In a world surrounded by modern media, specifically Social Media, the 1998 film: The Truman Show feels more relevant now than ever. From Instagram to Snapchat to YouTube, we almost chose to live our lives how Truman Burbank was forced to, documenting almost every moment on some form of online medium. The film left many audience members contemplating the question: if there is no privacy then what is truly lost? A criticism posed to the online world is the toxic idea of us acting out our ‘personas’ and characters instead of truly being ourselves, as reflected at the films ending when, as he desperately tries to convince Truman to stay in the zoo of cameras and actors, the shows director, Christof, states: ‘there is no more truth out there than in the world I have created for you.’ What made Jim Carreys character so appealing to the fictional shows audience was that in an artificial world he was simply being himself, he was authentic, not giving a performance as an actor would but instead simply going about his day. Even in reality tv shows, the cast are often playing a part, a character-version of themselves, playing up to cameras For the sake of entertainment. This is showcased in his wife Meryl, a woman who sacrificed her own privacy, knowingly, to make a professional commitment, she chose to play act a marriage with a man she doesn’t actually like for the sake of fame. Sadly, in Today’s society, many more people are like her over Truman, conforming to the performance of our online identities. In theory, because reality shows and social media offer an insight into peoples lives, we should become more empathetic towards the people we are viewing, what with seeing some of their private and intimate moments, however, we instead form a detachment, intimate moments being turned into entertainment dehumanises them, and we often see this people more as props over people when they argue on our screens. This film was truly ahead of its time.
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