Truman, or a True Man
Abstract
Gierat analyzes Peter Weir’s Truman Show from the point of view of Gnosticism while the process of Truman’s liberation is compared to the Gnostic process of seeking the Truth. According to the beliefs, the material world merely reflects the spiritual world. To liberate oneself from the bondage of senses and the power of the Demiurge, who is the artificer of the human world, one needs to make an effort to purify oneself, to open oneself to the external world and muster courage. Gierat says that Gnostic motifs can be seen in many films and that they reflect man’s sense of being lost and fears of contemporary men. Truman is unaware that he is the star of a 24-hour-a-day hit television show. The world he lives in is an entirely artificial world created by TV director Christof. It is the unsuppressed dream about freedom that drives him to get to know the truth. He begins to notice falsity and cracks in this ideal world. Gierat cites classic Gnostic texts to support her thesis. In this context the film appears to be something more than just a popular pamphlet on being captivated by mass culture.
Keywords:
Peter Weir, Gnosticism, TV showReferences
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Authors
Maria Magdalena Gieratkwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Jagiellonian University Poland
Studentka filmoznawstwa Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego.
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Copyright (c) 2003 Maria Magdalena Gierat
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