Christof Monologue / The Truman Show

Hope for Christof

Contextualisation

Character:  Christof
Scene:  Christof has a moment to himself after witnessing Truman exit the show.
Setting:  Christof is in his office by himself.

Structure	Script	Blocking
Awareness	No. Truman. You’ve made the wrong decision. You don’t know what you’re getting into, a nightmare far beyond your wildest imagination. There is no comfort in the truth, Truman. Reality is an enemy and the truth is his weapon. Truman, hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man. [Friedrich Nietzsche]Freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength. [George Orwell, 1949]   I had plans for you, Truman, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. [Indirect, Jeremiah 29:11]. He should know that the reality I have designed, his perception of the world, is more desirable than anything achievable by truth and certainty. His reality, as perfect and peaceful as heaven, cannot compare to the inadequacy of Earth, just as God himself intended. It was faultless, really, the ending. Truman delivered a seamless performance, the best of his life. No! I control him and the ending should have been on my terms, by my word. I should have ended it.	Angry, storm in to room. (Pace quickly, panicked) Stop face audience on ‘There is no comfort in the truth!’ Bitter. Seething, slam fist on desk on ‘strength’. Emphasise ‘know’. Laugh sarcastically, defeated on ‘faultless’. Yell ‘No!’ Breathe heavily.
Self-Doubt	I almost did. I just about killed him. He was born in front of an audience and living in front of an audience. Why couldn’t I let him die in front of one? Isn’t death just another part of existence, of reality, of life?  In an instant I could have stopped this from happening.  How could he want to leave so desperately? His world was faultless why did he question it?  With perfection there is happiness and satisfaction, isn’t there? Aren’t we all searching for perfection, for contentment, safety? His fear should have debilitated him, controlled him. Fear is a darkness closing upon you like the shutting of an eye, wrapping you in a stifling embrace. It is the strongest emotion of mankind is fear and the strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. It is a potent weapon. How has Truman’s yearning for truth and freedom overcome his fear? I saved him from the reality he might have faced, as an orphan in the real world, the world I am forced to live in. A life of misery, poverty and unrelenting hardship. Tragedy is an orphan with no takers. Christof: the saviour. The Truman Show: an inspiration.	Firm, directed. Confused, disgusted. Sit down on chair. Run hands through hair. Thoughtful and confused.
Self-Reflection	Why not a whole lifetime? I was intrigued; a social experiment with no comparison fascinated me immensely. A world fashioned from the fabric of my own imagination. A perfect world.  A perfect reality. A chance to inspire the world back to small, close communities – the town square surrounded by neat houses, front porches close to the street, white picket fences.  A society free from pollution, crime, disease and sin. A world only God and myself have had the capacity to imagine. A simple existence as opposed to the modern urban life I’ve become too familiar with.  I built Truman and shaped his world. I didn’t make any mistakes. Nonetheless his curiosity and suspicion weren’t a product of my design. His undeniable faith in the truth and the development of his individual desires was uncontrollable. So in that moment, when the choice was mine, life or death, was I prepared for him to die? The man of my own creation? I had decided twenty-nine years ago that the Truman Show would last a lifetime. What changed?	Stand up and pace. Use hand gestures. Smile and emphasise ‘perfect.’ Loudly, convinced. Pause after ‘imagine’. Frown, bewildered. Unable to make sense of Truman. Overwhelmed and confused.
Self Realisation	Of course I never anticipated what Truman would become, who he would become. I could never have predicted the uncontrollable nature of his individualism. Did I underestimate Truman, presuming him to be a passive audience to his own reality? Did I believe him content in the bliss of ignorance? Yes. I believed that he would never question his fear of water, the reappearance of his father, the disappearance of Sylvia. I believed that he would remain oblivious to these to preserve his perception of reality. It was arrogant to assume that Truman would have no input into his individuality. Underestimating Truman’s desire for truth and hope for enlightenment was wrong of me. I did not believe that his death would affect my life either. I was wrong on both accounts. Death transcends reality. In all realities, regardless of perspective, we seem to search for the truth. The thirst for knowledge overcomes the fear of the unknown. In fact, the show itself was born from my curiosity. The intense longing to observe an unfamiliar situation. Truman opposed perfection and left in the hope that truth would bring fulfilment. In saying that, if perfection does not satisfy us, it can’t be the answer to happiness either. If contentment and satisfaction with life is rewarded with happiness then happiness is not found in perfection, but in hope. Hope in the truth and hope that there is always something greater, something that can discovered. Hope that the possibilities are endless and that limitations can’t be found.	Dark, heavy tone. Apprehensive and uneasy. Play with fingers, hands. Annoyed at self. Run hand through hair, stressed. Sit down again. Emphasise ‘happiness’.
Resolution	Truman, everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth. So there is always another reality. Another way to see the world. People fight for hope and truth. It seems then that we must fight our battle between fear and hope in the knowledge that hope is always stronger. [Saint Francis de Sales] Time:	Shake head, steady voice. Conclusive, decisive.