn and you can see a round plug in the grass and that happens in the daytime before his escape so the hole was already done.
This is why I love video essays. Great points.. I loved it
I am actually glad I found this, because, I’d say that before watching this I thought of the gardening scene as “Nice cheeks Jim Carrey” but I will never look at it the same. It now feels like it makes so much sense why instead of standing up and turning around, he sat there on the ground straining his neck, it was to cover the hole.
I'm not convinced that he's digging the hole at the beginning. That would be a man-sized hole with a garden trowel, certainly people would have noticed earlier if he was using a whole shovel, and going in from the outside the hole would have been noticed from another angle.
I interpret that more that he is used to that area of Earth though, so he would know where to aim when he's digging out.
Well but that's the thing, all of the angles we see in he movie are meant to be like in universe, meaning the angles we see are the same angle everyone else sees, so him sitting like that in front o the camera at the garden doesn't make sense, someone should've cut to another angle, UNLESS he found a spot that doesn't have cams and no-one could put one up to get that angle without raising his suspicion that were coming into the discussion with understanding he has of the situation, more than what is let on by Truman himself throughout the movie to his captors
I agree on the spot thing tho too, i just think he DEF knew something was wrong enough to have been specifically there for that, but it's just an insanely long-con
i love that people are still talking about this movie. one of my all time favourites.
Yeah, that makes perfect sense. It's like The Shawshank Redemption or The Count of Monte Cristo. Truman is imprisoned, from birth to middle age. At some point he figures out he's trapped and so he plans his escape, long before the film has even began. It's similar to why slavery, imprisonment, or false knowledge doesn't last forever. The human mind must be free and it will stop at nothing to live by it's own rules. By any means necessary.
Him digging the hole is a good detail I've never noticed but by the start of the movie he already knew. The Fiji girl is what opened his mind to think about it all being fake, by the start of the movie he already knew.
I'm so glad I found this channel. Jim Carrie is genuinely one of the best performers in the history of cinima.
Great observations in here👌👌
The scene where they find the tunnel from the basement, it comes up right next to that dome shaped lawn decoration. Even if he wasnt digging he may have been covering up where he was gonna come out. I just rewatched that scene and it definitely lends credence for this theory in my opinion. Plus i cant help feeling like it would have taken a long time to dig that tunnel just when you weren't being watched. Couple inches at a time. Unloading the dirt while "gardenning" gives me shawshank vibes. I dont think he did it in one night.
5:06 I’m not trying to be pedantic or come off as superior but I love this facial expression because it’s the exact opposite of recognition. It’s the sudden awareness that you do not know the person in front of you. It’s the deepest narrative satisfaction you can often draw from a horror movie or thriller and it comes from this Jim Carrey movie. It’s so good.
"It's the exact opposite of recognition, it's awareness""
That's... the same thing, not the exact opposite at all. Awareness = recognition of the situation.
You mentioned articles written about the movie and calling Truman unaware. That actually shows how brilliantly Truman tricks everyone. He wants everyone to think he has no idea, and in a meta way, he did it so well he tricked people watching the movie.
After all, he can't trust anyone, let alone the viewers.
God, I love this movie so much.
I feel like this video only starts to talk about how he knew, it be nice to see a deeper dive into showing more scene that’s confirm it
I've always seen the movie as Truman knowing something was going on from before the movie starts, but it doesn't hit him until later on that absolutely EVERYONE is in on it. That scene with his best friend is what just finally makes him snap.
This was the way I understood the show on the first watch lmao I thought that’s how we were supposed to understand it.
Rewatched it after this video and I'm convinced. The hole that Marlon discovers pops up right where he was digging (in front of the garden gnome). It's pretty conspicuous, actually, if you are looking for it.
This theory gives another meaning to the name of the movie: "The Truman Show". The movie isn't about the in-universe TV show called "The Truman Show". Rather, it's about TRUMAN putting ON A SHOW.
GENIUS.
Look at the gnome in front of him. Sitting on scale model of the dome, same red shorts, hat, blue shades. Sitting on top of the world. Probably he uses the world to cover the hole he's going to use to escape.