It was a show about Truman

Rating: 6/10 (14 September 2015)

This movie is a satire of modern media and its encapsulating effect on the general public. At the beginning, it is mentioned that the Truman Show is not just a job; it is a way of life. This is true for the audience of the show, as they are seen spending all their lives watching this show. One man is watching it in the bath. A whole bar is dedicated to the show, running it all day, every day. People have Truman Show memorabilia. People freak when the show stops airing for a small while when Truman is first found to have escaped. Even when the show does come to an end, they just decide to watch something else. Their lives revolve around the T.V. The show sucks them into this world. You are even shown this by the problem itself. You want Truman to leave, as do the people in the movie. You feel what Truman feels, want what Truman wants, and see what Truman sees. This movie is an example of the thing it's satirizing. The audience in the movie is a mirror of yourself when you watch it. The issue of the humanity (or lack thereof) in the movie is deflated, making you not think about how Truman is practically a zoo animal. We do this to unwilling T.V. stars all the time. When someone gets famous, we want to know everything they do. We make them an exhibit for us to watch. That was Truman's entire life, yet the issue is glossed over until it is brought up by his lost love. Of course, the entire piece is an inflation of T.V. in general. It takes the ideas of reality television and the money-hungry industry and takes it to an extreme. It takes a few well-placed jabs at the entire television industry and at the viewers, but it does fall a bit short. First of all, it is a movie. It is the media that it wants to bring attention to. This makes you wonder if the movie was actually made to bring attention to the corruptness of the industry or if it simply found another way to make money off of us and bring attention to itself. Second of all, the movie itself is not that satirical. You have to dig to find it, and even when you do, the satire never goes very deep. You, the viewer, have to add your own thoughts to make it truly satirical. The movie never blatantly states that is has issues with anything. This could just be a well-written story that just so happens to be satirical at times. Finally, this is just another work following a generic storyline we've heard countless times before. A character grows up in a Utopian, controlling society. He slowly learns about some major flaw in this Utopian world and his wish to leave is brought about. As he learns about how corrupt the world he lives in is, his wish grows. He eventually tries to leave, only to be stopped by those he loves, the society itself, and the creator or ruler of said society. He will overcome this and leave, only to join the real world or start their own modeled after today. This movie is a conversation piece, but one you'll soon forget about if it is not constantly brought up.