Pursuing And Compromising Happiness In 'The Truman Show'

By Erik Reyes
12/18/2011

Pursuing and Compromising Happiness in The Truman Show

Individuals do irrational and rational things all the time. Every day, we make decisions that are actually quite two sided. The item or goal you pursue has a value that is irrelevant. The evident fact is that you can pursue something realistically or unrealistically. “The Truman Show” by Peter Weir displays various examples of how individuals pursue and compromise their happiness. Peter Weir clearly states that the pursuit of happiness is always one that has different paths and different methods. Christof, Truman Burbank and Sylvia/Lauren Garland are all excellent examples of
Truman is a great example of someone who takes both rational and irrational actions to attain their happiness. In Truman’s college days he had came across a student by the name of Lauren Garland. Although Christof had casted Hannah Gill (played by Laura Linney) as Meryl and the love interest for Truman, Truman still aims to snatch the heart of Lauren Garland instead. The aggression of Meryl could have potentially pushed Truman away from Meryl and towards Lauren instead. Truman has only a handful of occasions in which he sees Lauren. Truman decides to study instead of go spend time with Meryl and his best friend, Marlon (played by Noah Emmerich). While studying Truman sees Lauren and decides to try converse with her then eventually persuading her to go out somewhere. This simple action displays his interest in Lauren and his strong feelings for her. He attains happiness by going with Lauren to the beach and kissing her passionately. She suddenly gets taken away by her “father” and Truman has been informed that Lauren and her family are moving to Fiji. The instant that Lauren was out of Truman’s sight was when Truman’s ambition to travel to Fiji was planted. His pursuit of happiness had suddenly begun. As the years went by Meryl’s aggression eventually tore Truman’s walls down and they became husband and wife. Truman had only married Meryl as a “rebound” to the loss of Lauren after all those years. This is
Sylvia had been fired because she had risked the exposure of Truman finding the truth about his whole life being a false set. Sylvia had joined a protest group called “Free Truman”; this group felt that it was humanly incorrect to have a person “caged” and hidden from the true world. There are many occasions in the film of shots of Sylvia’s apartment. In her apartment, there are various items that show she still longs for Truman and misses him. For example there are various items that say “Free Truman” on the walls. There is also a sign that says, “I’m on Truman T.V.” from the parachute that an intruder used on “The Truman Show”. Sylvia watches “The Truman Show” for the sake of keeping Truman close to her. However, the only things she can do are pray and hope for a miracle that somehow Truman will escape from the show. Her pursuit for Truman is the definition of her happiness. Sylvia’s pursuit is very realistic and Sylvia’s commitments are very rational. Even though Sylvia seems very rational she has had her share of irrational actions. At one point in the film Sylvia decides to call Christof to have a heated conversation with him on live television in hope of giving Christof a change of heart or sending a message to him. Even with the smallest, most immanent chance Sylvia tries to help