Truman Show And Awakening
20 years after its release, the film Truman Show (Peter Weir, 1998) is still an educational monument in philosophy and psychology. This film manages to portray the complex process of awakening consciousness with the help of media and symbols.
To understand what it means to awaken consciousness, we must understand what conscience and consciousness are. According to the dictionary:
- Conscience is conformity to what is considered correct, right or morally good.
- Consciousness is the state of being characterized by perception, feeling, will and thought.
Therefore, an awakening of consciousness is what happens when a person is not only aware that she is present in the world, that she exists. It is when she is something or someone that is related to the world.
We can also think of this process as the moment when we realize our transcendence. In this moment, a spark ignites within us that makes us doubt everything that has been said to us.
When we get to this point , we can decide to live with what we already know or overcome our fears and uncertainties of leaving the “cave”.
The Greek philosopher Plato (427-347 AD) created the parable of the cave to symbolize human knowledge. According to his theory , man is like a prisoner in a cave, and all he knows is only a shadow or reflection of reality.
But real life is what happens outside the cave. It is difficult for us to understand because we have never left the cave and are used to working with the shadows. In other words, we do not know what is real, or we are afraid of it.
What is our cave? Our family home and the surroundings we grew up in. Normally, values are instilled in us during childhood. These can be religious, political or anything in between.
We believe in the traditions that come from being born in a specific society, and they give us our identity. This is why many people do not like new things. They are afraid of losing their identity.
People are always looking for security. Thus our tendency to embrace traditions that our loved ones engaged in. But neither society nor the family teaches us how to “look” (although we may be able to observe).
They do not encourage critical thinking. Few children grow up with adults who teach them to analyze, compare and have their own opinion. No one encourages them to exercise self-awareness.
Truman, the main character in the film, is a man who has never made his own decisions. Even before his birth, he became the protagonist in his own TV series. All the decisions he makes (dating, getting married, buying a house, working…) are not really his own. The creator of the TV show guides all his actions. The creator is compared in these cases to a god.
Truman is happy and completely unaware of everything. He lives in a giant dome that the producers built for him, the city he lives in. When he begins to suspect something or feels doubt , he cannot leave this world because he is controlled by fear. The producers of the series have instilled in him certain fears, such as fear of water and the trauma he experienced with his father.
But there comes a point when he can no longer ignore his doubts because his world is not what it used to be. The truth is that we are all like Truman.
The only chance we have to be authentic is when we feel that spark, the consciousness. Our will is the only thing that can help us overcome our fear of what may await on the other side.
When we awaken our consciousness, we get energy and determination to leave our comfort zone and our surroundings. The feeling that things will become clearer if we distance ourselves from the ordinary encourages us…
And later we ask ourselves: What do I want to do with my life? Are my beliefs still satisfactory? Who do I trust? What do I believe in? What is truth?
Your answers should be more valuable to you than anyone else’s opinion. This is because they are perfect for you. They are tailored for you and no one else.
It is easy to believe that we are not free because we all have responsibilities (family, school, work), but to really think is the most accessible art of freedom.
We are free to think and imagine what we want. We are also free to make decisions based on these thoughts. Truman – he also has the opportunity to find the truth.
When we stick to what we feel and what we have always been taught, we will get in the way of our own growth. But we can overcome our fear of the unknown and seek knowledge.
That is why our principles, values and beliefs will be much more valuable when we find them on our own.
Overcoming these fears and awakening consciousness will make you freer. To do that, you only need two ingredients: an awakening and courage.
