Over two decades ago, The Truman Show seemed absurd. "We would laugh about how unrealistic some of it seemed," actress Laura Linney told Vanity Fair, remembering conversations the cast and crew would have on the film's Seaside, Florida set. "We couldn’t quite believe that someone would want to tape themselves so that people could tune in and watch what was considered at the time to be mundane, and see that as entertainment."
The comedy-drama was brought to life by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Peter Weir and centers on Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey), an upbeat man who gradually realizes that his entire life is an elaborately constructed farce. His friends and family members turn out to be actors; his every move is captured by 5,000 hidden cameras and broadcast to the world. Even his actions are manipulated by a power-crazed director named Christof (Ed Harris).
In addition to forecasting the reality-TV craze that began soon after its release, the film predicted the immense scope of modern product placement (as presented by Linney’s impeccably named character, Meryl Burbank), privacy invasion, and the existential quandary of whether to live for yourself or an audience—be it television or social media too. Ultimately, Truman must make up his mind whether to accept the artificial world he knows, or to venture into the unknown in pursuit of truth.
In 2015, we had roughly 750 reality series on TV. And even if we aren't watching them, you could say we are starring in and producing official series of our own reality shows via constant tweets, Instagram stories, Facebook lives, YouTube videos, and TikToks.
“The Truman Show is a very foreboding, dark movie—and, unfortunately, our world has gone even way beyond that,” Linney added. So no wonder its popularity keeps resurging.
