Watching The Truman Show from a 2023 lense is truly a fascinating experience. I haven't watched this movie in many years, even though it is probably still up there with the best ones I've ever experienced. It is simply not an easy watch, because no matter how many times, it still makes my brain work overtime. I do mean that positively though.
We live in a world of multimedia consume that is ever growing through the internet, live streams and new resources to add to the online live experience. While we're not watched in the same way unassuming Truman is, you do get an eerie feeling that privacy is very often just an illusion these days. I mean, you just talk about wanting a new blue jeans and then you put out your phone and guess what adds you mostly get now? Again, not the same but still in the same realm of uncomfortableness.
I don't think I need to recap this movie, because even if you haven't watched this (why would you read a review like than anyway then?) you'll know the basics.
The concept is easy and yet so complex. Man trapped in an enteral TV show everybody but him is aware off.
We live in the age of reality TV and more. There are countless shows of celebrities and "regular" people that have no issue being filmed for TV shows or even live stream themselves. The enjoy sharing every private detail of their lives and while that is questionable, it is at least consensual. Not so much when it comes to their young children, but that opens a whole different can or worms. Maybe when should actually compare it more to paparazzi culture and how many people in the public eye can't take as much as a walk down the street without being photographed and put online. But again, they are at least aware of it l.
Truman, not so much. He believes the lie until he gets too many questionable clues that make him rethink his entire life and situation and he starts to investigate the truth.
One of the biggest questions the movie offers is if Truman is happy in his world until he starts to question it. Is his life in the TV bubble worse than a possible life in the outsight world can offer him? Ed Harris's defacto villain Christof even asks him that important question. In a way, even if morally wrong, he is probably right that Truman would be better off in his safe haven of a Utopia than experiencing a world he has never known but nevertheless he makes the brave choice in the end.
The other dilemma the movie is, is one of moral complexity. As Natasha McElhone's Sylvia points out, it is rather discussing to adopt a baby only to put him on display since birth without ever giving him the truth or choice to walk away from it. I called Christof a "defacto villain" before because that is clearly his function. He is the one responsible for the Truman Show and even if he might has moments where he questions his actions, he desperately wants to keep Truman. A false form of fatherly love for him (he did watch him grow up)? Maybe. An incredible form of delusion and narcissism? Most definitely. His last conversation with Truman, where his voice booms out directly off the sky like he is God is even an indication that people should never play God to begin with.
Religious imagery aside, it's also just so wrong on a moral level and the movie beautifully toys with how twisted Truman's whole world is. He has parents, friends, neighbors, a wife even... all actors who willingly play along for the paycheck. While it is set to believe that the people closest to him do care, it doesn't change the fact that no one speaks up about his situation. Same goes for the audience. The same people who cheer for him to get out in the end are those who watch his show every day without much or a problem, because it is light entertainment for them. And don't we all fall for a certain kind of entertainment ourselves every day. Is something like a real life Truman Show not actually something that could happen if we're not careful?
But enough of that. Let's talk about Jim Carrey for a moment. He's mostly a comedic actor and very good at it, even though he's sometimes a bit of "special taste." It is sadly barely acknowledged what a great dramatic actor he can be when given the chance.
The Truman show remains one of his performances today.
I love this movie. I think it's fantastic and still holds up many years later with more of a relevance that ever before.
Review by TinkaBlockedParent2023-01-27T21:53:38Z
Watching The Truman Show from a 2023 lense is truly a fascinating experience. I haven't watched this movie in many years, even though it is probably still up there with the best ones I've ever experienced. It is simply not an easy watch, because no matter how many times, it still makes my brain work overtime. I do mean that positively though.
We live in a world of multimedia consume that is ever growing through the internet, live streams and new resources to add to the online live experience. While we're not watched in the same way unassuming Truman is, you do get an eerie feeling that privacy is very often just an illusion these days. I mean, you just talk about wanting a new blue jeans and then you put out your phone and guess what adds you mostly get now? Again, not the same but still in the same realm of uncomfortableness.
I don't think I need to recap this movie, because even if you haven't watched this (why would you read a review like than anyway then?) you'll know the basics.
The concept is easy and yet so complex. Man trapped in an enteral TV show everybody but him is aware off.
We live in the age of reality TV and more. There are countless shows of celebrities and "regular" people that have no issue being filmed for TV shows or even live stream themselves. The enjoy sharing every private detail of their lives and while that is questionable, it is at least consensual. Not so much when it comes to their young children, but that opens a whole different can or worms. Maybe when should actually compare it more to paparazzi culture and how many people in the public eye can't take as much as a walk down the street without being photographed and put online. But again, they are at least aware of it l.
Truman, not so much. He believes the lie until he gets too many questionable clues that make him rethink his entire life and situation and he starts to investigate the truth.
One of the biggest questions the movie offers is if Truman is happy in his world until he starts to question it. Is his life in the TV bubble worse than a possible life in the outsight world can offer him? Ed Harris's defacto villain Christof even asks him that important question. In a way, even if morally wrong, he is probably right that Truman would be better off in his safe haven of a Utopia than experiencing a world he has never known but nevertheless he makes the brave choice in the end.
The other dilemma the movie is, is one of moral complexity. As Natasha McElhone's Sylvia points out, it is rather discussing to adopt a baby only to put him on display since birth without ever giving him the truth or choice to walk away from it. I called Christof a "defacto villain" before because that is clearly his function. He is the one responsible for the Truman Show and even if he might has moments where he questions his actions, he desperately wants to keep Truman. A false form of fatherly love for him (he did watch him grow up)? Maybe. An incredible form of delusion and narcissism? Most definitely. His last conversation with Truman, where his voice booms out directly off the sky like he is God is even an indication that people should never play God to begin with.
Religious imagery aside, it's also just so wrong on a moral level and the movie beautifully toys with how twisted Truman's whole world is. He has parents, friends, neighbors, a wife even... all actors who willingly play along for the paycheck. While it is set to believe that the people closest to him do care, it doesn't change the fact that no one speaks up about his situation. Same goes for the audience. The same people who cheer for him to get out in the end are those who watch his show every day without much or a problem, because it is light entertainment for them. And don't we all fall for a certain kind of entertainment ourselves every day. Is something like a real life Truman Show not actually something that could happen if we're not careful?
But enough of that. Let's talk about Jim Carrey for a moment. He's mostly a comedic actor and very good at it, even though he's sometimes a bit of "special taste." It is sadly barely acknowledged what a great dramatic actor he can be when given the chance.
The Truman show remains one of his performances today.
I love this movie. I think it's fantastic and still holds up many years later with more of a relevance that ever before.