Too bad this is all staged. In fact, Truman is crying because it's fake.
Moments pages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned.
- When the full Reveal of what Truman's world actually is arrives in the form of an in-universe interview with Christof, the total horror and evil of it all comes with it. Being an unwanted infant, Truman effectively entered the world unloved by anyone, an asset to some corporation, a tool for Christof to use, and almost all of the love he has ever known in his life (aside from what he had with Sylvia) is a lie. This means his entire continued existence is in part dependent on his never knowing real love.
- When Truman abruptly crashes into the wall of the studio. Feeling that he is trapped forever and understanding how his whole life was a lie, he begins to break down in tears as he tries to punch through the wall in a futile manner. The lack of sound in this particular shot makes it just that much more soul-crushing, as well as the Stunned Silence of the viewers at home.
- Truman, as a kid, watching his father drown at sea AKA the "Death-at-Sea episode". To the show's cast and crew, it was Walter Moore's final episode as Truman's dad, Kirk Burbank. But to Truman, it was a traumatic, world-destroying day where he lost someone he genuinely loved in a most tragic way. Not only did he develop a crippling phobia of the sea all the way into adulthood as a result, he was likely wracked with an immense Survivor's Guilt believing his dad's death was all his fault (since he wanted to continue sailing despite the growing storm). Made especially cruel in that it was all a ruse by Christof and the producers to keep Truman psychologically bound to Seahaven.
- Truman being reunited with his (actor) dad as part of a ploy of Christof's to keep Truman on the island. While Christof is manipulating the scene with rising music and dramatic shots, the real, genuine emotion of Truman at once makes the scene work In-Universe but also for the actual audience in terms of dramatic irony, how Truman is just a part of the emotional pandering itself, without his knowledge. Or rather, with his knowledge; he is 100% aware that this is all fake. That's why he's crying.
- After the reunion, we cut to an interview segment with Christof, with Truman still visible in a small window in the corner of the screen. All he's doing is quietly eating breakfast with a Thousand-Yard Stare on his face. You can tell he's thinking, "Everything around me is fake, including my parents. I'm probably being watched at this very moment. What the hell am I gonna do now?"
- "Was nothing real?" And then shortly after, Christof says he knows Truman better than Truman knows himself. Then comes Truman's irritated "You never had a camera in my head!"
- The scene where Truman and Marlon are sitting on the bridge and Truman's talking about his fears and suspicions. Getting his lines fed by Christof, Marlon tells him to trust him, that he would walk into moving traffic for him and then pauses before saying that he would never lie to Truman. You can tell from his face that he feels terrible about doing this to Truman. Similarly, look closely at Truman's face. He's not crying because he's so moved by Marlon's speech, he's crying because if everyone is in on it, Marlon is, too. AKA, his best friend since he was seven years old. Sheesh.
- It's quietly hinted at in the movie, especially deleted scenes (and backed up by actor Noah Emmerich), that Louis Coltrane is the only actor in Seahaven who feels significant discomfort for putting Truman through all this trickery. The way Louis, AKA Marlon, chokes out the line "the last thing I'd ever do is lie to you" is terribly sad. It's like it's all catching up to Louis how much he's been selling his soul all these years.
- Driving all this home is that, in one such deleted scene, Louis/Marlon gets a moment of redemption when he catches Truman escaping... and pretends he didn't see him, giving him time to get away.
- It's established in Louis' background that he had a drug addiction that got incorporated into the character of Marlon to explain his real-life stints in rehab. It's easy to imagine that Louis was Drowning My Sorrows out of grief for having to lie to Truman for so long.
- Even sadder, Louis is the one who has to do Product Placement for beer companies that sponsor the show (explicitly by taking a sip and pointing the label at the camera). One imagines he started his bad habits having to drink so much as part of his job, combined with the stress of having to keep lying to Truman.
- There is also the additional Fridge Horror of forcing a recovering addict to drink alcohol on a daily basis. No wonder he has to keep going through rehab.
- From a Certain Point of View, Marlon is also a prisoner but not to the extent of Truman. Marlon's been on the show since he was seven and he was probably given the role through his parents brownnosing the director, meaning he may have been a child star forced under the spotlight. He knows Truman better than anyone and he built a friendship with the guy by lying to him. Marlon hates himself for lying to Truman and the show appears to be a form of stability for him. He signed up for something without realizing the damage he's doing to Truman and he has to live with it to his adulthood. Judging by his multiple rehab visits and beer product placements, the show is the only thing he has left and the only way he can make money.
- Sylvia gets forcibly removed from the studio after giving Truman the only genuinely romantic moment he's ever had. The actor taking her tries to smooth it over (in vain) by telling Truman she's schizophrenic, and "brings all her boyfriends here." Truman's face says it all - gee, rip the guy's heart out, why don't you?
- Sylvia's last words before being whisked away. The pleading and desperation in her voice is pretty powerful.Sylvia: Get out of here! Come and find me!
- Sylvia's last words before being whisked away. The pleading and desperation in her voice is pretty powerful.
- The scene with Truman and Hannah (the woman playing Meryl) after Truman's first failed escape. There's something very sad and empty when Truman quietly utters to Meryl "Why do you want to have a baby with me? You can't stand me." as he realizes his "marriage" to a woman who hates him is a complete sham, it leaves him with nothing, for there was never a real relationship. And then, when Truman is attempting to have a serious conversation with Hannah, she just hocks products at him. Truman loses it when he realizes Hannah is in on it, scaring her into pulling a kitchen knife on him and telling him he's the one going crazy. It's terrifying for Truman to realize he can't even trust his own wife, and you watch his mind unravel.
- Truman pulling out the makeshift picture he constructed of Sylvia, who's been watching Truman's final escape attempt on TV and immediately bursts into tears. Doubles as a major heartwarming.
- The fact that he pined for a woman, to where he sniffs her left-behind sweater every now and again, years after her disappearance who he, at that point, didn't know if she was still "in Fiji", or even alive, or she'd even remember him if they were to ever reunite. It really says something about the impact that one unashamed real interaction gave him.
- Truman in general is a walking sad individual: Figuring out that everyone around him (aside from Marlon and Sylvia) don't care for him and are all in this whole charade of a simple big set. And let's not even get started with how much Christof and his "parents" manipulate him and enforce his fear of water.
- When Truman attempts to catch a bus, the driver and passengers have to awkwardly play along and improvise a breakdown. When everyone but a silently devastated Truman leaves the vehicle, the driver turns and, in a sincere and guilty sounding tone, tells him sorry before leaving.
- The ending. While the entire world was cheering on Truman's journey out of Seahaven, it ultimately ends with those same people being bored now that the show is over and wondering what else was on TV. It gives the impression that their support of Truman was as fleeting as any other standard network programming, and that outside of a handful of people Truman truly doesn't have any real allies.
