The Truman Show. Commentary from A Course In Miracles Perspective.

• From MWGE: This is a fantastic awakening movie about the undoing and having the courage to follow the call of the heart. The world was a show produced and directed by the ego. It employed many actors, used many sets and events on a time loop, and depended on sales, labels, and product placement to sustain itself. The show aimed at drama, repetitions, distractions, pretense, and ultimately resorted to fear to perpetuate itself, for being make-believe it had to be believed as real to seem to continue. Once the show is seen as nothing but a contrived skit of past memories, the show no longer seems to be reality. Once you see the show from the fearless perspective, the show is effectively over and done, for fear has been exposed as unreal, and all the characters and sets are therefore without meaning. You are the light of the world and no longer a character on the screen. Who you are (Spirit) is the meaning of life! Our Kingdom is not of this world!

Kyle Nordwall’s perspective: This is the first movie I would recommend for someone who was new this whole ‘Waking Up’ business. The messages here are blatant and clear when we open our minds and watch with intention. Spirit has it’s fingerprints all over this film! The script was written by Andrew Niccol and I would love to interview him to see where his inspiration came from to write this story, as he has written other films with similar vibes.

For this movie, Jim Carey’s character Truman is a guy whose whole life is actually a reality TV show. At the beginning of the film, Truman does not know this. Or rather, before waking up, Truman is unaware. The voice of the ego is the show’s creator, played by Hollywood legend Ed Harris, named Christof which is funny and clever. The ego is like the devil or antichrist or “Christ Off”.

I was raised Christian, so I went to Sunday School and all that, but like a lot of people the whole organized religion thing didn’t really stick. But I was amazed when I realized, many years ago in my own ACIM study, that if I simply replaced the word devil for the ego in the bible, it makes much more sense. Again, we are getting to the concept of seeing everything in this reality as symbols. We all know now that there is no devil out there. There is no beast with horns and cloven hooves flying around and punishing people. This is simply symbolic for the ego, the voice of fear.

Like The Truman Show, our reality is a reality TV show and all the people around us are actors.

From William Shakspeare: All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.

The voice of the ego wants pull our attention outside of ourselves and onto the stage. The ego wants to have us believe that all of this is very real. The ego does not want us looking inside. Why? Because if we look inside long enough, we will see that the ego isn’t even real! We will see that this is all smoke and mirrors and we can actually wake up whenever we want. The fear isn’t real, and like Truman at the end of the movie, we all get to overcome our fears by going through the fear. The only way out is through. The ego wants to distract us and have us feel like our safety lies in the external world. Our safety lies in products we buy, other people, nice houses and such when in reality, our safety is inherent in who we really are and in our relationship with God. This world (like Truman’s fake life, the movie set) is not our real home. We are so much more.

Some questions to ponder while watching the movie:

*What are some “miracles” that happen during the movie to support Truman in his waking up?

*Who are some of Truman’s “mighty companions”? In other words, who are some people that were genuinely interested in Truman waking up and discovering true Freedom?

*How do you notice the ego attempting to distract Truman from waking up?

*What is Truman’s main fear, and how does the ego use this fear to keep Truman feeling trapped? How is this similar to fears in your own life?

Alright, so say your little prayer, fasten your seatbelt, and enjoy the show!