movie: The Truman Show
starring: Jim Carrey, Paul Giamatti
genre: Comedy
year: 1998
format: Netflix Canada
plot:A man's whole life is broadcast on tv and he is clueless about it.
This was disturbing. I know the world has become desensitized to living semi-scripted on air, but given this was done before that really became the norm, it's just creepy.
The whole time I was thinking, Shock Treatment did it first. The idea of putting someone in a controlled environment and filming them 24/7. In fact, wasn't there a Hitchcock episode or Twilight Zone or something from the 1960's that did something like this?
So there are the obvious themes of the gods/goddesses factor. The questions of free will vs someone moving us around like pawns. And the whole privacy issue. I'm sure those topics will and have kept people chatting for hours.
Me, I just can't get past the issue of not being able to know if someone is in your life because they want to or because they have to?
The fact the characters of the producers manage to control Truman by creating a deep fear of water, sort of had me wondering, what if the tragic event had backfired? What if instead of him having this horrible fear of water, he instead became obsessed with scuba diving or something? Obsessed with ships and sea creatures and that sort of thing?
I honestly think this would have had a deeper punch if it had been a straight up thriller or horror film. There are just so many things in this film that made me think of the Stepford Wives.
what did I learn? I still can not stand reality tv.
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