Advertisement

Truman From "The Truman Show" Would Kill Himself Within A Year Of Entering The Real World

Screen Shot 2017-08-21 at 12.46.14 PM

 

I've long been a fan of the movie "The Truman Show". Not only is Jim Carrey terrific in it, but the idea of it has always fascinated me, and fucked with my mind quite a bit. For those who live under a rock, the film's premise is quite simple - Jim Carrey's character, Truman Burbank,?is the start of 24/7 television show featuring?his life. He lives in the quiet town?of Seahaven, an island with thousands of hidden cameras to film his every move.

There are cameras in his car,

6410154_orig

 

Out on the street,

 

Screen Shot 2017-08-21 at 1.00.13 PM

 

And even in his bathroom.

 

Screen Shot 2017-08-21 at 1.00.41 PM

 

But the catch is while Truman is real, everyone around him is not. Everyone around him is in on it, paid to be there. He is?on the set of the biggest and most expensive tv show in history and has no idea. Every product he uses in his life is part of an ad deal, and everyone around him has strict restrictions about how much contact they can have with him. He lives in a controlled utopia, and that's why when he discovers the truth and leaves the Island at the end of the movie, he will eventually end up killing himself.

It's a sad ending, but it's 100% true. There's just no way a 30-something year old man who has spent his life surrounded by actors in a world built to keep him safe from "the real world" would be able to just join society and live a comfortable, normal life.?Shit, he doesn't have basic life skills. Everything he's needed has been handed to him.

It would be impossible for him to enter society after spending so long in Seahaven. Wait?until he finds out about war. Or terrorism. Or the fact people steal or murder or even?the fact people are rude to each other would blow his mind.

And think about his interpersonal relationships. Up until the?point of leaving the set, everyone in his life had been an actor. His best friend was an actor, fed lines by the creator of the show. His wife- actress. His "parents" weren't his parents at all. Nobody was authentic. Nobody was real. They were in his life to progress storylines and to keep things interesting for the viewers at home.

The only person who tries to tell him the reality he lives in is this girl, Sylvia. She is the only person Truman knows on the outside, and they've talked twice, ever. He doesn't even know if her name is Sylvia or Lauren, the name given to her for the show. And as it turns out, Sylvia is a crazed lunatic fan, obsessed with Truman. She has pictures of him all over her walls

Screen Shot 2017-08-21 at 1.17.38 PMScreen Shot 2017-08-21 at 1.17.50 PM

 

And just sits and stares at him on TV all day, every day.

 

Screen Shot 2017-08-21 at 1.18.07 PM

 

He knows nothing about her besides they made eye contact a few times and kissed?at the beach once. So that's who he is going to turn and trust when he's in the real world? An obsessed fan? Not great.

 

Keep in mind that?Truman is the most recognizable face on the planet, and has been since the day he was born. Even though he was filmed 24/7, he would actually have more privacy if he stayed than if he went. Imagine the paparazzi that would follow him around. The flash bulbs going off in his eyes, there's no chance he'd be able to handle that. He didn't even know cable news or the internet even existed, and now he has to live with the reality of the entire planet obsessing over his every step, every move. Remember bath tub guy? Think he won't try to track down Truman and murder him?

 

Screen Shot 2017-08-21 at 1.31.25 PM

 

Going from a guy who was completely sheltered to being the most famous person in the world, I'm sure that'll work.

 

And here's the real kicker- everything he's ever known has basically been a lie. When he walks out of the set, how would he know he's not just stepping onto another television set? What if they "let him figure it out" just so they could get him onto a more renovated television set to shake things up a bit? A new place for him to live. He's always wanted to explore, and now they're opening up his world a bit, letting him think he's in reality. How would he believe anything anyone told him ever again? Why would he believe people when everyone he ever knew was lying straight to his face. No real friends, no real family. He'd lay awake at night, wondering if he was still on camera. He wouldn't be able to leave his house. His brain would go crazy under?the pressure of just living his life. It would be a complete nightmare.

 

It sucks, but it'd be a catastrophic ending for the lovable Truman Burbank. Sure he'd be given a ton of money, your guess is as good as mine but I'd say in the 500 million dollar range, possibly more, and then what? He'd discover drugs. Alcohol. Pill?dependency. Think about how every Disney child star goes off the rails, and now multiply that by 10 billion. That's Truman's life. He'd be stuck in this terrible, dark reality, and this time, there would be no other escape besides the barrel-end of a gun. Good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight.