How will it end??? We're tuning into our TV sets,...

Rating: Null/10 (14 August 1998)

How will it end???
We're tuning into our TV sets, attending movie theaters like never before, logging on and reading serial fiction to keep us entertained. It's all one big show, so don't tell us the ending, we don't want it spoiled for us. We can't wait to see how this one turns out. Somewhere in all this entertainment is the gem that enlightens us about the human condition, most of it is simply mindless drivel that babysits us with a neat and tidy resolution.
That The Truman Show can be the first while perfectly embodying our entertained-to-death society only begins to demonstrate its brilliance. Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey, in his best performance to date) has been the star of one big TV show all his life. After over 10,000 days alive, Truman suspects something strangely synchronous and deadening about his existence. He's never left his picture perfect life in Seahaven, the hometown where everyone's either a principal or an extra and where the eponymous star of the show is intensely "real" simply because he doesn't know any better. But the naturalism falls short on Truman's co-horts and even on the star himself. Everyone's been overly friendly and uniform out of obligation to the master plan. Truman was adopted by a corporation at birth who turned every moment of his existence into a financial venture and entertainment empire. 24-hour continuous TV has to be commercial free, so Truman is surrounded by meticulous, and sometimes blunt, product placement.
Let's face it: we're all whores to the corporate world. At some point or another, every one of us has paid too much to support a dominant corporation or to join its clique. Celebrities and entry-level actors reap the benefits after donating their soul to endorsements. But the price can be steep. Does Michael Jordan really have private space anymore? And what about the millions of Americans who can only really strike a chord with their peers through Simpsons or X-Files references?	Many of today's children and young adults are being raised by television. Here's the story of a boy who was raised on television and just wants a little breathing room. When he tries to escape, he's admonished repeatedly for wanting what the rest of us watching at home or in the theaters already , in theory, has. Freedom to see things the way they really are. The real issue is when we'll start exercising our rights to this freedom.	It is with a certain trepidation that viewers will cheer Truman. We don't know whether to laugh or cry as Truman's fans subtly remind us that simply by consenting to be entertained, we have surrendered so much. Eventually, we've got to turn off the sets and face the world. Can we?