The Truman Show Quotes

Mike Michaelson: Christof, let me ask you, why do you think that Truman has never come close to discovering the true nature of his world until now?

Christof: We accept the reality of the world with which we're presented. It's as simple as that.

Marlon: Where the hell's Fiji? Near Florida?

Truman: [pointing to golf ball] See here?

Marlon: Yeah.

Truman: This is us...

[guides finger halfway around ball]

Truman: and all the way around here... FIJI. You can't get any further away before you start coming back.

Christof: We need more light, we'll never find him this way. What time is it?

Chloe: It's... way too early for that.

Christof: Cue the sun.

Mike Michaelson: The Hague for Christof. Hello? The Hague? All right, we've lost that call, let's go to Hollywood, California. You're on Trutalk.

Sylvia: Hi, Christof, I'd just like to say one thing, you're a liar and a manipulator and what you've done to Truman is sick!

Christof: Well. We remember this voice, don't we? How could we forget?

Mike Michaelson: Uh, let's go to another call, what do we have...

Christof: No. No, no, no, no, no, it's fine, it's fine, Mike. I love to reminisce with former members of the cast. Sylvia, as you announced so melodramatically to the world, do you think because you batted your eyes at Truman once, flirted with him, stole a few minutes of airtime with him to thrust yourself and your politics into the limelight, that you know him? That you know what's right for him? You really think you're in a position to judge him?

Sylvia: What right do you have to take a baby and turn his life into some kind of mockery? Don't you ever feel guilty?

Christof: I have given Truman the chance to lead a normal life. The world, the place you live in, is the sick place. Seahaven is the way the world should be.

Sylvia: He's not a performer, he's a prisoner. Look at him, look at what you've done to him!

Christof: He could leave at any time. If his was more than just a vague ambition, if he was absolutely determined to discover the truth, there's no way we could prevent him. I think what distresses you, really, caller, is that ultimately Truman prefers his cell, as you call it.

Sylvia: Well, that's where you're wrong. You're so wrong! And he'll prove you wrong!

Truman Burbank: It was Dad. I swear! Dressed like a homeless man. And you know what else was strange? A business man and a woman with a little dog came out of nowhere and forced him onto a bus.

Truman's Mother: Well! It's about time they cleaned up the trash downtown before we become just like the rest of the country.

Network Executive: For God's sake, Chris! The whole world is watching. We can't let him die in front of a live audience!

Christof: He was born in front of a live audience.

Truman Burbank: Lauren, right? It's on your book.

Lauren: Lauren. Right. Right.

Truman Burbank: Well, I'm Truman.

Lauren: Yeah. I know. Look, Truman, I'm not allowed to talk to you. You know.

Truman Burbank: Yeah, well, I can understand, I'm a pretty dangerous character.

[Truman attempts to leave his town and a convoy of cars pulls in front of him to block his exit]

Truman Burbank: Blocked at every turn. Beautifully synchronized, don't you agree?

Meryl: You're blaming me for the traffic?

Truman Burbank: Should I?

Meryl: Truman, let's go home.

Truman Burbank: You're right. We could be stuck here for hours. It could be like this all the way to Atlantic City. Let's go back. I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me.

Meryl: Truman, can you slow down?

Truman Burbank: Yes, I can.

Meryl: Truman. Truman, that's our turnoff.

Truman Burbank: I changed my mind. What's New Orleans like this time of year? Mardi Gras, woooooo! Ha ha ha ha ha! Hoo hoo hoo! Whoooohoo! Look, Meryl! Same road, no cars. It's magic! Hahaha!

Meryl: You let me out, Truman. You're not right in the head. You want to destroy yourself you do it on your own.

Truman Burbank: I think I'd like a little company.

Christof: As Truman grew up, we were forced to manufacture ways to keep him on the island.

[flashback to Truman at school]

Young Truman: I like to be an explorer, like the great Magellan.

Teacher: [rolling down a map of the world] Oh, you're too late. There's really nothing left to explore.

Meryl: [holding up a jar of cocoa, slipping into advertising mode] Why don't you let me fix you some of this Mococoa drink? All natural cocoa beans from the upper slopes of Mount Nicaragua. No artificial sweeteners.

Truman: [looking around] What the hell are you talking about? Who are you talking to?

Meryl: I've tasted other cocoas. This is the best.

Truman: [to an unseen Christof] Who are you?

Christof: [on a speaker] I am the Creator - of a television show that gives hope and joy and inspiration to millions.

Truman: Then who am I?

Christof: You're the star.

Truman's Father: [Truman has disappeared and the whole community is looking for him. His dad calls out] Truman! It's Dad.

[Awkward pause]

Truman's Father: ...Let's talk.

Truman: [Sailing in the artificially-roughened winds and seas - he shouts to the sky] Is that the best you can do?

[Christof, in the "moon room", whips around to face the screen, shocked]

Truman: You're gonna have to kill me!

[sings]

Truman: What do ya do with a drunken sailor? What do ya do with a drunken sailor? What do ya do with a drunken sailor ear-lye in the mor-nin'!

Truman Burbank: Was nothing real?

Christof: You were real. That's what made you so good to watch...

Meryl: [brandishing the "Chef's Pal" kitchen multi-knife to keep him away from her] Truman! You are scaring me!

Truman: No. You're scaring me, Meryl. What are you gonna do? Dice me, slice me or peel me? There's so many CHOICES!

Network Executive: Christof, what's going on? Do you know that there's a rumor circulating that he's dead? You hear me? The media is having a feeding frenzy with this, all the phone lines are jammed, and every network has a pirated shot of Marlon making an ass of himself in front of the cameras!

Network Executive: The sponsors are threatening to rip up their contracts.

Christof: [pointing at the "Technical fault. Please stand by" graphic] Why? We're getting higher ratings with this graphic than we've ever had on this show.

Garage Attendant: [last lines; after the Truman Show has ceased transmission] What else is on?

Garage Attendant: Yeah, let's see what else is on.

Garage Attendant: Where's the TV guide?

[first lines]

Christof: We've become bored with watching actors give us phony emotions. We are tired of pyrotechnics and special effects. While the world he inhabits is, in some respects, counterfeit, there's nothing fake about Truman himself. No scripts, no cue cards. It isn't always Shakespeare, but it's genuine. It's a life.

Truman: I figure we can scrape together $8,000...

Meryl: Every time you and Marlon get together...

Truman: We can bum around the world for a year on that!

Meryl: And then what, Truman? We'd be where we were five years ago. You're talking like a teenager.

Truman: Well, maybe I feel like a teenager.

Meryl: We have mortgage payments, Truman.

[He sighs]

Meryl: We have car payments. What, we're going to just walk away from our financial obligations?

Truman: [He stands, whirls around, bends pleadingly, his hands reaching as though to grab the world] It would be an adventure!

Meryl: I thought we were gonna try for a baby.

[He turns away and rubs the back of his neck]

Meryl: Isn't that enough of an adventure?

Truman: [Truman turns back, waves his arms dramatically] That can wait. I want to get away, see some of the world! Explore!

Meryl: [teasing him] Honey, you wanna be an explorer.

[She rises, goes to him, strokes his cheek]

Meryl: This'll pass. We all think like this now and then.

Christof: I know you better than you know yourself.

Truman: You never had a camera in my head!

Marlon: [Emotional, almost to the point of tears] The point is, I would gladly step in front of traffic for you Truman. And the last thing I would ever do to you...

Christof: [Feeding Marlon his lines] ... is lie to you.

Marlon: ...is lie to you.

Meryl: [Spinning around the roundabout] Truman, I think I'm going to throw up!

Truman: Me too!

Travel Agent: Where would you like to go?

Truman: Fiji.

Travel Agent: When?

Truman: [pats his suitcase] Today.

Travel Agent: [types on her computer] Oh, I'm sorry, but we don't have another flight for a least a month.

Truman: A month?

Travel Agent: It's the busy season.

Meryl: Hi, honey! Look what I got free at the checkout. It's a "Chef's Pal". It's a dicer, grater, peeler, all in one. Never needs sharpening, dishwasher safe!

Truman: [feigning interest] Wow. That's amazing.

Marlon: Look at that sunset, Truman. It's perfect.

Truman: Yeah.

Marlon: That's the big guy. Quite a paint brush he's got.

Mike Michaelson: The show has generated enormous revenues now equivalent to the gross national product of a small country.

Christof: People forget it takes the population of an entire country to keep the show running.

Mike Michaelson: Since the show is on 24 hours a day without commercial interruption, all those staggering revenues are generated by product placement.

Christof: That's true. Everything on the show is for sale. From the actors' wardrobe, food products, to the very homes they live in.

Mike Michaelson: And of course, all of it available in the Truman catalogue and operators are standing by.

Truman: [He's trying to leave town in his car, with Meryl. He's gone through various obstacles including traffic jams and a forest fire. Now he's hearing a warning siren; suspiciously] What now?

Meryl: [they're coming up to Seahaven Nuclear Power Station. Police, firemen and men in radiation suits are blocking the road] Truman, it looks like a leak at the plant.

Policeman at Power Plant: [walking up to the car window] Back up, back up. Leak at the plant. We had to shut her down.

Truman: Is there any way around?

Policeman at Power Plant: [shakes head] Whole area's been evacuated.

Meryl: Is there anything I can do?

Policeman at Power Plant: No, ma'am.

Truman: [sighs] Thank you for your help.

Policeman at Power Plant: You're welcome, Truman.

Truman: [stunned whisper] Truman?

Mike Michaelson: [about Truman's father] But how do you intend to explain his 22-year absence?

Christof: Amnesia.

Mike Michaelson: Brilliant.

Talk Show Caller: Hi, Christof. I was just wondering how many cameras you got there in that town.

Christof: Somewhere in the vicinity of 5000.

Talk Show Caller: That's a lot of cameras.

Christof: Remember, we started with just one.

[as he speaks, clips of a foetus, newborn babies in a hospital, a toddler walking along a beach and a toddler looking up at a mobile with a camera attached to it are shown]

Christof: He was curious from birth. Premature by two weeks. It was almost as if he couldn't wait to get started.

Mike Michaelson: And of course his eagerness to leave his mother's womb was the very reason he the one who was selected.

Christof: In competition with five other unwanted pregnancies, the casting of a show determined by an airdate, Truman was the one who arrived on cue.

Mike Michaelson: Incidentally, I believe Truman is the first child to have been legally adopted by a corporation?

Christof: That's correct.

Marlon: I mean, think about it, Truman. If everybody is in on it, I'd have to be in on it, too.

[pause]

Marlon: I'm not in on it, Truman, because... there is no 'it'.

Christof: [Marlon suddenly discovers that Truman has escaped through a hole in his basement] Don't look in the camera, say something! Keep it going, keep it going!

Marlon: [to the lawn camera] He's gone!

Christof: Cut transmission!

[Truman has disappeared and everyone is searching for him]

Ron: [into his radio] I don't give a damn, just find the son of a bitch!

[Meryl panics when Truman confronts her about the conspiracy around him, the situation is diffused by an impromptu appearance from Marlon. Crying, Meryl runs into his arms]

Meryl: How can anyone expect me to carry on under these conditions? It's unprofessional!

Bus Driver: [unable to get the ferry moving] I'm usually the bus driver!

Production Assistant: [into his radio] Bottom line is they can't drive the boat. They're actors!

Truman's Mother: [looking through a photo album] Here's us at Mount Rushmore. Do you remember, Truman? When Dad was still with us? That was quite a drive, you slept the whole way there.

Truman: [looking closer at the old photo of himself as a boy with his parents in front of an inaccurate mock-up of Mount Rushmore] It looks so small.

Truman's Mother: [quickly turning the page] Things always do when you look back, darling.

Christof: Talk to me. Say something. Well, say something, goddamn it. You're on television. You're live to the whole world.

Truman Burbank: [Before he goes and exits off-set trough the door] In case I don't see you... good afternoon, good evening, and good night. Yeah!

[Truman and Meryl continue to drive away from Seahaven; Meryl spots a "Danger: Fire Hazard" sign]

Meryl: What about that sign?

Truman Burbank: I'm sure they're exaggerating. We'll be fine.

[Out of nowhere, a massive of fire erupts in the middle of the road]

Meryl: [panicked] What bout that there? Would you believe that?

[Truman and Meryl drive through the fire, and aside from a lot of smoke pouring in, they are fine]

Meryl: Oh. Oh boy. Truman, we're on fire!

Truman Burbank: It's okay!

Meryl: We're on fire!

Truman Burbank: It's okay! It's just smoke! Just smoke. You okay?

Meryl: [terrified] YES!

Truman Burbank: [crazed] WANNA DO IT AGAIN?

Meryl: [still terrified] NO!

[In the control room, Christof grabs a headset and a monitor to see Truman standing in front of the door to the real world]

Christof: Truman.

[Truman hears Christof's booming voice coming from the sky]

Christof: You can speak. I can hear you.

Truman Burbank: Who are you?

Christof: I am the creator... of a television show that gives hope and joy and inspiration to millions.

Truman Burbank: Then who am I?

Christof: You're the star.

Truman Burbank: Was nothing real?

Christof: *You* were real. That's what made you so good to watch.

[Truman turns back to face the door]

Christof: Listen to me, Truman. There's no more truth out there than there is in the world I created for you. The same lies. The same deceit. But in my world, you have nothing to fear. I know you better than you know yourself.

Truman Burbank: [insulted] You never had a camera in my head!

Christof: You're afraid. That's why you can't leave. It's okay, Truman. I understand. I have been watching you your whole life. I was watching when you were born. I was watching when you took your first step. I watched you on your first day of school.

[chuckles]

Christof: The episode where you lost your first tooth.

[smiles]

Christof: You can't leave, Truman. You belong here... with me.

[Truman remains silent, contemplating]

Christof: Talk to me. Say something.

[incredulous]

Christof: Well, say something, goddamn it! You're on television! You're live to the whole world!

[Truman turns back with a familiar smile]

Truman Burbank: In case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening and good night.

[false chuckle]

Truman Burbank: Yeah.

[Truman takes a bow and then steps through the door to Christof's astonishment]

Lauren: [during her forbidden date with Truman, about the show's crew] We have so little time. They're gonna be here any minute.

Truman: Who are?

Lauren: They don't want me talking to you.

Truman: Then don't talk.

[They share a long, heartfelt kiss]