The Truman Show, Redux

 

I found a lot of truth in Peter Weir's The Truman Show (1998), an allegorical film whose premise is the ubiquity of fabrication.

When Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) hit the wall during his escape attempt at the end of the picture, many viewers no doubt felt the impact, watching him mount the stairs to see the world as he had never seen it -- as it really was. What a moment!

Non-cinematic epiphanies aren't nearly as grand as Truman's but they can be earth-shaking. Discovering a lying friend or cheating companion or one's own petty cruelty can be upsetting and call for action.

It's not always a total surprise, right? As with Truman, sometimes we've seen the cracks, the inconsistencies, the wires, and eventually pull all of the threads together and ... voila! Ed Harris has been calling the shots.

If we're lucky, discovering manipulation, deceit, disappointment will not destroy us; it will lead to better things -- a loyal friend, respectful companion ... maybe talk therapy.

But perhaps THE most significant pull from Weir's weird world was Truman's discovery that only a fake universe is all about us. And who wants that?