How To Predict the Future (Part 4) - The Truman Show
Truman Burbank as a parable for seeing through our fake constructed clown world
Comrades: In case I don’t see ya - good afternoon, good evening, and good night.
We are all living in The Truman Show. 25 years after its release, the movie has taken a new meaning in our astroturfed, manufactured, dystopian surveillance state. What will it take for more people to wake up like Truman did?
***WARNING: Spoiler alerts to follow. Jump to the end for commentary.
The Truman Show opens with a fourth wall break. Christoph, the omnipetent creator and showrunner, explains the premise: “While the world he inhabits is, in some respects, counterfeit, there is nothing fake about Truman himself. No scripts. No cue cards. It isn’t always Shakespeare, but it’s genuine. It’s a life… It's all true. It's all real. Nothing you see on this show is fake. It's merely controlled… We accept the reality of the world with which we're presented. It's as simple as that.”
30-year-old Truman Burbank is a normie. He leads a routine life and has never left Seahaven Island, the idyllic town where he was born and raised. Little does he know that he was the first child to have been legally adopted by a corporation to be the star of his own reality TV show.
Truman begins to notice weird things happening around him. A spotlight crashes from the sky. Rain falls only over him. He hears voices on the radio tracking his movement and stumbles upon people hidden behind an elevator door. Then he runs into his father, who he thought was dead.
Truman’s handlers weaponize fear and gaslighting to keep him under control. As a boy, he wanted to be an explorer but his teacher discourages him that there is nothing left to explore. His father drowns in a staged storm so that he will always be scared of water and never cross a bridge or get in a boat. Even as an adult seeking to buy a plane ticket, he is reminded of danger. He musters the courage to drive over a bridge to leave town, but is thwarted by a staged fire: "Somebody help me, I'm being spontaneous!"
Love is truth. Truman flashes back to college, when he fell for an extra named Sylvia. However, she was abruptly removed from the show so that he could marry the actress who was scripted to become his wife.
Truman’s wife Meryl gaslights him while presenting product placement ads. She accuses him that he is the crazy one, while waving knives in his face and playing the victim. This scene is a case study of DARVO psychological abuse: Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender (starts at 8:00 in the video below). She breaks character and yells at the showrunners to DO SOMETHING!
Truman’s best friend Marlon shows up in the nick of time to save Meryl. He also displays a product placement and reinforces the narrative, repeating the lines that Christoph feeds him through an earpiece: “I would gladly step in front of traffic for you Truman. And the last thing I would ever do to you... is lie to you.”
During a break while Truman is sleeping, Christof fields questions from callers. He continues to defend playing God: “I have given Truman the chance to lead a normal life. The world, the place you live in, is the sick place. Seahaven is the way the world should be…. He could leave at any time. If his was more than just a vague ambition, if he was absolutely determined to discover the truth, there's no way we could prevent him. I think what distresses you is that ultimately Truman prefers his cell, as you call it.”
Truman decides to attempt an escape. He sails on a boat headed for the horizon. Christoph whips up another fierce storm to force him back to shore. Truman calls out in defiance: “Is that the best you can do? You’re going to have to kill me!”
Finally, he crashes into the wall of the studio.
Christoph makes one more condescending paternal plea to convince his captive to stay: "You were real. That's what made you so good to watch. Listen to me, Truman. There's no more truth out there than there is in the world I created for you. The same lies. The same deceit. But in my world, you have nothing to fear. I know you better than you know yourself. I have been watching you your whole life… You can’t leave, Truman. You belong here with me.”
Audiences around the world are captivated. After 30 years of loyal viewership, their hero Truman walks off the set. They immediately ask, "What else is on?"
The main difference between our world and Truman’s is that he didn’t have internet. In 2023, everyone with an internet connection has access to all of the information they need to wake up. Yet they choose to remain asleep on Seahaven Island. Think of all the horrible violence, lies, and hoaxes that have occurred since the Truman Show was released in 1997: 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Ukraine, Global Financial Crisis, COVID, climate hysteria, FUPAZ crime, etc. We chose to sail into the horizon despite the storms like Truman did, but we need others to come with us.
Like all masterpiece movies, The Truman Show has a gorgeous soundtrack:
The Truman Show’s producer Andrew Niccol also made Gattaca, while Jim Carrey was just as brilliant in another serious role in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind:
How To Predict the Future
Comrades: The best SciFi movies are about humanity. Gattaca is as close to perfection as any movie ever made. The visuals and soundtrack are hauntingly beautiful. Ethan Hawke, Jude Law, and Uma Thurman are at their primes playing memorable characters with a strong supporting cast. Plot twists and subtle details give you goosebumps and an even greater app…
Excellent message Yuri. One of the best shows ever.
This scene was deleted. They should've left it in:
https://youtu.be/EynCFAF8Q2Q
Spot on, Yuri. This was my comment on a post about lunatic DNC lap/attack dog Stacy Plaskett repeating Democrat talking points when questioning RFK jr at a hearing held by the House Weaponization of Government Committee:
“I feel like Truman in the Truman Show when he’s losing his mind and his wife keeps doing product placement.
‘Why don't you let me fix you some of this Mococoa drink? All natural cocoa beans from the upper slopes of Mount Nicaragua. No artificial sweeteners.
Truman : [looking around] What the hell are you talking about? Who are you talking to?’
Sane people are losing their minds and the Democrat committee members just keep reading from the script. Who are they talking to?? How do I get out of this show??”