The Truman Show has been a classic ever since it first came out in 1998.
It told the story of a man (played by Jim Carrey) who discovers that his entire life has been a TV show. Cue a whole lot of craziness.
Just as Truman discovers things, you can, too, with this list of 10+ hidden details that fans likely didn’t notice.
*The Truman Show* tells the intriguing tale of a good-hearted man who discovers that his entire life has been a lie.
He has been an experiment and, as it turns out, his life is actually the basis of a television show.
Back in 1998, he was the first reality star!
The movie has since become iconic.
We would laugh about how unrealistic some of it seemed,” said star Laura Linney to Vanity Fair .
“We couldn’t quite believe that someone would want to tape themselves, so that people could tune in and watch what was considered at the time to be mundane, and see that as entertainment.”
Sherry Lansing, former C.E.O. of Paramount (who looked over production of *The Truman Show*), agreed: “By no means did I think that this movie was going to be prescient.”
“That suddenly, we were going to have all these reality shows—the Kardashians, The Real Housewives.”
“When I watch reality television and people who live in front of the camera—there are many now who do—I wonder how much of this is real, how much of it is just because they’re in front of the camera.”
“Do they really know themselves? But every time I watch one, I think of Truman.”
Although this movie is incredibly iconic, there are tons of hidden details that most people who watch might not have noticed!
Luckily, we are here to help with that.
We’ve compiled a great list of hidden details that fans pointed out! Let’s get into it!
1. The picture of Truman as a kid:
He was dressed as a clown and pictured behind bars for a reason.
According to this theory , it’s to represent him as a prisoner on a TV set and also an entertainer (clown) to the world.
2. This sign on the bridge:
Truman passes this sign when he tries to leave Seahaven Island. It says, “Are you sure it’s a good idea?”
If we saw that on a trip, we’d consider it an omen. But for Truman, they were trying to stop him from leaving.
3. The show used product placement:
Since there were no commercials in the reality show of Truman’s life, they added in some obvious product placement , like when Marlon pointed out what beer he was drinking.
The beer Marlon drank was then shown being consumed around the country.
Truman’s wife was also used to do product placement. Here she is advertising the Chef’s Pal.
This was likely a satire move by the film’s director since product placement had become popular around then.
4. The placement of the moon:
Since Truman doesn’t know any better, it seems perfectly normal that the moon is so close to him while he sits by the water.
In real life, this would be a cause for concern.
5. This bottle of Vitamin D supplement:
Since Truman’s life was filmed under a giant dome, the town where he lives is devoid of any sunlight.
This Reddit user pointed out that this is why Truman needs to take vitamin D pills.
6. This travel agent wearing a bib:
If you ever wondered why the travel agent was wearing a bib, this will make sooo much sense.
“The travel agent kept Truman waiting because she has never needed to show up for work before,” wrote Reddit user @TastesGreatIceCold.
“Also she is still wearing her makeup bib since it was a rush job.”
7. Truman and his classical music:
While most of us blast pop music on the way to work, Truman was listening to classical music.
The reason for this, according to this Twitter user , is because classical music is public domain. This would make it easy to get the rights to play it on TV.
8. The significance behind Truman’s catchphrase:
He’s always saying, “good morning! And in case I don’t see you, good Afternoon, good Evening, and goodnight.”
As it turns out, he was unintentionally talking to viewers of The Truman Show from all different time zones.
9. The translation behind the city arches:
When Truman sees his father for the first time in the movie, he chases him to the city arches.
There, on the arches, is the Latin phrase , “one for all, all for one.” This is the premise of the show.
10. Marlon had to keep restocking the same candy bars:
This took place when Truman was starting to figure things out.
Since Marlon needed more time to stall, he would remove candy bars from the vending machine when Truman wasn’t looking and then restock them.
11. A “street cleaner” was pretending to pick up trash:
Since the people in Truman’s town are actors, a lot of them had to fake their jobs.
A very clear example of this was this trash guy. Um, sir, you deserve to be fired!
12. There are hidden cameras in places you wouldn’t expect:
If you take a took at the middle of that garbage can, you will spy the black camera .
The neighbor is holding it awkwardly to capture a good shot of Truman sitting in his car.
The garbage can camera is just the tip of the iceberg.
Twitter user @moranmarc13 found them everywhere in different stills from the film.
This included cameras on pillars, different architecture around town, and on windows.
13. This show worker looking for a new job:
Reddit user @wildyb noticed this clever detail.
“In the Truman Show, the control room director is seen looking at the LA Times classifieds after Truman starts getting suspicious.”
Either that, or he was looking for a girlfriend.
14. The name of Truman’s boat:
When he attempts to venture out into the real world, he takes a boat called the Santa Maria .
This is actually the name of the largest ship that famous explorer Christopher Columbus used on his first voyage.
15. Truman’s ring is a camera:
While it’s uncertain how much footage you’d get from a ring camera, one clever Reddit user figured out this detail.
“In The Truman Show, Truman’s wedding ring is comically oversized with a black diamond, indicating that it’s one of the show’s many hidden cameras.”
16. The camera crew had a hard time keeping up with Truman after he began figuring things out:
“When Truman walks through his office’s revolving door but comes back out again the next shot is of a shaky camera from far away zooming in on Truman to show that the camera operators were [thrown] off by his unexpected action,” wrote this Reddit user.
17. Truman comments on the fake sunset.
At one point of the movie, Marlon comments on the fake sunset , pointing out how beautiful it is.
Truman agrees, saying “It’s perfect,” but he wouldn’t know, because he’s never actually seen one!
18. Sirius (the Dog Star).
No, not Sirius Black from Harry Potter .
This is a perfect hidden detail of continuity, where something at the start of the movie appears later on. That is some excellent writing if you ask me!
19. Truman’s age is displayed on the newspaper.
Seriously speaking, this is most likely one of the most well thought out movies of all time.
I would never have noticed this little detail unless someone had pointed it out! Truman had signs everywhere!
Do you know of any other hidden details from *The Truman Show*?
Or were you shocked to see all the hidden details that we presented you with?
Let us know down below in the comments! We would love to hear from you!
