| “ | 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. | „ |
| ~ Christof trying to persuade Truman to stay. |
Christof is the main antagonist of the 1998 film The Truman Show.
He was portrayed by Ed Harris, who also played General Hummel in The Rock, Carl Fogartyin A History of Violence, Mitch Wilkinson in National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Erwin König in Enemy at the Gates, Wilford in Snowpiercer, Blair Sullivan in Just Cause, Leonard Dekkom in Geostorm, and The Man in Black in Westworld.
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 2 Personality
- 3 Trivia
- 4 Navigation
Biography[]
Christof was a creator of a massive TV corporation who adopted Truman Burbank, one of six unwanted pregnancies. He made the baby the star of his new show The Truman Show.
However, he kept Truman trapped in a fake enclosed world of Seahaven where all of the people around him including Truman's best friend, Marlon were actually actors and, without his knowledge, filmed every aspect of his life and broadcasted it, such as Truman's first step and first day at school.
During the show's run, Christof tried every aspect of stopping Truman from discovering the truth, though many people who thought that Truman was more of a prisoner than the star tried every aspect of revealing the truth, but failed.
Christof then went as far to fake the death of Truman's TV father, Kirk to give Truman aquaphobia in order to stop him from leaving. Though Christof had arranged for an actress named Hannah Gill who played Meryl as a love interest for Truman, the star met and fell in love with another cast member, Sylvia who played a background character named Lauren. Sylvia tried to tell Truman the truth, but Christof sent an actor who impersonated Lauren's father and took her away.
Truman then married Meryl, but never forgot about Sylvia. Christof hoped to have Truman produce a child, which would create another prisoner.
Christof could still see that Truman was suspicious of everything that was going on around him, especially when Meryl panicked and went out of character so he brought Kirk back onto show, removed Meryl, and decided to produce another actor to star as Truman's new love interest.
After those events, Christof arranged an interview with his fans. Sylvia contacted him and told him how disgusted that she was about how he treated Truman. Christof then replied that Sylvia knew nothing about Truman and was in no position to make such judgments. Christof then continued that the world he gave Truman gave him a normal life and the world outside was the real sick place. Sylvia disagreed and told Christof that Truman would one day prove him wrong.
When Truman escaped from the camera's view for the first time in his life and overcame his fear of water and went sailing in order to escape, Christof then tried to stop him by adding lightning and rain into the enclosure, and did not care if Truman died as long as the show was still on the air, much to the audience and the rest of the crew's horror. Truman however continued to struggle on and did not care what Christof threw at him.
When Truman discovered where the set ended and was just about to leave through the exit door, Christof finally made his presence known to Truman and told him that he secretly filmed his entire life and admitted that he may have lied to him, but his world was different from the real world, which gave Truman the freedom of pain and misery so he should stay on the show.
Truman refused and did a final bow before he left, which ended the show for good. The rest of the crew broke transmission for the show and Christof was left in misery. It was unknown what happened to Christof after that, but it was possible that he went broke and lost all of his fortune.
Personality[]
Christof was revealed to see Truman as a son whom he really cared about because of him watching his main star for his entire life. However, Christof was also a possessive man, and tried every single act to stop Truman from discovering the truth and believed that his world was better than the real world including even trying to drown his own actor. When Truman finally decided to leave, it was hard to tell whether Christof was sad to lose his star or whether he had lost his fortune.
Trivia[]
- The late Dennis Hopper was considered for the role of Christof before Ed Harris was cast.
- Christof's name was similar to Christ, which was fitting considering that he saw himself as the God of Truman's world, like a Demiurge. At the end of the movie, while Christof talks to Truman, the sky with the sun and clouds is seen, which is a common image associated with God.
- Christof's decision to kill Truman at the ending of the film was often considered one of the most evil moments by a villain. Christof's decision to drown Truman was ranked number 4 on Cracked.com's list of "The 7 Most Ridiculous Movie Character Overreactions", with the article reading: "It isn't until after he sees that his murder attempt has failed that Christof actually tries to bargain with Truman to save his show like a reasonable person."
