Weir has said of The Truman Show that although it has a light touch, it actually deals with dark subjects. Discuss. .
The underlying theme that Peter Weir confronts in The Truman Show is the control that the media has over viewers today. He addresses how the media controls the "means of communication" by surrounding us with illusions, script and stage managing events for an accepting and/or ignorant audience. The media manipulate, change and control peoples" lives. Although these themes could be exposed in a darker way, Weir decides to portray it to the audience in a lighter sense, with the use of a humorous script and vibrant set. The film is thus more enjoyable and interesting to a wider audience but still challenges us to examine our role in the dark media circus that dominates our lives. .
The beginning of The Truman Show depicts a perfect town where every day runs smoothly and where only minor changes occur. The main character Truman lives the American dream, beautiful wife, nice office job and lovely house in a perfect town. What he does not realise is that his whole life has been manipulated by Christof, the creator of the show in which he unknowingly stars. From a young age, millions of people all around the world have watched Truman grow up in "the world's largest studio" and one of "only two man-made objects visible from space". His every move has been followed by cameras and broadcast "live and unedited 24 hours a day, 7 days a week". Seahaven, the town that Truman lives in, was designed by Christof to create a safe, predictable feeling that is lacking any physical or emotional changes. This is an example of the manipulation that Truman is subject to without his knowing. As Truman grew older the producers of the show had to manufacture ways of keeping him from leaving the island. They achieved this by faking the death of his father and by persuading him to stay on the island while he was at school.
