Metaphors In The Truman Show

God is everywhere, as the saying goes. And if this statement is true in means he is ingrained in your, my, and his head and within our culture whether we choose to believe or not. More directly speaking God is found in commercials, television shows, and, more obviously, in movies. Throughout films such as, It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), The Truman Show (1998), Crash (2004), and Chocolat (2000) there are metaphors and themes which are God-like or center around Christian beliefs. As these ideas are revealed, the examined metaphors will be compared to the philosophical ideas and research of Andrew M. Greeley in Religion as Poetry.

It’s a Wonderful Life is a film that takes place in the small town of Bedford Falls. George Bailey, the main

Truman has grown up in the show since a baby and the life he knows, the people he deals with, and place he has grown up in, is all an elaborate cast and set chosen and designed by Christof. Christof is the creator, writer, and director of The Truman Show and therefore controller of Truman’s life but Truman is beginning to wonder what is real and what is fake after set malfunctions give him evidence to be suspicious. Christof is analogous to God because he is “the creator”. Christof is also viewed as an enemy which trapped Truman into living a life that he was forced to live. Because Christof is viewed as over-controlling and “wrong” it depicts God to be a puppet master which takes away people’s will. As Truman finally fought against Christof’s will he was almost killed by a storm Christof created in order to keep Truman where he wanted him. Greeley states, “religious stories will be predictive of other stories” and in the Bible sinful cities like Gomorrah were destroyed after disobeying God’s law (pg. 52). God as a ‘puppet-master’ by creating an intricate plan is similarly shown in Crash but in Crash the people intertwined learn about themselves contradictory of Christof’s selfish motives such as

It focuses on different races that come from different backgrounds and how a racist mindset and racial stereotypes affect people. Power, race, murder, and ultimately God are the themes of the movie. God, in this movie, works in a divine manner to create interactions which ultimately connect every character together whether the character’s are aware or not. Throughout the film, although not seen and heard, God tests each person with a struggle which, may bring sadness, but ultimately humbles the character. For example Farhad, the persian shop owner, fires a gun at Daniel, after blaming Daniel for the destruction of his store, just as Daniel’s daughter Lara jumps in front to save her father. Farhad and Daniel believe Lara is dead but she is fine. Farhad is no longer distraught about the damage and claims to his daughter Dorri that Lara is his angel unaware Dorri only put blanks in the gun. Farhad gives his daughter the gun, and Farhad learns the lesson that guns and violence are not the answer. At the end of the movie the audience is able to see how each character has learned about themselves in comparison God acts to teach people how to be happier but instead of achieving this through character’s encounters, like in Crash, he acts as a sweet