The Truman Show

Cristof is a bad god because all he has done is control and manipulate Truman giving him no freedom, free will or independence. "Young Truman: I want to become an explorer like the great Magellan, Teacher: Oh you're too late! There's nothing left to explore!" Another scene where Truman is stopped from exploring is when he is at the beach when he's young and starts climbing up the hill, he is again stopped from discovering what's on the other side. Peter Weir expresses in this scene how Truman's confidence and dreams are broken from the very start, a teacher would not crush a student's dream; a teacher would inspire and motivate the student. These scenes are of course scripted and controlled by Cristof, he is constantly reminding Truman and manipulating him into thinking he cannot leave Seahaven, a good Father would not manipulate his child into thinking he cannot follow his dreams, a good father does not control his child. Truman falls in love with Sylvia but Cristof fires Sylvia from playing Lauren because she is 'the eyes of truth' she truly cares about Truman, she wants to tell him the truth. Meryl is hired to play Truman's love interest and Sylvia is fired; he marries Meryl on the rebound. However this has great impact on Truman and Meryl's relationship, Meryl can never truly love him or even care about him because he is in love with another lady and Truman can never be truly happy because he is not in love with Meryl. Truman cannot even be with the one he loves because this is not what Cristof wants. A good Father figure would never want his child to be unhappy. "Truman prefers his cell'-Cristof. It is as if Truman is trapped in a prison, it is often implied as if he is. At the start of the movie, the front door in the background behind Truman, is crisscrossing framing Truman in a way to remind the audience he is trapped, in fact this is implied a lot through the rest of the movie (when Truman goes to work, the background is also crisscrossed). It is especially used when Truman goes missing, the mis-en-scene applies to a prison setting, the moon turns into a search light, everything is dark and everyone is searching for Truman, there is also a suspenseful crescendo. Nothing that Truman has ever wanted has happened, his life has been completely controlled and manipulated by Cristof therefore Cristof is not a good father because a good father would want freedom for their son.