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Adam and Truman

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Submitted By justinefu
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Blast from the Past and The Truman Show both depict the story about men growing up in an artificial world. Since they are born, they live in a world that is created by others and they do not contact with the real world. However, both of the men in these two movies do not give up their dreams and they are determined. They are eager to get out of the present situation and they have a strong desire to live in the way they like. Finally, through their efforts, they shake off the shackles and both of them lead a free and happy life. Also, there is an interesting thing appears in both movies that the Christian image is mentioned. In Blast from the Past, each time Adam’s family ascent to the ground, the druggies who are religious acolytes are pious and reverent to them, thinking Adam’s family are Father and Son. In The Truman Show, after the vicious storm, Truman emerges from the water in a cruciform position which represents the Jesus after being tortured. Although the style of the two movies is similar, there are a lot of differences between them. First of all, Adam lives in a world full of love and what around him is the beautiful and positive aspect of life. Since he is born, his parents, who are the only person that he can contact with, tell him what the real world is. Moreover, his parents teach him dance, languages and sports. He learns from his parents to be modest, kind and a man of morality. Although his parents create an unreal world for Adam, they are not on purpose and they try their best to create a comfortable growth environment for him. As they wish, Adam becomes a man holding positive attitude toward life. However, Truman knows nothing of what happens to him and his life is a complete lie. Since his is born, he even does not see his parents and is abandoned. Then he is controlled and his life is directed by others. Everything around him is unreal, including relatives and friends who are actors. Moreover, he has no privacy with his every movement shown to the world 24 hours a day. His life is more like a tragedy. Secondly, the purpose of the creators who create the life for Adam and Truman is different. Adam is kept underground because his father thinks the air crush as a nuclear burst. Thus, lest the radiation should kill the family, his father determines to live underground for 35 years, which is because of the love he has toward his wife and his unborn child. His purpose is to try his best to give his child a better life. However, as for Christof, what he wants is to create a life for Truman and be the “God” of him. He tries every means to prevent Truman from leaving him. Rather than love Truman as he says, Christof’s purpose is to achieve his goal and he is selfish and cruel to deprive Truman’s right to live freely. Thirdly, the character of the two men is different being brought up in two different environments. Adam seems to be more innocent since he has living underground for 35 years and he has never known what a real world is. Another great attribute is his kindness to others. He thinks others are kind since what he has learned from his parents is the positive aspect of life. Moreover, Adam is always a happy person and his happiness will easily move others. Truman is relatively unfortunate since to make him afraid of water to prevent him from leaving the island, Christof arranges storm kills Truman’s “father” when he is very young. Also, the teacher discourages his dream. As Christof wills, Truman is afraid of water and he is troubled by how to explore. All kinds of “accidents” makes Truman confused at his life, which makes him unhappy and unconfident to his dream, and almost drives him crazy for one time. He is hurt by the lie around him and when he escapes from people’s vision, he does not believe anyone. Finally, the themes of the two movies are different. Blast from the Past is to use a humorous style to awaken people from their busy life and others who lead a life without goals to recall them what a happy life is like. It is to help people find spiritual satisfaction. In The Truman Show, it depicts the mighty “creator”, which I think is to emphasis man’s power to struggle for their dreams. Although the destiny is unchangeable and the God is mighty, people can use their power and determination to change the unfavorable situation. Also, only after suffering or great effort, men can survive. I like this kind of movie because first of all, it is interesting and attractive. The results of these movies are usually unpredictable and the results are instructive. Also, I think that people live in an artificial world will experience something especially different from a normal man and their special experience to fight against the shackle is what I am most interested and moves me most. I like to see people using their own power to change their unfavorable situation, which will encourage me a lot.

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