DeConick A.D

76
THE GNOSTIC TRUE MAN
Figure 2.3 Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) in the final scene of The Truman Show.
Christof identifies himself as the creator of an inspirational TV show.
Truman looks around and then asks the question that has tormented him
since he first recognized the cracks in his world. “Who am I? Was nothing
real?”
Christof tries to trick him again, hopeful that Truman will climb back
down the stairs and go on living in Seahaven. He wants nothing more
than for Truman to continue entertaining the masses glued to their tubes.
So Christof tells him, “You’re the star. You were real. That’s what made
you so good to watch.”
Christof continues to dissuade him, telling him that the world beyond
Seahaven is no more true than the one Truman inhabits. It contains the
same lies, the same deceit. The difference is that in the world beyond the
door Truman has everything to fear. But in Christof’s created world Truman
is safe. “You’re afraid,” he tells Truman. “That’s why you can’t leave.”
It is the moment we all have been waiting for. How’s it going to end?
Truman pivots on his feet and raises his hand in a final wave. “In case I
don’t see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night” (figure 2.3).
He vanishes through the door into the real world. Like the old lady watching
Truman exit on her TV, we shout, “Go, Truman!”