We Accept the Reality of the World with which we are Presented !!!

Rating: 9/10 (26 September 2019)

The Truman Show.
A movie within a movie or a TV-show within a movie to be exact.
I'm gonna start by saying that I absolutely love The Truman Show with the obvious reasons being the exceptional direction and symbolism that is sprinkled throughout the film and of course the beautiful concept that is so very well adapted into a screenplay that's brilliantly written and acted by Jim Carrey who gives one of the most unique, different and best (if not the best) performances of his entire carrier. The premise is about an orphan who was adopted by a corporation that made its entire life public by turning it into a 24/7 live streaming TV-show. The orphan is our main character, Truman and he doesn't know that the people around him (even the ones closest to him) are actors and that his world is a studio simulation that resembles our own real world. Pretty simple...right? The plot might be simple and not that hard to follow unlike in some of the greatest Sci-Fi movies (where ambiguity and unanswered questions increase the excitement and the drama) but it's a movie that has so many layers, symbolism and themes attached to it that I can barely begin to cover them all in this simple, small and humble review of mine. The movie is very character driven as we follow Truman almost entirely during the first half with the plot slowly unfolding, presenting us the true nature of Truman's world. By the time we get to the second half we see what is happening behind the curtains. We witness the entire production crew monitoring Truman through various cameras and most importantly we meet the director of the show, Christof who is a symbolism to God considering he is the one who creates and manipulates Truman's entire world (both inner and exterior). The movie explores both sides of the coin as we do feel that something is off with Truman's world and we can't stand all those profiteers that literally play with a man's emotions and fears but as we meet the director in the second half we actually do start to consider that maybe The Truman Show isn't all that bad. Despite being a fake world, it's Truman's chance to lead a normal life in a somewhat normal world that he wouldn't have otherwise being able to experience as an orphan in the real world and we also see that Christof (the director) does care about Truman resembling the father figure he needed and never knew he had. So in a way, if we look at it from both angles it's not entirely immoral (although it kind of is). Apart from that, the movie also makes another significant point which to me is the most important argument. We constantly watch regular people of all ages at their jobs or homes being attached to a screen 24 hours a day because they are so desperate for something real. Truman might be the one trapped in a fake world but we are the ones who lead the fake lives. The film highlights humanity's mental laziness as they are unable to live their own lives which results in them having to witness another man's life in order to feel fulfilled. They don't even stop to think how unethical the entire show is and they just roll with it as they become victims of a rotten consumeristic society that advertises products via product placement within The Truman Show and all that by using and manipulating an innocent man's life that is violated with every second passing. The Truman Show is marked as a comedy and one would argue that the film's occasional light tone combined with Carrey's performance and charisma do make it one but it's not your average comedy. It's a pretty tragic and depressing kind of comedy that's both fun and heartbreaking at the same time. In the end, the important thing is that our main character, Truman lived a life in which he fell in love, realized the false nature of his world, overcame his fears, defied death, met his creator and father figure and decided to escape the lie and embrace the truth which one would say are the ultimate goals a man (or humanity in general) should strive to accomplish. In a way, Truman had a much more real and fulfilling life-experience in his somewhat controlled and fake reality as opposed to all the ordinary people of the real world who in the end continued being slaves of their own, dull, controllable (by "directors") lives as the movie ends with a generic viewer turning to another as he simply says "What else is on?" highlighting that it is actually us, the audience that are trapped in a fake and manipulative system. The question is: Can we make the hard call and leave the Cave behind like Truman did or are we simply going to settle with the illusion of comfort as we remain trapped in a show made out of our own inactivity?
EXCEPTIONAL: 9/10