did not marry Truman <truthfully>

VicNicSor

VicNicSor

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As Truman looks back at the photo album, his eyes fall on a picture of his wedding day with Meryl. Looking closer, he sees that her fingers are crossed which implies that Meryl did not marry Truman truthfully.
from an IMDB synopsis

When watching the film, I didn't get why Truman was shocked looking closer at the photo, not until I read this explanation in the synopsis. This is probably not really a language question, but still, what's the deal with this "not marrying truthfully"? Is it like when she finger-crossed, she kind of didn't commit a sin when making wedding vows before God?
Thanks.
 
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    • I suppose it means that she was expressing her disagreement with what she said in her wedding vows by crossing her fingers, Vic. The crossed fingers must have signified "I don't really mean what I am saying."
     
    Having your fingers crossed when you promise something invalidates the promise - in the mind of the finger-crosser.

    It's the same when you tell a lie. If you secretly cross your fingers when speaking, it means that you didn't mean whatever you said. Again, this is in the mind of the speaker.

    You're right, this isn't a language question, and will probably get modded away. :eek:
     
    So that was really supposed to redeem her of the sin she was comitting at the momemnt, was my guess about the purpose of her doing that right?:)
     
    I was just thinking, why else would she be finger-crossing? Of course she was not truthful by the very fact of acting the marriage out, why should she also reinforce this action by any ritual finger-crossing?
     
    I can't tell you the real reason that she crossed her fingers, but I can tell you that people frequently do this with no serious statement or purpose in mind.

    It would probably make sense for you to view what she did as some sort of lighthearted gesture rather than a serious effort to deny the truth of her wedding vows or anything like that.
     
    Meryl is really an actress named Hannah Gill (played by Laura Linney) . Her wedding vows were not real. The marriage is not real. She probably felt that if she participated in the ceremony without some "protection", she (Hannah Gill, not just Meryl) would be actually married to him. (There was a recent case of two actors who found out the priest in their movie was actually a priest and were (humorously) worried that they might actually be married as they said the wedding vows with a real priest.)
     
    The scene is not logical. Why would she cross her fingers during the filming of the photograph? On a wedding day, dozens of photographs are taken. Photos are not taken of her saying "I do", which is the words she says to marry him. The tradition of "crossing fingers when telling a lie" only applies to secretly crossing your fingers while speaking the lie.

    But it doesn't have to make sense, in a fictional movie. The photograph with crossed fingers is part of the film plot -- it is one step in Truman's gradual process of discovering that everything in his life is false.
     
    dojibear said:
    Why would she cross her fingers during the filming of the photograph?
    Click to expand...
    She was thinking that when she appeared in court at her bigamy trial (or annullment) she could say "See, I was even crossing my fingers in the photos." in order to corroborate her statement that her fingers were crossed during the vows (as if "crossed fingers" would hold up in court). ;)
     
    dojibear said:
    But it doesn't have to make sense, in a fictional movie.
    Click to expand...
    Just like in Back to the Future II — why was Biff carrying the almanac sticking out of his pocket so that Marty and Doc could later see it in the photo in the paper?:D (IYKWIM)
    Myridon said:
    when she appeared in court at her bigamy trial (or annullment)
    Click to expand...
    As you said, she's Hannah Gill in real life, and she would never appear in court for whatever fake marriages Meryl Burbank could have had))
     
    VicNicSor said:
    JAs you said, she's Hannah Gill in real life, and she would never appear in court for whatever fake marriages Meryl Burbank had))
    Click to expand...
    Hannah Gill stood up in front of witnesses with Truman (who is not an actor) and took wedding vows. It might not be as cut-and-dried as you think. It's better to be safe than sorry and prepare a defense just in case. Truman might want to claim half of her income as an actress after he finds out.
     
    She is not legally married to him as Hannah Gill, so there could not be any divorce hearings. Legal papers beat any wedding vows. The only thing she would really be guilty of, as any member of the whole making-show crew, is the big-scale deception/fraud they all did to him, and for that, he could sue them all with very high odds of success.
     
    VicNicSor said:
    She is not legally married to him as Hannah Gill
    Click to expand...
    ... because she had her fingers crossed. That's the point of the joke.
    I didn't realize you had a law degree in the US.
    Hannah was worried that the marriage might be real. Meryl doesn't have to worry about whether the marriage is real or not because she's not real.
    To go back to your original guess, Meryl cannot commit a sin before God, but Hannah can. Meryl will not suffer any consequences so Meryl doesn't have a reason to protect herself. Hannah will suffer the consequences.
     
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