Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘The Truman Show’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

Sometimes film can do something extremely eerie... it can more or less predict the future or perfectly reflect the times. George Romero managed to peer into the soul of America when it came to consumerism in Dawn of the Dead and in 1998 Director Peter Weir managed to foresee our television viewing habits down the road with the visionary film, The Truman Show. 

Truman Burbank is the most popular man on the planet. He is loved by billions, they will do anything to find out what happens next in his life and many of his fans have been there since the day he was born. The only problem is, Truman has no idea the world loves him. For Truman lives in a literal bubble, a world created just for him where cameras follow his every move and broadcast it on television. But as he grows older, Truman is beginning to suspect that life is not what it seems and has started to search out the answers as to why his life seems so perfect.  

This is, an absolutely beautiful and brilliant film. For one the concept is exactly what I said it was... visionary.  For we as a society have made it a habit to tune in as often as possible to watch the lives of others. Granted they know we are watching but we are still intrigued by who these people are, and what goes on in their everyday lives and the ratings of reality television reflect just how much we enjoy this safe style of voyeurism. But all fortune telling aside, The Truman Show is also a slick motion picture.  

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The acting in the film is top notch, since it features the iconic Ed Harris, and this is also the motion picture where we learned that Jim Carrey was more than a rubber faced comedian, since his performance of Truman is absolutely sublime. He blends in as an everyman that is unaware the world has their eyes upon him and the innocence, he portrays along with the desire to be more in his life is wonderful to watch.  

Yet what truly makes the film so unique, is the unexpected positive message that it carries with it. Despite the fact that in essence, everything about what is happening to Truman is wrong in just about every sense of the word, he inadvertently became a symbol for a better world and a better life. Because Seaheaven is free of all the things we fear, and Truman is as pure as they come and well...all of it was manufactured. Man was able to finally build the utopia we have dreamt of for so long, meaning that if by chance we put our minds to it, perhaps we could someday find a way to build a world as wonderful as Truman's.

​Ironically enough however, Reality Television has become in its own right a safety net. Because by tuning into these somewhat scripted shows, we are taken for quite a ride before returning to the comfort of our everyday lives so perhaps in our own special way... we've created a unique form of escapism, where the mundane and ugly parts of our lives are lampooned just enough to remind us to be better to one another and be more in this life. Regardless, this film is an absolute must see. It's funny, smart and relevant, and in a way terrifying that it managed to figure out the next hot thing in television.  ​

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