Question: Just something that has interested me for a while. Did all the people in the town grow up with Truman (eg. his classmates) or are they all different actors? Also do all the actors live on set or do they have lives outside the show?
Answer: In a deleted scene, "Marlon" explained that he didn't realise he was auditioning for the show. Only that his mother was the casting director and told him that he would be in this class with Truman and that he would be known as Marlon from then on. In regards to the classmates, they weren't freaking out, they were laughing at the prospect of Truman wanting to be an explorer. With the other actors, only his family, Marlon, and a few close friends/co-workers would live on set. If they want to have a break to visit their friends/family on the outside I'm sure they would have been allowed to. Just come up with a story of why you are leaving for X time and Truman would buy it.
Question: Why didn't they just bring Sylvia/Lauren Garland back on set, to stop him finding out about Truman's true nature? It was Sylvia that Truman wanted to go off and go to Fiji with.
Question: If Christof didn't want Truman to escape on his boat, rather than trying to kill him with huge waves, why didn't he just leave the water completely flat? With no wind Truman would not be able to reach the edge and leave, but he still would've lived.
Answer: He'd been hoping the waves would discourage Truman and make him turn back. It's a lot easier to agitate water than it is to calm it, so by the time he saw it wasn't working, even if he's thought of that, it would have been too late.
Question: When a flashback of Truman's youth was shown, it shows him with the first girl he ever loved. During a date, why did she put grass in his hand and what was she telling him?
Answer: She tells him that everything is fake and was built for him. So she grabs the sand because it's the only fake thing she's got in hand to show him what she means when she says "everything." She's saying "even the sand is fake, all the world has been built for you."
Question: Could Truman file a lawsuit against the people who turned his life into a TV show?
Answer: Anyone can file a lawsuit if they choose. The question is whether he would win. That would be questionable, given he was legally adopted by the studio. He was well cared for, so it would come down to the question of whether hiding the truth from someone and manipulating their entire life constitutes abuse.
Answer: I'm 100% sure he could sue and get financial compensation for his time, face, and name being used. They make a ton of money off him, he would be rich.
Answer: Yes.
Question: Why didn't the studio use the camera on Truman's clothes, which is functional later while he is at sea, to locate Truman during or following the basement disappearance?
Answer: There is never any indication that there are any cameras on Truman's clothes. When Truman is at sea, we only see shots of him from the perspective of cameras located (conveniently) on, around, or above the boat. Personally, I always wondered why the director, Christof, would have invested to put not just one, but multiple cameras on a boat where, due to his fear of water, Truman was least likely to be. But, as with many of these questions, the answer is that such plot devices serve to advance the cinematography and the story.
My thought on the boat cameras is that they were on there from when he used to go boating with his father.
It is not the same boat.
Truman had a camera on him when he confronted his wife in the kitchen and she said, "do something."
Question: What did he see in the picture book which made him suspicious?
Answer: Meryl's fingers were crossed in their wedding picture, which made him think she was hiding something or that it was fake somehow. Later when he sees her, he says "I'll cross my fingers for ya" indicating he realises something is up.
Answer: In addition to what Bishop73 responded, he also notices other oddities. For example, the "Mount Rushmore" they allegedly took a vacation to was, in retrospect, pretty miniature.
I don't think he suspected much from the mount Rushmore miniature, he probably doesn't really know any landmarks that well. You see him wonder for a moment but that was only what spurred him to look closer at his wedding picture.
Question: In the beginning of the film, Truman talks about something looking into a mirror. Like, "I'm not going to make it", "You're going to have to go on without me", "You're going to the top of this Mountain, broken legs and all" and so on. What was he doing?
Chosen answer: He is daydreaming out loud - acting out a little fantasy in his head. Truman leads a very ordinary, very humdrum, almost totally pre-programmed life. He attempts brief moments of escape, fantasizing about lost love, dreaming of a trip to Fiji, and engaging in small flights of fancy while staring at himself in the mirror. He has another such episode when he draws a space helmet with soap around his reflection, and imagines himself an astronaut.
Question: When Christof and his employees examine the basement where Truman is supposedly asleep (just before Marlon is sent there), Christof discovers something under the chair that obviously reveals to them that Truman is gone. What is it that they discover?
Answer: Christof sees Truman's hand as he is sneaking away. This means that he can't be under the blanket.
Question: Is it ever revealed what happened to Truman's real mother and father? Once he left the show, would it have been possible for him to have been able to find them?
Chosen answer: No, we don't get any information about them in the movie. It's stated that Truman was legally adopted by the corporation that runs the show; that being the case, Truman would probably be able to learn his true mother's identity from the adoption papers and, with any luck, track her down. Truman was an unwanted pregnancy, hence being given up for adoption, which raises the possibility that his biological father may be unknown, or at least no longer in touch with his mother, but depending on the situation, locating his father cannot be ruled out as a possibility. Given Truman's enormous fame, it's quite probable that a number of people may well appear claiming to be his parents after his escape; DNA matches would allow them to weed out the liars, so it's not implausible that one of both of his biological parents might find him, rather than him finding them.
Answer: During the interview as they were showing the babies, it was stated that they were "unwanted babies" which means their parents didn't want them. This includes Truman.
Question: How does the show account for money? Truman obviously has real money so he doesn't get tipped off that he's living in a fake town, but how do they go about money for everyone else and any change Truman might get when he purchases items? I don't think the director would risk having any movie money (used in TV and movies to stand in for real money) within the world in case Truman should be handed some by accident.
Chosen answer: The world of "The Truman Show" is created as an actual functioning world. As such, even though Seahaven is a simulation, everything within it is made to seem as "real" as possible. There are actual newspapers and magazines. The snacks Marlon stocks in vending machines are actual snacks. The products in stores are real (and many are available for sale by catalog to the viewing audience). As such, there is every reason to believe that money used in Seahaven is actual legal tender. Why wouldn't it be? Every store and business can be stocked with money for change. Every actor and extra in Seahaven can be provided money for whatever transactions are needed, just as they are provided cars and briefcases and clothes and food. Accountants for the show can track the money just like everything else is probably tracked. The logistics seem overwhelming, but the economic operations of Seahaven have probably developed as the town has developed to meet Truman's needs.
Question: The imdb puts red dwarf as one of the Truman shows influences. Anyone have any idea how?
Answer: It says "references" not "influences." This is probably a reference to the Red Dwarf episode, "Back to Reality", in which the crew are tricked into believing that their lives aboard Red Dwarf are all part of a computer game that they've been unknowingly playing. In addition, Lister in Red Dwarf harbors a fantasy of returning from spaceship travel to Earth to settle in Fiji. His knowledge of the real Fiji is as tenuous as Truman's.
Answer: Additionally, the giveaway is that Truman talks about how Fiji is the furthest point away from where he lives - how you can't go any further away without coming back. But that makes no sense if he lives in the US, since Fiji is in the Pacific. The only way it makes sense is when you realise the line comes from Red Dwarf, where it relates to the respective geographical positions of Fiji and the UK.
Question: I've always wondered why the actors (and Truman) wear 1950's style clothing even though the movie was filmed in 1998. Does Truman believe he's living in the fifties?
Answer: He wouldn't have known he was driving a modern car since his world consisted of whatever was brought in for him.
Well 50's looks includes 50's technology. If he really thought he lived in the 50's a 90's car would seem out of place. He doesn't get shown much from the real world but surely they have car magazines, kitchen appliances, gardening tools. Can't keep it all 50's. Plus, they want to sell stuff they have in the show, but 50's cars aren't made anymore and wouldn't be made specifically for the show, so they have modern technology. Therefor, he knows its the 90's. I'm sure he was taught proper history at school as well.
Everything in his world is fabricated to what the shows producers want him to believe. If they are able to build a set that is visible from space, surely having magazines from the 50s or having him taught in 50s format is not impossible.
Might be possible. But do you think Truman believes he is in the 50's? What kind of history did they teach him? Surely they can't censor domestic and world politics (like elections) and natural disaster events, which requires images to see. Sure they censor the studio, but they can't keep all images from the outside world away from him. Besides, I just put in a movie mistake myself that shows they at last have taught him world history the proper way.
I didn't put the mistake in as the Truman show can take place in the future. What I found out that there is a scene of Truman as a kid in school and the teacher pulls down a map of the world, a 90's map. So they do teach him proper history. And since its a 90's map the Truman show takes place in the future and its the 2010's or something. But it shows Truman knows in what era he lives.
Answer: It's all part of the set of the fictional show that Truman is unwittingly a part of. The '50s were viewed (by some) as a wholesome, uncomplicated time, so it makes sense that the show's producers would choose it for their wholesome, uncomplicated show. And if Truman did believe it was the 1950s, well, why not? He has no outside frame of reference.
Well, he did drive a modern car.
Which is irrelevant. Truman wouldn't know the difference. A modern car was likely one of the many product-placement deals the show had.
Again though, during the segment where they look back at Truman's ambitions to become an explorer they show a world map which is accurate for the time. Also, it would be impossible to convince him anything in the world is different even if they would control the news and TV shows (history books), what about elections for example?
Answer: You need to think outside the box. you know 50s stuff is different and modern appliances would stand out but for Truman, it doesn't. Magazines, TV broadcasts etc would all be controlled by the director so he has no reference to question that anything is out of place or "not of that era." To him, its not different.
Answer: Dude how are you not getting this? They can tell him anything they want. He doesn't have any form of reference to say it's out of place. His entire world is what they've told him since he was a baby. They can tell him it's 2020 but still have 1950s equipment. To Truman, that's 2020 equipment. He doesn't know about all the advances since them. You, me and all the viewers know its out of era but Truman doesn't since he's grown up with it being relevant to whatever year theyve told him it is.
Are you talking to me? if you are, what are you rambling about? The question was if Truman believed he was in the 50's. I argued he didn't. That's all. According to you that's true even. Relax.
Answer: They created his world: the clothing, cars, electronics, everything around him is conceived by the producers of the show. You see some people dresses like the 50's and some like the 80's, and then his TV is 50's but the cars are 90's. He doesn't have a frame of reference so it seems normal to him.
Question: Was The Truman Show actually on the air since he was a baby? If so, what kind of entertainment would the audience at home be getting out of watching a baby every day for years? It seems like it would be a pretty boring show until Truman grew up and reached at least the age of 6 or 7.
Answer: They seem to imply the show was always on the air. However, they may have just shown 'best of' clips until he was walking and talking, or perhaps the show never took off in popularity until he developed a personality.
Question: What ended up happening with Truman's "father"? It seems like him returning convinced him to stay, but then all of a sudden he decided to leave. So does that mean he was faking it when he hugged him, and he knew he wasn't actually his father?
Answer: His reaction to his father's return was genuine. However, as time went on more clues helped him realise some of the truth. Enough, in fact, that he became determined to learn what was actually going on.
Question: Marlon mentions having been very sick and hospitalized for a long time when he was a boy. Is this supposed to be when they switched a child actor for someone who was willing to commit to the show indefinitely?
Answer: Yes and no. Yes because they could have found someone who looked remarkably similar to the child actor that played him and if he had been "sick" for a long time (depending on the illness he "had") it would have explained why he looked slightly different. No because of him being Truman's best friend. Unless the studio found an actor who did look almost identical to the child actor, Truman would have been able to figure out his best friend was a different person.
Answer: It's probably a way of giving characters a break from the show, a way of writing them off-screen for a short while.
Question: When Truman is looking at the photo album by himself what is it that he sees in the wedding photo that makes him act oddly around Meryl the next morning?
Answer: In the wedding photo, Meryl has her fingers crossed which means she doesn't agree with what she is doing. Most of the time, when you are lying you cross your fingers. Obviously because she is just an actress, she does not love Truman. The next morning when Meryl leaves, Truman says "I'll cross my fingers for ya" and she looks at him funny.
Question: When Truman's father shows up for the first time, was it set up by Christoph? if so, why was he dragged away by people that work there? can someone please explain what's going on there? Also, is Truman's father his real biological father?
Chosen answer: No. Christoph did not plan his return, that is why he is dragged off, the others are trying to protect the project. No, he is not.
Question: Given that Truman is being watched (by multiple cameras) 24/7, how does he manage to escape from his house and get out to "sea" on a boat without any of the crew seeing him?
Answer: As the film depicts the control room during the overnight hours, while Truman typically sleeps, the crew is greatly reduced, and not paying very close attention. By that point in the film, Truman had moved into the basement of his home, having separated from his wife. He managed to sneak out of his house while the crew thought he was asleep. Truman had configured his sleeping area to look like he was in it, and had added a recording of himself snoring. We must suspend a bit of disbelief to imagine he could pull this off without anyone, crew nor devoted viewing audience, noticing. But presuming he was able to accomplish the deception, he was able to escape out to sea because nobody was paying attention to any of the thousands of other cameras in town, as all of the focus was on the allegedly sleeping Truman.
Question: What was behind those rocks Truman was climbing up when he was about 4 and his dad tells him to come down, it's not safe?
Chosen answer: It is never stated directly, but in the background construction sounds can be heard. From this one can gather that parts of the set are being created, and the rock wall is there to keep Truman from seeing it. If he were to climb the wall he would be able to see that the beach behind the rocks immediately ends and becomes an unfinished set.
Chosen answer: Clearly, in his media interviews, Truman's best friend, Marion, indicates that he did, indeed, grow up with Truman since they met in elementary school. One could extrapolate that his classmates did, as well. A sudden change of actor from one day to the next would be too much of tip-off to Truman. As actors leave the show, there is a story along with it. His father is presumed to have died, and returns later. I'm sure others move away. The main characters (Truman's wife, parents, close co-workers, and other key figures in his life) also appear to live "in world" and have devoted their entire lives to the Truman project. It is not made clear about the extras, though.
Michael Albert
It's kinda hard to believe though that a little boy (Marion) is faking it all so well for all these years since his childhood without raising any suspicion.
He probably didn't get to know it until a late age. In the bus, a little girl was confused and almost tell her mum that there was Truman, so a kid can't keep up the secret. I'm pretty sure they don't know it. But on the other hand, when he says he wants to be an explorer all the classmates freak out, as if they knew it would put in danger the show. So maybe the classmates and even the best friend had been selected after making sure they wouldn't mess up and reveal the secret.