Similarities Between Plato's Cave And The Truman Show

Anthony Arena

Professor J. Mileo

Philosophy 243

February 1, 2017

The Truman Show and Plato’s Cave Allegory Plato’s Cave Allegory is one of the most, if not the most famous allegories of all time. Despite Plato’s introduction of the Cave Allegory occurring sometime between 380 and 360 B.C., it is still analyzed by modern philosophers who attempt to narrow down and explain some of the broad statements made by Plato. In addition to this research, it has also become clear that many modern films display many of the same messages through metaphors in which someone has developed a misconception regarding reality. The Truman Show is one film, of many, which appears to have adopted a substantial amount of ideas from Plato’s Cave Allegory and adapted

The Truman Show does differ in some ways; the first obvious way is that there is only one man who has an unintentional blindness to the world. Truman Burbank is the protagonist or the prisoner in this story and his life appears seemingly normal initially, until it is revealed that he is the center of a reality television show that he has been the star of since the moment he was born. He has lived in the same town for all of his life and has not ever ventured outside of the town despite being nearly thirty years old. Every time he attempts to leave or plan a vacation, the television show director sends some kind of a disruption to keep him from leaving, although he is actually in a large dome that prevents him from simply leaving. Everyone in his life is an actor, however, many of them genuinely care for him and do not want him to live like this anymore. Some of them eventually conclude that it is inhumane and will attempt to inform him and send him messages. These people are acting similarly to the liberated prisoner returning for the others and trying to inform them of their misconceptions. Truman has been receiving small, easily overlooked signs for his entire life that he has not been able to make sense of. It could be argued that Truman was just unconsciously not allowing himself to make

Filmmakers continue to create major films displaying Plato’s Cave Allegory in part and through their own representations. While many films don’t display the full allegory, they always tell of someone escaping their false reality in some form and finding a new life of some kind. The Truman Show is a perfect example of this concept, as Truman is a slave who is trying to escape his false reality that has been manipulated by his captors.

Works Cited

"The 10 Best Movies Referring to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave." Taste of Cinema - Movie Reviews and Classic Movie Lists. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2017.

"The Allegory of the Cave by Plato: Summary, Analysis & Explanation - Video & Lesson Transcript." Study.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2017.

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Pojman, Louis P. Philosophy: The Pursuit of Wisdom. Australia: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2004. Print.

The Truman Show. Dir. Peter Weir. Perf. Jim Carrey. Universal Pictures, 1998.