Truman's fear of leaving his invented world, once he realizes it is a fraud, is similarly like our own reluctance to break our symbiotic relationship with the media. His growing suspicion that what he was seeing staged for his benefit is similar to our own suspicions as the media-fabricated illusions around us begins to break down. Moreover, the producer-director of this stage-set world, who blocks Truman's effort to escape, is the giant media companies, news organizations, and media-politicians that have a stake in keeping us surrounded by falsehood.
One quote that really was interested that I heard in this movie was from Christof-"We accept the reality of the world as we are presented."" .
This quote is on of two attitudes we have towards media. In one, it absorbs us; we accept its rendition of reality because it occupies our view. We are like children whose parents define their world. The likeness and seamlessness of media fabrications and the fact that they are entertaining help induce this attitude in us. We frequently experience it while reading news stories and watching television and movies.
The second attitude, we distance ourselves from media. We examine its meaning and try to understand the intentions of its authors. This second attitude is what makes criticism and freedom possible.
Truman sees his best friend going his job. He come up to him and tells him that everyone is in on what has been happening to him. He totally questions everything in his life and criticizes everything that has happened to him. This shows the second attitude that we have toward media.
In life, we frequently switch from one attitude to another and mix them up. In watching television, we may easily become absorbed in the program. Then something will jar us out of our spell. As a result, we will suddenly distance ourselves from what we are watching, and perhaps ridicule it or suspect the intentions of its creators.
