The Truman Show
released 1998
www.ink2quill.com

“The Truman Show” is an American, scifi, comedy, drama produced by Edward S. Feldman, Andrew Niccol, Lynn Pleshette, Richard Luke Rothschild, Scott Rudin, Adam Schroeder and written by Andrew Niccol. It was directed by Peter Weir and stars a very long list of talented actors that includes Jim Carrey, Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Natascha McElhone, Holland Taylor, Brian Delate, Blair Slater, Peter Krause, Heidi Shanz, Ron Taylor, Don Taylor, Ted Raymond, Judy Clayton, David Andrew Nash, Mario Ernesto Sanchez, Sam Kitchin, Marcia DeBonis, Ed Harris, Philip Baker Hall, O-Lan Jones,Yuji Okumoto, Susan Angelo, Jeanette Miller, Dona Hardy and many more.

The Truman Show IMDb webpage

As a side note, let me first say that “The Truman Show” is inspired by the 1980 French film “Death Watch” or “La Mort En Direct” which was itself based on the novel “The Unsleeping Eye” (Also known as “The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe”) written by David G. Compton. This is a dated film but it´s so good and you can even say that it predicts the age of reality TV we are now living in. However, the writer Andrew Niccol said the idea for the story came from a Twilight Zone episode called “Special Service”. In my opinion it´s a little of both. There´s no shame because both are really good sources to serve as inspiration.

“The Truman Show” is the story of Truman Burbank, played by Jim Carrey. Truman is a happy man who lives in a wonderful place around wonderful people and whose life can best be described as going on rails. Truman´s life is ordinary and pleasant in the seaside town of Seahaven Island where the weather is just sunny and the people are not afraid to smile.

Unbeknownst to Truman though he is the star in a program he did not know even existed. His entire life turns out to be a fraud and the shock of that truth rocks him to the core and gives this story the dramatic flavor it needs.

“The Truman Show” got so many things right and touches so many relevant themes for the modern audience. I think back to the first time a person realizes the world is not what they thought it was. The bubble of familiarity and safety we live in is not the norm everywhere and when we realize this it can be quite a shock. In this case Truman learns that his whole life is a fabrication where the people he thought he knew were just actors. His town and relationships were as fake as a three dollar bill. That has to be incredibly traumatic and you can´t help but feel sorry for him. In essence, his whole life and past were robbed from him and sold as entertainment while he was none the wiser, and that is a cruel thing to do to someone.

I liked the world building, set designs of the film too. The way everything was shinny and looked like a movie set, because it was. That was brilliant. There is an important distinction between the idea of stealing someone´s life, like what happened with Truman, and the reality TV shows of today though. It is important to say that reality TV stars know they are on TV and accept it. As it also turns out much of reality TV is scripted and phony, like the drama, arguments and fights. I think we, the audience, know this by now. But in the case of the idea behind The Truman Show, cameras invade a person´s life, wreak havoc all without knowledge and consent from the person in the show and that is very wrong. It´s a cruel form of entertainment.

We now know that a person´s life changes when they are in reality TV shows. Their relationships suffer and often they are forced to live with a reputation that does not correspond to who they are. That´s basically slander.

“The Truman Show” touches on all the things wrong with reality TV and how that form of entertainment can go too far. Just as a side note, many people have already begun to talk about creating laws to curb reality TV because many of the participants end up psychologically scarred and on a shrink´s couch. I see it as a form of gladitorial games on an emotional level.

“The Truman Show” is a fun watch with relevant themes for this day and age. So check it out folks.

John

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