The Truman show: Christian Allegory?
I believe the whole point of the Truman show is that Media has taken the place of God.
The Media tells us what to wear. What is desirable in a mate. What love is. What to wear eat and drink. What to buy. What to think. And what to worship. It tells us who we are and informs our every move. It even spies on us and then targets ads to us based on our private conversations.
Many people start their day immediately by turning on their phone. It used to be that people started their days in prayer and Bible reading. That’s because they wanted to be informed by God. Today they are still informed by their god - the mass media. Hollywood.
The one true God gives us free will. Hollywood does not. Hollywood gives us fantasy. Illusion. Entertainment. Escape. But what we need is not fantasy, nor illusion, entertainment, nor escape, but Truth.
Truman’s life is literally based in a Hollywood fantasy.
He is the only person who isn’t living a lie - thus the name “True man.” He is the only true man. He is the only one in search of the truth. And everyone else is acting - and thus lying - to him. (The word for hypocrite in the New Testament is literally “actor”).
The opening interviews of Truman’s wife Meryl and best buddy, Marlon, are of both of them saying how real everything on the show is. But it is actually all a lie. A fabrication. Of what? Of Hollywood.
The gigantic dome-cum-set that Truman lives in is even placed right behind the Hollywood sign for symbolism and effect.
This “Tinseltown” farce that he lives is fake in every way. His marriage is forced and arranged. By whom? Hollywood.
Speaking of that, how many people have married for “true love” believing all the Hollywood lies about lust being love and happily ever after with no work only to become dissatisfied because that Hollywood ideal is unattainable?
How many people in the west even know what love IS anymore? And how many have been completely brainwashed by Hollywood’s tripe from their youth? Think Disney princess movies where all the girl wants is romance and escape from wicked guardians (read: parents who set limits).
Is this perhaps why the divorce rate is so high and the family, which is the bedrock of society, is in such trouble?
Another thought: How many Hollywood marriages have been faked or forced for publicity’s sake? I don’t know but I’m sure the number is more than a few.
Now looking at this I wonder if this film isn’t actually also about how Hollywood controls actors as well as individuals.
We are now all living one big reality show. If we all watch enough of the same things we will all begin to sound alike. And look alike. And even think alike. That is the game plan. It’s not accidental. Guess who is the puppet master running it all?
As Christians we are supposed to have the mind of Christ. Not the mind of Christof. We are supposed to be different. Set apart. Like Jesus, Not like the world.
The media is Satans’ mouthpiece. Like it’s master, the media is all fantasy and all illusion, all the time. And make no mistake, it’s on purpose. If you’re lost in a fantasy you will not perceive the truth even if it’s staring you in the face. And if you love your illusions (loving sin is an illusion too by the way because it only brings death in the end), then you won’t WANT to wake up from them.
Illusion is one weapon satan and the media uses. Fear is another.
Think of the scene in the Truman show in the travel agency with the flight posters of a plane in lightning storm - a blatant attempt to deter Truman from escaping his illusory prison. Or the purposeful manipulation of the plot of Truman’s life to the point that they “kill off” his father to keep Truman afraid and keep the show going.
“Fear not,” Jesus says. It’s a command. It’s not negotiable. “Fear,” says satan and his mouthpiece the mass media. Which are you obeying?
Yet another weapon the shows puppet masters use against Truman is guilt. Trumans mom says things like “I don’t blame you. I didn’t blame you then and I don’t blame you now,” all the while implying that his fathers death is still his fault - when it was clearly manipulated by Christof.
Guilt and fear. Guilt and fear. And don’t forget illusion. The same tactics Satan uses. And the same tactics the media as a whole uses. Just turn on your daily news. Or rather, don’t.
Because the moral is - turn off your tv. Turn off your internet. Turn off your smartphone.
And go talk to God.
The end.
Actually no it’s not the end. I have
more thoughts:
One thing has been bothering me about that show is that there’s a component that makes it SEEM like “the creator” of the show - Christof - is a mockery of God. And I was carefully watching it to see today. And again I got the same thing : no. It’s not.
My son Matty who is ten even asked partway through the film - is the director supposed to represent God?
Good question I said. Then afterwards we talked about it.
I even went and looked up a bunch of reviews about it. ( not that I trust mans opinion. I just wanted to see what satans mouthpiece was saying.)
Very few reviews went deeper than the shallow meaning of the film which is the evils of reality tv. Most just recapped the plot. One funny but crude one noticed the name “Christof” and assumed it was anti-Christ.
But I noticed the name says OFF. Its Christ OFF. It’s s FAKE Christ. A manufactured god. One that has set HIMSELF up above the one true God. And this fake god is not a very nice god. He tries to murder Truman in cold blood at the climax. Why? “He was born on live tv.” The implication is: he can die on it too. It’s good for ratings! And this the “creator” can take the life of someone who’s life he “made.” But Christof isn’t God and he didn’t “make” Truman. Truman was born and God created him. We even saw him in the womb! All Christof can make is a fake version of reality in order to Deceive Truman. Who does that sound like? (Cough cough satan)
One clue that Christof isn’t supposed to represent the one true God Is when towards the end we see Sylvia pray “please God!” For Truman to leave that manufactured world, And looks to The sky.
So what is this manufactured god?
It’s Hollywood itself. The media. Tv. And all of society and how it is completely brainwashed by it all.
I think of the scene where Truman goes missing and everyone in the fake world goes marching, looking for him, arm in arm. They’re all little clones. They all think and act alike. They are all media lemmings. Much like today, where we see people abusing their free time by consuming media constantly. They are always on their screens, watching, watching, watching.
You become what you watch. This is why we are supposed to watch God. When you watch man, you become like fallible, vain, immoral, corrupt, money-hungry, approval-based man.
Which is what we’ve become.
And most people can’t even see it.
And of those who see it, most give it a passing thought but don’t see it as a real problem.
Folks, this is THE problem of our age. The media taking over the world to the point where everyone thinks alike and no one can see it is more than a nominal problem.
It is the fundamental problem that underlies nearly every other problem.
If man runs the media - and we know he does - and mans kingdom is the same as Satan’s kingdom - and biblically there are only two kingdoms. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. - then Satan runs the media. Plain and simple.
And Satan is the father of lies. Why are we feeding ourselves a steady diet of lies? Why are we believing them? The Bible says this in 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12
“They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”
The Truman Show is about searching for truth. The truth is mentioned in the opening scenes where the two actors are interviewed who play his wife and best friend. They insist that the world is “true”. But we know by contrast that everything in the film is actually false.
In fact what finally makes Truman comprehend the truth is when Marlon tells him a big fat lie. We know that’s what finally convinced him because in the following scene Truman “escapes” his basement and crawls out through a hole. Here’s the actual transcript from the screenplay:
MARLON: And the last thing I would ever do...is lie to you. I mean, think about it, Truman. If everybody's is in on it, I'd hafta' be in on it, too. I'm not in on it, Truman, because...there is no "it."
Marlon lies right to Trumans face and is FED lies by the puppet master, Christof, AKA satan. And Truman WANTS to know the truth badly enough that he’s willing to give up his entire fabricated illusion of life to find it. Christof even said that at one point in the film.
Does this start to sound like a Christian allegory? We must give up our old illusions to find true life.
Jesus said “I am the way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through me.”
Ultimately the media and men are all about lies and illusion. And no I’m not immune to the fact that I was watching a movie while coming to these conclusions. Once in a while a film with some truth slips past the Hollywood threshold guardians. But only the amount of truth that they want you to see. You see, they don’t show God or Jesus as the way out. The way out is a door… but the Door isn’t Jesus. It’s self-determination. Which is ultimately humanism. And that isn’t the Way out either. It’s just another illusion.
We would all do well to open the door, walk away, and never look back.
Can you? Are you brave enough? Relentless enough of a seeker of truth?
If you are, like me, then you will not just think or talk about it.
You’ll do it.
Theres a whole wide world waiting out there.
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