In ‘The Truman Show’, Peter Weir uses setting, motifs, and features of the cinematic medium to demonstrate the complex and multifaceted interconnectedness that exists between the environment and the individual. Truman’s entire physical world has been fabricated and orchestrated in such a regard that every blade of grass has its place. The rigidity of Truman’s behavior and the conformist mentality of the residents of Seahaven makes it apparent that Truman’s environment has had a profound impact on his identity.
Christof designs an entire world just for Truman and ‘The Truman Show’. As such, it is indubitable that this meticulously orchestrated universe would have a deep impact on Truman’s identity. The extent to which Truman’s world is fabricated can be seen in the use of the recurring motif of weather and the basic elements of nature. This motif appears when Sylvia picks up the sand on the beach and says to Truman, “This is fake, the sky is fake, it’s all for you”. It is clear that the very earth, which is a fundamental element of nature, has been constructed specifically for Truman. Such meticulous orchestration would no doubt have a profound effect on Truman’s identity. This is further exemplified when the crew of ‘The Truman Show’ search for Truman. When Christof makes the direction to “cue the sun” it is evident that the fundamental truths of the world, such as the rising of the sun, has been manipulated and commodified for the profit of the show. If these core aspects of his environment have been staged, it is clear that the core aspects of his identity must have been heavily impacted as a result. This can be seen in the final scene in which Truman touches the wall of Seahaven. He is quite literally able to reach out and touch the sky that he has seen and known his whole life. The emotional weight that accompanies this scene illustrates the extent to which his world has been fabricated in a fashion that simultaneously orchestrates his emotions, thoughts, behaviors, and identity. In his journal article, Dusty Lavoie describes Seahaven as a “fabricated stage, a massive, self-contained, dome-like set piece constructed as an elaborate ‘world’ for Truman”. This fabrication is blatant in many instances throughout the film, notably when the rain is contained to fall only on Truman, and when the stage light, which is meant to be the star ‘Sirius’, falls from the sky. As a result of Christof’s fabrication of Truman’s physical world, it is evident that he also has the power to create Truman’s identity. Weir uses biblical allusions to equate Christof to a god or ‘creator’. As Marlon tries to deter Truman from the idea of travel, he tells Truman to “look at the sunset...that’s the big guy. Quite the paintbrush he has”. By positioning Christof as some divine being, Marlon reiterates the extent to which Seahaven has been fabricated and staged. The effect of this is seen towards the end of the film when Truman asks Christof, “Who am I?”. This raw and seemingly basic question indicates that by keeping Truman in this fabricated world, Christof has prevented Truman from finding his own identity.
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Instead of letting him discover his own identity, Christof uses the town of Seahaven to create an extremely rigid identity for Truman. Peter Weir models the setting of Seahaven as an extremely idyllic 1950’s town, which vividly resembles notions of the American Dream. ‘The Truman Show’ was filmed at Seaside, Florida. Lavoie describes this as an “empty, dead nostalgia, a fitting concept for the fabricated nature of Seahaven”. Lavoie points out that while the environment of Seahaven portrays an image of remembered perfection, there is no real substance or vitality within such a suburb. Weir demonstrates a similar lack of vitality in Truman’s character. It is seen in his exaggerated, caricature-like interactions with other members of society, such as the neighbors, the magazine man, and the twins. Not only does this environment promote cartoonish behaviors, it also promotes community minded, conformist, and homogenous behaviors. In an attempt to achieve this, the rigid New Urbanist architectural design of Seahaven includes front porches for every house which are very close to the sidewalk. Such a seemingly perfect and utopic environment evidently forces a rigidity in Truman’s identity. This is seen in his consistently tidy costuming. In this way, it is clear that the design of the town encourages conformist behaviors among its residents. Furthermore, the severe lack of racial and class diversity within Seahaven also perpetuates such behaviors. Douglas A. Cunningham highlights this in a critical survey. He points out that “an African-American family is the first neighbor Truman greets… Seahaven finds itself hard pressed to produce many more people of color”. Christof clearly tries to limit cultural and ethnic variety in order to conceal issues of racism that exist in ‘the sick place’ from Truman. He tries to create this utopia. However, this distorts Truman’s truth and understanding of real-world issues. Often these issues are what allows one to form an identity and decide their own morals and values. Since Christof deprives Truman of this chance, he distorts Truman’s idea of truth in regards to his identity. Furthermore, it is clear that Christof’s attempt to make a utopia is counterproductive as erasing racial diversity is not any better than racism itself. This counterintuitiveness is seen when Truman’s mother says: “It’s time they cleaned up the trash downtown before we end up like the rest of the country”. She says this in response to a homeless man being thrown on a bus, resembling classist notions of the 1950s. Therefore, built spaces undoubtedly have a profound effect on one’s identity. In this regard, it is clear that the suburb of Seahaven acts as a psychological prison that prevents the natural growth of Truman’s values and morals.
Cunningham indicates in his critique of ‘The Truman Show’ that “the false cheeriness of Truman's environment not only disguises his prison but also makes him complicit in his own detention”. In this statement, he raises the point that the image of perfection which so profoundly causes Truman to show happiness in a false and cartoonish manner also disguises the suburb’s true purpose of imprisonment. Furthermore, the setting also creates a psychological prison in which Truman is made to feel crazy for feeling that something is wrong, since the whole neighborhood society is so exaggeratedly chipper. In addition to this psychological prison, Truman’s growth in identity is also confined as a result of the physical imprisonment that Seahaven entails. Truman’s world is designed as a panopticon, prevent physical escape, thereby preventing spiritual development and prolonging manipulation of identity. Immediately after Truman discusses the possibility of travel and escape with Marlon, Weir provides a long shot of the road they are sitting on. It is clear to the audience that the road comes to a dead end and suddenly drops into a river. This provides a juxtaposition between the dialogue of the scene and the reality of Truman’s prison. This is further exemplified by the recurring motif of Fiji and the world map. Throughout the film, Weir uses this motif as a symbol of travel, escape, and discovery. These symbols to demonstrate the profound impact that travel and the experience of new landscapes can have on one’s mentality and identity. When Marlon looks behind the map of Fiji, this idea becomes particularly powerful. The audience sees that Truman has dug a hole, and subsequently found his escape, directly behind the map. Physical travel opens a myriad of avenues and possibilities for mental and spiritual growth. Weir shows the audience that Truman’s prolonged captivity has deprived him of all possibilities of emotional and mental freedom. This imprisonment is further exemplified in the costuming. For the majority of the film, Truman is seen in striped patterns, either horizontal or vertical. This mimics jail bars and perpetuates the idea of entrapment and imprisonment. However, this costuming is also seen on other characters, such as Marlon, Sylvia, and viewers of ‘The Truman Show’. This demonstrates that Truman’s physical imprisonment has a profound impact even on those around him. This manifests in Marlon’s feeling of entrapment in his character and performative self, and the audience’s feeling of entrapment and investment of Truman’s life. This theme of imprisonment is made even clearer in Weir’s frame composition. Weir composes many of the mise-en-scenes, particularly in the beginning of the film, in such a way that positions Truman as being trapped behind objects such as bookshelves in library, his desk at work, the newsstand, and the bathroom vanity. This exemplifies the principle of control and imprisonment that is so prevalent in the town of Seahaven. Such mise-en-scenes occur not only as a symbol of Truman’s imprisonment, but also as a result of the hidden placement of the cameras. This suggests that in addition to being trapped in Seahaven physically, the extensive surveillance culture directly leads to Truman being psychologically trapped in a web of lies. The panopticon design of Seahaven clearly distorts his truth, his identity, and his understanding of his identity.
In order to keep Truman from attempting to escape from this panopticon, Christof instills in him a fear of travel. Dusty Lavoie highlights this in his journal article by observing the name of the town, “Seahaven—which is a linguistically reinforcing play on Truman’s past trauma at the town’s edge, where his father “drowned” in the sea, presumably to go to heaven”. By creating such an intrinsic connection between the very town’s name and his father’s death, Christof manipulates Truman’s understanding of exploration and travel from a very early age. He believes travel, particularly travel by water, to be such a drastically dangerous practice. Christof ensures that this fear follows him through adulthood by surrounding the town with vast spaces of water. He consistently drives this fear deeper and deeper into his mind with the help of daily news headlines that focus on plane crashes and the dangers of travel. Furthermore, the teacher at Truman’s school declares that “there’s really nothing left to explore”, as she stands in front of the motif of the world map. By squashing Truman’s aspirations from such an early age, Christof is able to shape the very foundations of his mentality and identity, forcing him to remain in the panopticon out of fear, which in turn further manipulates and confines his identity. This unending cycle demonstrates the deep interrelation between environment and mentality, and the great extent to which space can affect one’s identity. The true impact of travel can be seen when Truman spontaneously begins to go on a drive with his wife. While he talks of travel and escape, the camera faces the road in front of Truman, providing a sense of freedom and possibility. When his wife discusses the harsh realities and obstacles in their path of travel, the camera faces the back of the car. This creates a sense of stagnation and limitation. Therefore, it is clear that travelling and experiencing new landscapes and environments is crucial to open one’s mind and hence shape one’s identity in a more nuanced and complex way than a confined environment like the panopticon of Seahaven.
By investigating the setting, motifs, and direction of Peter Weir’s ‘The Truman Show’, it is indubitable that environments and spaces have a profound impact on one’s identity. The extreme uniqueness and lack of realism of the film’s premise may deter viewers from extrapolating a larger life lesson from the film. However, I believe Peter Weir has demonstrated the relationship between environment and identity to such a deep and compelling extent that he is able to elevate the audience’s understanding of humanity and landscapes, regardless of whether Truman’s case can be conceived as a realistic scenario.
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