September 23, 2025 • 51 mins
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Peter Weir's 1998 film The Truman Show, based on a screenplay by Andrew Niccol and starring Jim Carrey, was praised for its pop culture prescience because it came out just before the explosion of reality television. But as Emily argues on this episode, that cultural commentary misses the point. Reality TV may be the storytelling backdrop of The Truman Show, but the fantasy world that Ed Harris's Christof creates for Truman without his knowledge or consent gets to a deeper social and cultural issue than having cameras everywhere. This film offers a pop culture allegory for abusive control that calls itself love--to the point where many who have escaped from high control religions see themselves in Truman. (Also, product placement is never seamless!)
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Mentioned in this episode:
What The Truman Show Reveals About Its Characters
The Truman Show, Mormonism, and the Philosophy of Questioning
When Does Truman Figure It Out?
This episode was edited by Resonate Recordings.
Our theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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We are Tracie Guy-Decker and Emily Guy Birken, known to our family as the Guy Girls.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What I took away from this was not the cameras and
all of that.
It was the gaslighting, themanipulation, Christoph's
narcissism, the lack of choice,the lack of consent.
That is what left me feelingcold about this film.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Have you ever had something you love dismissed
because it's just pop culture,what others might deem stupid
shit?
You know matters, you knowwhat's worth talking and
thinking about, and so do we.
So come overthink with us as wedelve into our deep thoughts
about stupid shit.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
I'm Emily Guy-Burken and you're listening to Deep
Thoughts About Stupid Shit,because pop culture is still
culture, and shouldn't you knowwhat's in your head?
On today's episode, I'll besharing my deep thoughts about
the 1998 film, the Truman Show,with my sister, tracy Guy-Decker
, and with you.
Let's dive in.
Okay, trace, I didn't knowuntil yesterday whether or not
(01:05):
you'd seen this film, because itcame out after we'd both kind
of left the nest.
But tell me what you remember,what you know about this movie.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah, I definitely have seen it.
I have a number of likePolaroids, like vignettes in my
head about this film.
Like I remember good morningand, if I don't see you, good
afternoon, good evening and goodnight.
I remember clearly that, likeTruman's, the wedding photo,
like his wife is like holding,like crossing her fingers behind
her back or something, becauseall the people he's the only one
(01:36):
who's not an actor, you knowand him sort of figuring that
out and kind of being releasedfrom that out and kind of being
released from that.
And I remember, I very clearlyremember a moment where what?
Like his best friend, like he'snot where they think he is, and
he looks straight into thecamera and is like I don't know
what to do and like breaks theillusion and everybody's mad at
(01:57):
him or the people in charge aremad at him.
I remember that a girlfriend ora would-be girlfriend, is like
wearing a button that says howwill it end?
Which actually about him, buthe doesn't realize it that his
dad supposedly died because theactor stopped wanting to play
along and then he sees him onthe street or something as an
(02:18):
extra.
I remember it being like bothamusing and deeply, deeply
disturbing.
Remember it being like bothamusing and deeply, deeply
disturbing.
That's sort of the like flavorthat's in my brain about the
Truman Show.
Tell me, why are we?
Why are we talking about ittoday?
Speaker 1 (02:32):
I'm not sure.
I can't remember what remindedme of it recently, but I wanted
to revisit this film that I sawin the theater, I think twice,
when it came out, and then saw acouple more times after that,
and I remember really liking it,finding it very
(02:53):
thought-provoking, and then Ihadn't really thought about it
again until the last five or tenyears.
One of my interests is I findthe stories of people who have
escaped high-control religionsto be very interesting, and I
learned that apostates who haveescaped these evangelical or
(03:15):
other high-control religions seethemselves in the Truman Show
and that I found fascinating andhad not occurred to me.
But as soon as I heard that, Iwas like, of course they do, and
(03:36):
so I wanted to rewatch it withthat in mind, and so that was
you know why it was on the list.
So I'm not sure whyspecifically this week.
So that's why, you know, Iwanted to rewatch it.
And seeing it again for thefirst time, probably in about 15
, 20 years, boy, was it evenmore disturbing than it was when
I saw it as a 19-year-old inthe theater.
You know, I certainly gotdisturbing aspects of it at the
(03:59):
time and it was heartbreaking,heartbreaking, but this time
around I was much more horrifiedand a lot less charmed than I
was seeing it the first time andI also was a lot less convinced
by the arguments.
There were a lot of people whowere saying like, oh my goodness
(04:19):
, andrew Nichol, who wrote it,and Peter Weir, who was the
director, were prescient becauseyou know, they saw the rise of
reality TV and I remember seeingthat in the years afterwards
like, oh, that's, you know, theysaw Survivor and Big Brother
coming and you know like, yeah,okay, I see that.
And now I'm like, yeah, thatmisses the point.
(04:39):
That misses the point.
I don't really feel like thatis the point of what this story
is about and what it really getsto.
That is the human conditionthat doesn't need the kind of
surveillance and cameras.
The specific reality televisionaspect of it that's what's
(05:12):
going on in my head about this.
And then the religiousallegories within this I think
are really fascinating andreally interesting, that are
just so high concept that I knowI did not entirely catch as a
teenager seeing this.
So that's kind of just highlevel where I'm going.
So let me give you, since youonly kind of remember those
(05:35):
little details, let me give youI'm going to do high level as
much as I can.
Synopsis of the plot.
So the Truman Show it'sstarring Jim Carrey as Truman
Burbank.
It is a completely immersivereality television show.
Jim Carrey is Truman Burbank.
He was the first child to beadopted by a corporation.
(05:59):
He was one of five unwantedpregnancies and he became the
child star because he was bornfirst and so he was adopted by
the corporation.
The showrunner and director andmastermind behind this is
(06:20):
Christoph, played by Ed Harris,kristoff, played by Ed Harris.
They have built a huge domebehind the Hollywood Hills in
Burbank, which is where Truman'slast name comes from.
In that dome they have createdthis island town called Sea
Haven, which is actually it's aplanned community in Florida and
(06:42):
the actual house that Trumanlives in was Matt Gates's house.
So he's the really awfulsenator with the huge forehead
who oh, oh, the inappropriatethings.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Yeah, that guy, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
It was a real planned community, so it looks the part
of the type of place that theywould make.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
So that's not a soundstage.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Yeah, weird.
And so they have scripted hisentire life.
So Kristoff says like, oh, it'sall real, because Truman is
real.
Yes, everyone around him areactors, but everything he does
is real.
He doesn't know that this is acreation.
They cast a woman to play hismother, they cast a woman to
play his mother, they cast a manto play his father and they
(07:32):
then allow him to do whatever.
At the beginning of the film.
We are on day 10,900 andsomething, so it's been about 30
years, something.
So it's been about 30 years.
And Truman is married to Meryl,who is played by Laura Linney.
Now, meryl is her character'sname.
(07:52):
The actress is named HannahGill and this is something I
remember that really bothered meas a 19-year-old, because she's
an actress who actually has sexWith Truman and it's very clear
that Hannah Gill, the actress,cannot stand Truman the person
(08:13):
and props to Laura Linney ForMaking that clear.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Like, conveying that?
Yeah, she conveys.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
How much she doesn't like him.
So we get to see like we mostlyfollow Truman through the film,
but we do sometimes see likeviews with Kristoff, like behind
the scenes with the main actors, so with Angela is the name of
his mother in the show.
(08:42):
I don't know if we find outwhat the actress's name is.
She's played by Holland Taylor.
Kirk is the name of his father.
I cannot remember what theactor's name is and I don't know
what his name is off the show.
Marlon is his best friend.
He was cast at age seven to behis best friend and has grown up
(09:04):
with him and he's played byNoah Emmerich.
And one of the things that Ithink is fascinating about this
film is that all of thecharacters, the main characters
in the show, have like classicHollywood names, so like Marlon
Brando, meryl Streep, KirkDouglas, angela Lansbury, and
(09:26):
then the names of the streetsare like classic Hollywood names
, so like Lancaster.
I can't remember them, butthey're all like nods to old
Hollywood.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Like actors' last names.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Yes, so we see some behind the scenes stuff and hear
Kristoff talking about likeyeah, we did have to put some
things in place to keep Trumanhere.
So we see that when he was achild in school, he said I want
to be an explorer when I grow up.
And his teacher pulls a mapdown and says you're too late,
(10:00):
everything's already beendiscovered, everything's already
been discovered.
And there's a point where hismom is looking at old
photographs with him and like,oh, here's when we went on
vacation to see mount rushmore.
And he's like you look small.
And she's because it's clearlya soundstage.
And she's like, oh, and youslept and slept on that trip.
So, like they never actuallyleft the soundstage, they just
(10:25):
had him take a nap and said like, oh, you slept all the way.
They checked him yeah, they hadhim become an insurance salesman
.
And they are talking about howdangerous flying is.
And when he was seven years old, they wrote into the show that
(10:46):
he went sailing with his fatherand because of this dome that
they have, they can control theweather.
They made a storm and heinsisted on staying out in the
storm and his father drowned,which he feels is his fault.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
So it's not just that his dad was dead that I
remember, but that he actuallyfeels personally responsible for
it and has a phobia of thewater to keep him there on this
Sea.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Haven Island.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
On this island.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
And when he was like around high school or college
age, they cast Meryl to be hisgirlfriend, then wife.
But he sees and is immediatelyinfatuated with an extra played
by Natasha Mechelon.
Her name on the show is Lauren,but her actual name is Sylvia
(11:41):
and he keeps running into her.
She has that pin.
How?
Speaker 2 (11:46):
will it end?
Speaker 1 (11:47):
yeah, and he.
One night they sent her to yeah,one night he manages to like
evade cameras because she knowswhere they are and go to the
beach and they kiss and theysend another extra, claiming to
be her father, telling him shehas schizophrenia.
She does this with all of herboyfriends and she's like saying
(12:08):
no, no, he's lying.
He's lying, you're on tv.
And the father says we'removing to fiji, you'll never see
her again.
So from that point on he'sobsessed with fiji.
So when we meet him at thebeginning, we see, see him go
through a normal day.
He talks to himself in themirror.
(12:30):
There's a camera in the mirrorin his bathroom.
He says hello to his neighborsand he says good morning and, if
I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening and good night,
all of that.
But as he's getting into hiscar to drive to work, a light
falls from the sky.
He goes and looks at it andhe's really like what the heck?
(12:50):
But then, as he's driving,classical Clive, the DJ on the
radio he listens to, explains itaway as a plane flying overhead
was in trouble and startedspewing parts.
And you know, that's why youshouldn't fly, because it's so
dangerous.
We see him go through basicallya normal day.
(13:11):
He has this boring job.
He's clearly dissatisfied in it.
People like come up to him andlike push him against a wall
where there's a billboardbecause it's product placement,
that's how the show is paid for.
In the evening he goes andhangs out with Marlon.
He ends up sitting on the beachjust kind of looking out over
(13:37):
the water and it starts to rain.
But it's just raining over himbecause the Kristoff wants him
to go home, because they wanthim to have a baby with Meryl,
so it's just raining over him.
So he doesn't realize at firsthe just walks out and he's like
wait a minute, the water's justover me.
And then the water moves, soit's just over him again, and
then he starts walking aroundwith it and then it starts
raining everywhere.
(13:58):
So strange things start tohappen as he starts being
spontaneous Because, as with anyfilm sets, you don't fill out
(14:19):
everything, you don't have themoney to fill out everything.
So he starts doing thingsoutside of the ordinary to kind
of test stuff, because he's likesomething weird is going on.
So he goes into a building hedoesn't normally go into and he
tries to get into the elevatorand it's not actually an
elevator, it's an entrance tolike a green room and there's
like catering and so like theyhave to push him, push him out
of there, and like he doesn'tunderstand what's going on.
(14:41):
So then he like smacks a guywho's like pretending to be like
clearing gutters or somethinglike that, and runs away and
like all these extras areterrible improvisers, they just
let him.
And it's kind of like when asuperhero starts testing their
powers.
He starts trying to figure itout.
(15:02):
So he's like all right, I'mgoing to go to Fiji.
Powers.
He starts trying to figure itout.
So he's like all right, I'mgoing to go to Fiji.
There's a travel agent.
But all the posters in thetravel agency are like are you
sure you want to fly?
It's really dangerous.
And because they didn't expecthim to go to the travel agency,
they have to very quickly sendan actress in and she's still
wearing the bib from the makeupwhen she comes in.
(15:22):
She has to pull it off quickly.
And so she's like wearing thebib from the makeup when she
comes in, just to pull it offquickly.
And so she's like I'm sorry,there are no flights for another
month.
And he's like all right, I'llfind another way.
So he tries to take a train andit's just left.
And he tries to take a bus andhe just manages to get on the
bus and the bus driver likegrinds the gears until the bus
(15:46):
breaks because that's what he'sbeen told to do, and everyone
gets off the bus because there'sa bunch of extras on the bus,
including a little girl who liketurns around, like is that him?
And so everyone piles off thebus, nobody's upset, and the bus
driver is clearly upset andhe's like I'm really sorry, son.
(16:09):
So Truman ends up having a fightwith Meryl, where she's like
all right, you want to go toFiji, go to Fiji, save up for a
few months and then you can go.
At that point they're in hiscar.
He's waiting in the car whenshe gets home from work.
She's, theoretically a nurseand she rides her bike to work.
He's like okay, you're okaywith that, let's go now.
(16:30):
And so he like pulls out of thedriveway and starts driving,
like really, really fast.
She's like not okay with this,because this is not the job she
signed up for.
She's like freaking out.
And then a bunch of cars show upand like block his way and
(16:50):
she's like, hey, let's just gohome.
He's like all right.
And then he backs up and goesthe other direction but then
skips their turn off and thengoes the other way and there's a
bridge off of their island andlike he's afraid of the water.
And there's a bridge off oftheir island and like he's
afraid of the water and so he'slike he rushes over the bridge,
has her like take the wheel andhe closes his eyes because he's
(17:11):
scared of the water.
And like they get over thebridge and then there's like
fire that again this isChristoph clearly doing this.
They get to a place whereapparently there's a nuclear
power plant that's having ameltdown and they have to turn
around and there's policeofficers who are like I'm sorry,
you can't come through, there'snuclear meltdown.
And the police officer calls himtruman and he is like this is
(17:39):
what?
And he gets out of the car andlike runs away into the forest
and is like tackled by severalmen in the like radioactive suit
and the police officer and theytake him home.
At which point he and merylhave like another argument where
he's like why do you want tohave a baby with me when you
(17:59):
don't even like me?
And yeah, and she says whydon't I make you a nice cup of
mococo?
And she does a productplacement thing and he's like
who are you talking to?
She is like scared of him andshe had recently had a product
placement of like a kitchenutensil that has like it's like
(18:22):
a knife thing and she like takesit and is like holding it
towards him because she's scared.
And he takes it from her andends up like he's not actually
gonna hurt her but and she likelooks up and goes do something
to like the christoph producersat which point marlin shows up
and she's like I can, can't goon like this, it's
(18:45):
unprofessional.
Marlon comforts her and thentakes Truman away and Truman's
like I feel like everyone's inon it.
And Marlon says to him well, ifeveryone were in on it then I
would be in on it too.
We've been best friends sincewe were seven years old.
The only way we got throughschool was copying each other's
work and like I would never lieto you.
(19:07):
And then you go through and yousee that Kristoff is feeding
him lines.
Well, you know.
Meanwhile Marlon is liketearing up and it is like it's
just a punch to the gut, becausethe one relationship that are
kind of cheering Truman on, theykind of want him to figure it
(19:38):
out.
We also see Kristoff and hisassistant directors working and
there's an interview withKristoff.
So Marlon says and I missed onepoint, there was a Truman sees
his father on the street dressedas a homeless man and
(19:59):
recognizes him and everyone istelling him he's crazy and like
the whole, like people, likespirit Kirk, right off the set.
And so Marlon's like I foundhim.
And there's this like emotionalreunion.
And so Kristoff in thisinterview is saying like well,
since he started it.
We're going to fix this.
He was saying that Kirk wasdisgruntled and came back on.
(20:23):
He was not happy about beingwritten off the show, so but
we're going to fix this.
And the interviewer's like sohow are you going to explain the
22 year absence?
And he's like amnesia.
The interviewer's like, oh,brilliant, even though that's so
stupid.
And they have some people callin to ask questions like an
interview show.
(20:43):
One of them is Sylvia saying,like what you're doing to Truman
is sick.
And Kristoff says, like youbatted your eyelashes at him and
thought you had a moment withhim, but what really bothers you
is that he could leave any timehe wants.
He doesn't appear to want to.
He also says Meryl is going tobe leaving the show.
There will be a new loveinterest.
(21:03):
So after all of that happens, wesee Truman goes home, goes to
sleep and we see Kristoff hasthis enormous screen in his like
room and he goes and kind oflike pets Truman's face before
he goes to bed.
(21:24):
So like he clearly has thislike affection for him.
So the next day Truman is backto what appears to be normal.
He he is like in his likebathroom mirror and like drawing
a look with soap, drawing ahelmet, like he's an astronaut.
(21:45):
He says to his neighbors hiscatchphrase like and if I don't
see you, good afternoon, goodevening, good night, goes
through his normal day.
Everything seems to be back tonormal.
They introduce who is clearlygoing to be the new love
interest and you know, he likekind of shyly, like smiles at
her and stuff like that.
And in the evening hisassistant directors are, you
(22:08):
know, just kind of keeping aneye on him.
He is in the basement, which iswhere he has been staying since
Merrill left.
Christoph comes in and is likewhat's going on?
Where is he?
And he's like, oh, he, just hefell asleep in the basement here
.
He's like something's wrong.
Put on the audio.
He's snoring, it's fine, he'ssleeping, it's not a big deal.
(22:28):
And so he's like send Marlonover.
So Marlon comes over, comesdown to the basement he's not
actually there.
He's piled something up and putan audio on.
He's like, well, he's got to bethere.
We would have seen him go upthe stairs.
And they find that he has dug ahole from the lawn down into the
(22:51):
basement and escaped that way.
And no one realized becausethey didn't think that he could
get out any way other than thestairs.
When they find him, he has aboat that he is sailing away.
And so they start, because theycontrol the weather, they start
sending storms to him.
(23:12):
The assistant directors arelike he's afraid of the water,
he doesn't know how to swim,he's going to drown.
And Kristoff is like no, makeit worse, make it worse.
And at one point Truman shoutsup at the sky is that the best
you can do?
You're going to have to kill me?
And nearly capsizes the boatuntil finally Kristoff says all
(23:33):
right, that's enough, and stops.
Until finally Kristoff says allright, that's enough, and stops
.
And so the weather improves,the boat is fine and Truman is
like just kind of enjoyingsailing.
The boat suddenly hitssomething, and it's the dome,
because it's not really the sea.
(23:55):
It's this amazing, weird momentwhere Truman touches the sky and
then he starts walking alonguntil he comes to these stairs
with the door.
It's marked exit and he goes toit and then Kristoff speaks to
him, which startles Truman, ofcourse.
(24:16):
Truman says who are you?
Kristoff says I am the creatorof a television show.
And Truman says well then, whoam I?
He's like you're the star.
And Kristoff tries to convincehim to stay and says there are
lies out there too.
You know, in here you're safe,you know you can't leave.
And Truman just kind of stareslike up at the sky for a while
(24:40):
and he says we'll say something.
Kristoff says we'll saysomething.
God damn it, you're on livetelevision, you know to the
entire world.
And that's when Truman says andif I don't see you, good
afternoon, good evening, goodnight.
And he takes a bow and he goesout the door and we see everyone
who's been watching it go likejust so excited, so excited, so
excited.
And then one person says whatelse is on?
(25:02):
And change the channel.
So I remember laughing when Isaw it in 1998 and I did not
laugh this time.
Yeah, so I'm going to start withsomething little the attention
to detail in this film.
(25:23):
It's not little, it's enormous.
It's amazing the attention todetail they put into this film.
But it's not a big part of myanalysis.
So there are things that theythought about and put into that
I just think are amazing.
So, for instance, this is adome.
There is no real sunlight,truman would not get any actual
(25:48):
vitamin D, and so they'vethought of that.
And you see, in one scene hehas a bottle of vitamin D pills
by his breakfast.
So there are moments like thatthat they have thought of.
That kind of attention todetail is amazing.
So Peter Weir and Andrew Nicolthought through the implications
(26:13):
of what this would be andincluded it in the film.
They have given us all of thesedetails of what it would be
like to enclose someone in aspace like this.
The fact that the music that helistens to is classical Clive,
(26:35):
it's classical music becausethat's in the public domain.
So that is partially becausethat's money-saving, but then it
also helps them control thenarrative as well, because if
they were to allow him to listento contemporary music with
(26:55):
contemporary lyrics, that couldgive him more opportunities to
question things.
So, like, all of these kinds ofattention to detail is just
amazing, it's when he stops bythe newsstand every day and
picks up a newspaper and amagazine.
The magazines that are there areall things that that are
(27:17):
hobbies that don't requiretravel.
So there's dog fancier, there'sparenting magazines, there's
fashion magazines All of thisstuff is just really impressive.
There's also a street cleanerwho has one of those grabby
things to pick things up off thestreet.
He's not actually pickinganything up because he's an
(27:39):
actor, he's not actually astreet cleaner and like this
place is pristine, because it'snot actually a place where
people are on the street.
And then the fact that theseextras aren't actually citizens
doing things.
They're pretending and sothey're not very good at it.
So all of these little detailsare phenomenal and really,
(28:01):
really well done.
That attention to detail isamazing.
It's an amazing aspect of thisfilm that rewards repeat viewing
and I think is also just atestament to how good this movie
is.
I just kind of wanted tomention that before I jump into
(28:24):
the bigger analysis.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yeah, cool.
All right, there's somepotatoes, give me some meat.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
So allegory for high-control religion, because
this is something I didn't quiteget, and it's also an allegory
for abusive relationships too.
So in the most generous readingof this, christoph truly does
love Truman.
I have trouble seeing thatbecause his love is control.
(28:52):
He loves Truman as long asTruman does what he wants within
the dome.
Yeah, very conditional love, andthat love means gaslighting him
.
It means asking myriad otherpeople to gaslight him.
So like thinking about the busdriver who really was upset
(29:16):
about it and you know, on theone hand you could be like so
why does he work for him?
And it's like, well, you're anactor.
It's not like there's a lot ofoptions out there.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Yeah, jobs are hard to come by.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
And like if you're an extra on something like that,
you don't think you're going tohave to actually do that.
Right, Like the little girl whowas like is that him?
Yeah, so, especially if you'reextra and your job is to be the
bus driver, you're like hedoesn't leave.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Right and he doesn't drive the bus.
He doesn't ride the bus, he hashis own car.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Kristoff does that.
And then I saw something lastnight and there are several
YouTube videos I'm going to linkin the show notes that talked
about how, in a lot of ways,marlon is a big victim in this
too, in part because he wasseven years old when he was
brought into this, and Truman istruly his friend, even though
(30:13):
he is in on this conspiracy.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Yeah, so he's forced to abuse his friend from age
seven.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
And so he didn't have a chance to consent to this
either, which is also reallylike a good example of what it's
like to be in a high-controlreligion.
Right, the indoctrination startsreally young and that's the
internalized oppression, so thateven when the big guy's not
here, like we police each otherso there's that societal
(30:44):
pressure that christoph, so likethe prophet or no one, is
getting through to Truman, evenas he's like, asking, like tell
(31:07):
me what's going on.
And that is it's heartbreaking.
It is heartbreaking especiallyso truman doesn't know anyone
who is real, and it's fittingthat his name is truman.
(31:28):
Everyone else is going by afake name and so, and so the
other aspect of it, the thingthat I have many of the
apostates, the ex-evangelicalsthat I've read have talked about
is they have a touching thewall moment, or touching the
edge of the dome moment, whenthey have decided to leave their
(31:52):
faith.
Faith and how it's exhilaratingand scary where they have long
suspected that their faith isnot what they've been told it
was.
But they didn't necessarilyhave proof.
And just as Truman has longbelieved that there is some sort
(32:15):
of grand conspiracy, this worldis not what he thinks it is,
but he didn't necessarily haveproof.
But when the boat hits the walland he actually reaches out and
his hands trembling a littlebit and he touches the wall,
that's proof.
It's proof that this world isnot what he's been told it is,
and how terrifying that is.
(32:40):
Christoph has this illusion ofcontrol.
So one of the like, one of themoments that stuck with me from
when I was 19.
They are searching for trumanovernight, like they have all
the actors and extras likelinking arms.
They're searching all of seaHaven before they realize that
he's taken a boat and he's onthe sea.
It's overnight and he's likewe're not going to be able to
(33:01):
find him.
It's too dark and he's like cuethe sun.
It is very clear that Kristoffsees himself as this god of this
little fiefdom.
Yeah, he says he's the creator.
Control is an illusion Becausewhen Christoph is talking to
(33:23):
Truman, he says I know youbetter than you know yourself.
I watched when you were born, Iwatched when you took your
first steps.
I watched the episode when youlost your first tooth, and he
says it that way the episodewhen you lost your first tooth,
and he says it that way theepisode.
And Truman says you never hadcameras in my head.
And that is, I think, somethingthat's really important is,
(33:50):
like, any time there is anattempt to control anything,
it's an illusion Because we dohave.
We humans have free will andthe world is chaotic.
(34:12):
The attempts to manipulate andcontrol Truman, to imprison him
there, can't and won't workbecause they never had cameras
in his head.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
They never knew who he was inside, because it's an
illusion of control friend andteacher, rabbi david jaffe, says
they can hack our brains, butthey can't hack our souls.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
That's what's coming up for me right now and watching
this, I was reminded very muchof the matrix, which just came
out a year later yeah, becauseit's the conversation between
neo and morpheus, where you knowneo is saying like, yeah, with
this world, so he gets to leave.
And it's Plato's allegory of thecave, which is the only world
(35:19):
you've ever known.
Is this cave where you seeshadows and you think it's the
only world there is.
But when you leave the cave andyou see the world as it is,
it's terrifying because it'sdifferent, but it is so much
bigger and brighter.
I think it is very fitting andshows how much personal, like
(35:49):
you know, delusion control.
You don't have control overanything but yourself, your soul
.
That truman ends the show withhis catchphrase and a bow which
is like the most classy middlefinger he could possibly give.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
Be like you wanted a performer, I'm done performing
yeah, speaking of performers andnot you mentioned that there
are those who say that this wassort of prescient of reality tv
like survivor and whatever, butthat maybe that misses the point
(36:31):
.
That comparison misses thepoint.
Can Can you say more about?
Speaker 1 (36:33):
that, yeah, so like there's, and I definitely
understand why that analysis wasso prevalent.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Well, the cameras everywhere is an obvious, that's
the obvious connection.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
And I don't think that it's an unreasonable
connection.
It's just that's not what'sdisturbing about this film, Like
the fact that he's underconstant surveillance is not
what's disturbing Constant andunrealized surveillance.
Yeah, that his life as aperformance is not what's
(37:10):
disturbing.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
What's disturbing, it's not what's most disturbing.
It's kind of disturbing.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Gotcha there.
What I took away from this wasnot the cameras and all of that,
it was the gaslighting, themanipulation, kristoff's
narcissism, the lack of choice,the lack of consent of choice,
the lack of consent.
That is what left me feelingcold about this film.
(37:38):
I mean not cold about this film, the film's brilliant.
It's what let me feel coldabout what Kristoff did.
The methodology that Kristoffused to do it is not good, but
this film could have like thestory.
He could have done the samething using a different method
(38:02):
and it would have told a similarstory.
It just happened to use realitytelevision as the particular
medium and that's why I say Ifeel like talking about it being
prescient, about reality TV,misses the point, because this
is a story about someone playingGod and it's a story about
(38:25):
control that the abusivecontrolling person thinks is
love, and that, I think, is thepoint of the story, not the
cameras well, I think too,because the thing that's
interesting not to me but ingeneral about reality tv is that
(38:45):
all of the players know thereare cameras and then forget.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
And so watching to see when the performance stops
or the performance for thecamera stops and the sort of
authenticity or, you know,authentic pettiness for the
contest shows up, I don't findthat interesting.
I like to see people at theirbest, not at their worst, but I
think that's what's interestingto the viewer.
(39:11):
But the fact that the playersall knew the cameras were there
from the beginning is part ofthe interest, I think, because
seeing when they forget is likewhat we're watching for.
So Truman is the opposite right.
Truman never knows the camerasare there and so the setting is
similar insofar as there arecameras everywhere, but the
(39:34):
actual action and what is in itfor the viewers is different
that Christophe displays.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
He says to Sylvia your concern is that he could
leave anytime you want, and hedoesn't.
But he can't.
Because when he tries toChristophe nearly kills him and
at one point one of the studioexecutives says you can't have
him die on live television.
Executive says you can't havehim die on live television.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
And Kristoff's response is well, he was born on
live television and because hiscommitment to the spectacle and
the show is greater than hiscommitment to the well-being of
this person, he claims to careabout this person he claims to
(40:37):
care about, and again, that isto me bigger than the fact of
the cameras and that speaks tosomething that I don't know if
you've said yet and we'rerunning out of time, but I just
want to name, like we said, thatthe love was conditional, and
the condition actually, if wezoom out, is on the money-making
ability, right, like it'sactually all of, like Truman is
a meal ticket for Kristoff andhe has to keep him in the dome
(40:59):
in order to keep that moneyflowing, and so all those
product placements that are soawkward, you know where Truman's
like who are you talking to?
Or like gets pushed against thewall or whatever by
acquaintances so that the shotis right, like those moments
like that's what's drivingKristoff.
And so the condition is notjust like how you treat me,
(41:21):
which is the way sort ofnarcissistic, conditional love
often manifests, it's like howyou keep making me money.
Speaker 1 (41:30):
Well, it's the ultimate stage, parent, it's an
extra layer.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Yeah, yeah, yeah it's the ultimate stage, parent,
which is an extra layer.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
Something to that there as well.
So you see all of these peoplewatching and they are delighted
that Truman escapes, even thoughthey are fans of the show, even
though they love Truman, eventhough it means the end of
something they enjoy, eventhough they love Truman, even
though it means the end ofsomething they enjoy.
(41:57):
And I was thinking about that,and I was thinking like some of
that has to do with the factthat stories are supposed to end
and like one of the things thatI lament about American
television is that they willsqueeze every drop out of it
even long past when the showshould have just wrapped up same
, but yeah story same with likethey'll keep churning out
(42:20):
sequels, even when like thejuice is gone, right, right I
was thinking about that toowhere it's like that's not even
necessarily like truman gettingout, isn't even exactly about
them like cheering on thisperson.
It's more about like oh, thisis a satisfying conclusion.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
I think that's part of it.
I think there's alsopotentially some commentary
about the authenticity of aparasocial relationship, Like
there is some authentic careeven in a parasocial
relationship.
It's not reciprocal, obviously,but from the audience, like
there is genuine care for thatperson that we're watching on
the screen, except that the lastline is what else is on?
(43:01):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, that speaks to the story.
It was a satisfying conclusion.
Now it's over and just that.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
That is where, like the prescience of, of reality tv
, that like everything's aproduct and we're just, it's
just a constant stream ofcontent.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
Yeah, we just consume it and then move on.
Yeah, yeah, we are pretty muchout of time, so any like final
insights before I do my wrap upso there's a lot of focus on
like this is an allegory forhigh control religion.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
I was also spending a little time thinking about the
aspects of Judaism that Istruggle with, specifically the
story of the binding of Isaac,where God tells Abraham to take
Isaac and sacrifice him,sacrifice him and really you're
Okay.
(43:58):
Really you're bringing this upnow.
Yeah, we got three minutes left, so I was thinking about that
because I struggle with that somuch, and that feels like the
kind of request that aChristoph-type God would ask of
a Truman-type Abraham, except itwouldn't be Truman, it would be
(44:21):
Marlin.
Yes, yeah, it would be Marlinof Truman.
Yeah, thinking about where andlike I don't have any answers to
it, which is part of the reasonwhy I'm bringing it up at the
end, where it's just like I justwant to put this in there and
just think about it when we seeechoes in media like this, where
(44:45):
it feels like we're in a domebeing asked to do impossible
things, horrible things.
Speaker 2 (45:03):
I mean, there's a lot of commentary on the Akedah in
particular, that story inparticular, many of which
suggest that God actually did it, so that Abraham would say no,
I'm not doing this.
And others would say Abrahamwas testing God to see if God
would actually like go throughit with it, and neither of them
intended to.
But that's a.
That's a different thing.
Speaker 1 (45:23):
Oh, I know.
And I oh, I know, and, like thething is, I don't find either
of those satisfying.
That's why it reminded me ofthat.
But I was just thinking likepeople who have left high
control religions feel like thisis a good metaphor for their
experience.
But I do not feel like I'm amember of a high control
(45:43):
religion, but I still see echoesin a religion that I feel very
comfortable being a part of.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
So yeah, in the stories.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
Nobody's asking you, no one is asking me to bind my
child, but what I'm saying iseven in religion that feels
pretty progressive and open,there are still stories, there
are still moments that can feellike this and that's worth
thinking about.
That's all I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (46:13):
I'm going to give some highlights from some key
takeaways from what I just whatwe just talked about.
Ok, so I'll start with where weended, which is that this film
is an allegory thatex-evangelicals so people who
have escaped high controlevangelical religions see
themselves in this movie in theway the control that is exerted
(46:35):
over Truman.
And you're noting that even innon-high-control religions, like
the sort of non-OrthodoxJudaism that you and I practice,
there are echoes at least inthe stories, if not in what
we're being asked to do, andthat's worth thinking about that
.
This movie has an allegory ofreligion and escape from
religion and the implications ofthat, with the narcissism of
(46:58):
christoph who is the creator ofthe cv show, are sort of
interesting in terms of likesome of those stories and then
also the actual churches where aleader is narcissistic.
And then you pointed out thisis really interesting the ways
in which the gaslighting that isrequired of this control of the
(47:20):
object of control, thegaslighting of them and the
participation in the gaslightingof everyone around them and the
damage that that does to otherpeople.
You spent some time pointingout, in particular, the damage,
the victimhood of Marlon, thebest friend, who was recruited
into this when he was sevenyears old, so literally grew up
(47:43):
lying to his friend, and that'sthe only, that's the basis of
their relationship and the onlyrelationship that they have, and
how just sad and damaging thatis.
You noted that this sort ofescape metaphor is reminiscent
of Plato's allegory of the caveand that if all you know is the
(48:03):
cave and the shadows on the cave, then you think that's all
there is.
And then you actually gooutside and it is wonderful and
terrifying when you see how muchbigger and brighter and more
depth there is to the worldoutside the cave.
You also talked about sort ofthere's a lot about control in
this movie, and so you notedthat all control in this movie
(48:25):
and otherwise is an illusion,because in the pithy quote of my
teacher and friend, rabbi Jaffe, they can hack our brains but
they can't hack our souls.
So Christoph thinks he knowsTruman better than Truman knows
himself, but there are nocameras in Truman's head and so
when Truman starts to think forhimself, things change about
(48:53):
capitalism in this film and sortof the nods to capitalism with
the product placements, but alsothe fact that Kristoff's love
of Truman is completelyconditional, and not just
conditional on the way thatTruman treats Kristoff, which is
sort of a traditionalnarcissistic conditional love,
but conditional on himcontinuing to be the cash cow of
the star of this TV show, ofthe star of this TV show.
(49:17):
Many people call this filmprescient of later reality TV,
which in some ways it is,because the setting is very
similar, with cameras everywhere, including in your bathroom
mirror.
But the actual heart, the meatof what's happening, of the
lessons that we are meant todraw, is totally different,
because reality TV stars knowthe cameras are there and
sometimes they forget, but theyknow from the beginning that
they're there and they consentto do this, and Truman did not.
(49:38):
And so the actual lessons thatwe're learning are different.
And then the last thing, whichwas the first thing you started
with, was the remarkableattention to detail that the
filmmakers had for this film.
So the example you gave washe's in a geodesic dome without
actual sunlight, so they putvitamin D next to him.
(49:59):
That repeat viewing will revealvarious things like that that
are attention to detail, likethe actress who has to come in
and still has the makeup bib on,or other things that remind us
that all of this is a fictioninside a fiction, because we're
watching a movie.
Any final words?
Speaker 1 (50:17):
Just that.
I think that this movie gets toa human condition, even though
it's about something completelyfantastical.
Speaker 2 (50:24):
Yeah, nice.
Well, next week I am going tobring you my deep thoughts about
romancing the stone, thanks toa listener suggestion.
So fancy me Very cool.
See you, then.
This show is a labor of love,but that doesn't make it free to
produce.
If you enjoy it even half asmuch as we do, please consider
(50:46):
helping to keep us overthinking.
You can support us at ourPatreon there's a link in the
show notes or leave a positivereview so others can find us and
, of course, share the show withyour people.
Thanks for listening.
Our theme music is ProfessorUmlaut by Kevin MacLeod from
Incompetechcom.
(51:07):
Find full music credits in theshow notes.
Thank you to ResonateRecordings for editing today's
episode.
Until next time, remember popculture is still culture, and
shouldn't you know what's inyour head?
What I took away from this was not the cameras and
all of that.
It was the gaslighting, themanipulation, Christoph's
narcissism, the lack of choice,the lack of consent.
That is what left me feelingcold about this film.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Have you ever had something you love dismissed
because it's just pop culture,what others might deem stupid
shit?
You know matters, you knowwhat's worth talking and
thinking about, and so do we.
So come overthink with us as wedelve into our deep thoughts
about stupid shit.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
I'm Emily Guy-Burken and you're listening to Deep
Thoughts About Stupid Shit,because pop culture is still
culture, and shouldn't you knowwhat's in your head?
On today's episode, I'll besharing my deep thoughts about
the 1998 film, the Truman Show,with my sister, tracy Guy-Decker
, and with you.
Let's dive in.
Okay, trace, I didn't knowuntil yesterday whether or not
(01:05):
you'd seen this film, because itcame out after we'd both kind
of left the nest.
But tell me what you remember,what you know about this movie.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah, I definitely have seen it.
I have a number of likePolaroids, like vignettes in my
head about this film.
Like I remember good morningand, if I don't see you, good
afternoon, good evening and goodnight.
I remember clearly that, likeTruman's, the wedding photo,
like his wife is like holding,like crossing her fingers behind
her back or something, becauseall the people he's the only one
(01:36):
who's not an actor, you knowand him sort of figuring that
out and kind of being releasedfrom that out and kind of being
released from that.
And I remember, I very clearlyremember a moment where what?
Like his best friend, like he'snot where they think he is, and
he looks straight into thecamera and is like I don't know
what to do and like breaks theillusion and everybody's mad at
(01:57):
him or the people in charge aremad at him.
I remember that a girlfriend ora would-be girlfriend, is like
wearing a button that says howwill it end?
Which actually about him, buthe doesn't realize it that his
dad supposedly died because theactor stopped wanting to play
along and then he sees him onthe street or something as an
(02:18):
extra.
I remember it being like bothamusing and deeply, deeply
disturbing.
Remember it being like bothamusing and deeply, deeply
disturbing.
That's sort of the like flavorthat's in my brain about the
Truman Show.
Tell me, why are we?
Why are we talking about ittoday?
Speaker 1 (02:32):
I'm not sure.
I can't remember what remindedme of it recently, but I wanted
to revisit this film that I sawin the theater, I think twice,
when it came out, and then saw acouple more times after that,
and I remember really liking it,finding it very
(02:53):
thought-provoking, and then Ihadn't really thought about it
again until the last five or tenyears.
One of my interests is I findthe stories of people who have
escaped high-control religionsto be very interesting, and I
learned that apostates who haveescaped these evangelical or
(03:15):
other high-control religions seethemselves in the Truman Show
and that I found fascinating andhad not occurred to me.
But as soon as I heard that, Iwas like, of course they do, and
(03:36):
so I wanted to rewatch it withthat in mind, and so that was
you know why it was on the list.
So I'm not sure whyspecifically this week.
So that's why, you know, Iwanted to rewatch it.
And seeing it again for thefirst time, probably in about 15
, 20 years, boy, was it evenmore disturbing than it was when
I saw it as a 19-year-old inthe theater.
You know, I certainly gotdisturbing aspects of it at the
(03:59):
time and it was heartbreaking,heartbreaking, but this time
around I was much more horrifiedand a lot less charmed than I
was seeing it the first time andI also was a lot less convinced
by the arguments.
There were a lot of people whowere saying like, oh my goodness
(04:19):
, andrew Nichol, who wrote it,and Peter Weir, who was the
director, were prescient becauseyou know, they saw the rise of
reality TV and I remember seeingthat in the years afterwards
like, oh, that's, you know, theysaw Survivor and Big Brother
coming and you know like, yeah,okay, I see that.
And now I'm like, yeah, thatmisses the point.
(04:39):
That misses the point.
I don't really feel like thatis the point of what this story
is about and what it really getsto.
That is the human conditionthat doesn't need the kind of
surveillance and cameras.
The specific reality televisionaspect of it that's what's
(05:12):
going on in my head about this.
And then the religiousallegories within this I think
are really fascinating andreally interesting, that are
just so high concept that I knowI did not entirely catch as a
teenager seeing this.
So that's kind of just highlevel where I'm going.
So let me give you, since youonly kind of remember those
(05:35):
little details, let me give youI'm going to do high level as
much as I can.
Synopsis of the plot.
So the Truman Show it'sstarring Jim Carrey as Truman
Burbank.
It is a completely immersivereality television show.
Jim Carrey is Truman Burbank.
He was the first child to beadopted by a corporation.
(05:59):
He was one of five unwantedpregnancies and he became the
child star because he was bornfirst and so he was adopted by
the corporation.
The showrunner and director andmastermind behind this is
(06:20):
Christoph, played by Ed Harris,kristoff, played by Ed Harris.
They have built a huge domebehind the Hollywood Hills in
Burbank, which is where Truman'slast name comes from.
In that dome they have createdthis island town called Sea
Haven, which is actually it's aplanned community in Florida and
(06:42):
the actual house that Trumanlives in was Matt Gates's house.
So he's the really awfulsenator with the huge forehead
who oh, oh, the inappropriatethings.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Yeah, that guy, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
It was a real planned community, so it looks the part
of the type of place that theywould make.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
So that's not a soundstage.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Yeah, weird.
And so they have scripted hisentire life.
So Kristoff says like, oh, it'sall real, because Truman is
real.
Yes, everyone around him areactors, but everything he does
is real.
He doesn't know that this is acreation.
They cast a woman to play hismother, they cast a woman to
play his mother, they cast a manto play his father and they
(07:32):
then allow him to do whatever.
At the beginning of the film.
We are on day 10,900 andsomething, so it's been about 30
years, something.
So it's been about 30 years.
And Truman is married to Meryl,who is played by Laura Linney.
Now, meryl is her character'sname.
(07:52):
The actress is named HannahGill and this is something I
remember that really bothered meas a 19-year-old, because she's
an actress who actually has sexWith Truman and it's very clear
that Hannah Gill, the actress,cannot stand Truman the person
(08:13):
and props to Laura Linney ForMaking that clear.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Like, conveying that?
Yeah, she conveys.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
How much she doesn't like him.
So we get to see like we mostlyfollow Truman through the film,
but we do sometimes see likeviews with Kristoff, like behind
the scenes with the main actors, so with Angela is the name of
his mother in the show.
(08:42):
I don't know if we find outwhat the actress's name is.
She's played by Holland Taylor.
Kirk is the name of his father.
I cannot remember what theactor's name is and I don't know
what his name is off the show.
Marlon is his best friend.
He was cast at age seven to behis best friend and has grown up
(09:04):
with him and he's played byNoah Emmerich.
And one of the things that Ithink is fascinating about this
film is that all of thecharacters, the main characters
in the show, have like classicHollywood names, so like Marlon
Brando, meryl Streep, KirkDouglas, angela Lansbury, and
(09:26):
then the names of the streetsare like classic Hollywood names
, so like Lancaster.
I can't remember them, butthey're all like nods to old
Hollywood.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Like actors' last names.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Yes, so we see some behind the scenes stuff and hear
Kristoff talking about likeyeah, we did have to put some
things in place to keep Trumanhere.
So we see that when he was achild in school, he said I want
to be an explorer when I grow up.
And his teacher pulls a mapdown and says you're too late,
(10:00):
everything's already beendiscovered, everything's already
been discovered.
And there's a point where hismom is looking at old
photographs with him and like,oh, here's when we went on
vacation to see mount rushmore.
And he's like you look small.
And she's because it's clearlya soundstage.
And she's like, oh, and youslept and slept on that trip.
So, like they never actuallyleft the soundstage, they just
(10:25):
had him take a nap and said like, oh, you slept all the way.
They checked him yeah, they hadhim become an insurance salesman
.
And they are talking about howdangerous flying is.
And when he was seven years old, they wrote into the show that
(10:46):
he went sailing with his fatherand because of this dome that
they have, they can control theweather.
They made a storm and heinsisted on staying out in the
storm and his father drowned,which he feels is his fault.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
So it's not just that his dad was dead that I
remember, but that he actuallyfeels personally responsible for
it and has a phobia of thewater to keep him there on this
Sea.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Haven Island.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
On this island.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
And when he was like around high school or college
age, they cast Meryl to be hisgirlfriend, then wife.
But he sees and is immediatelyinfatuated with an extra played
by Natasha Mechelon.
Her name on the show is Lauren,but her actual name is Sylvia
(11:41):
and he keeps running into her.
She has that pin.
How?
Speaker 2 (11:46):
will it end?
Speaker 1 (11:47):
yeah, and he.
One night they sent her to yeah,one night he manages to like
evade cameras because she knowswhere they are and go to the
beach and they kiss and theysend another extra, claiming to
be her father, telling him shehas schizophrenia.
She does this with all of herboyfriends and she's like saying
(12:08):
no, no, he's lying.
He's lying, you're on tv.
And the father says we'removing to fiji, you'll never see
her again.
So from that point on he'sobsessed with fiji.
So when we meet him at thebeginning, we see, see him go
through a normal day.
He talks to himself in themirror.
(12:30):
There's a camera in the mirrorin his bathroom.
He says hello to his neighborsand he says good morning and, if
I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening and good night,
all of that.
But as he's getting into hiscar to drive to work, a light
falls from the sky.
He goes and looks at it andhe's really like what the heck?
(12:50):
But then, as he's driving,classical Clive, the DJ on the
radio he listens to, explains itaway as a plane flying overhead
was in trouble and startedspewing parts.
And you know, that's why youshouldn't fly, because it's so
dangerous.
We see him go through basicallya normal day.
(13:11):
He has this boring job.
He's clearly dissatisfied in it.
People like come up to him andlike push him against a wall
where there's a billboardbecause it's product placement,
that's how the show is paid for.
In the evening he goes andhangs out with Marlon.
He ends up sitting on the beachjust kind of looking out over
(13:37):
the water and it starts to rain.
But it's just raining over himbecause the Kristoff wants him
to go home, because they wanthim to have a baby with Meryl,
so it's just raining over him.
So he doesn't realize at firsthe just walks out and he's like
wait a minute, the water's justover me.
And then the water moves, soit's just over him again, and
then he starts walking aroundwith it and then it starts
raining everywhere.
(13:58):
So strange things start tohappen as he starts being
spontaneous Because, as with anyfilm sets, you don't fill out
(14:19):
everything, you don't have themoney to fill out everything.
So he starts doing thingsoutside of the ordinary to kind
of test stuff, because he's likesomething weird is going on.
So he goes into a building hedoesn't normally go into and he
tries to get into the elevatorand it's not actually an
elevator, it's an entrance tolike a green room and there's
like catering and so like theyhave to push him, push him out
of there, and like he doesn'tunderstand what's going on.
(14:41):
So then he like smacks a guywho's like pretending to be like
clearing gutters or somethinglike that, and runs away and
like all these extras areterrible improvisers, they just
let him.
And it's kind of like when asuperhero starts testing their
powers.
He starts trying to figure itout.
(15:02):
So he's like all right, I'mgoing to go to Fiji.
Powers.
He starts trying to figure itout.
So he's like all right, I'mgoing to go to Fiji.
There's a travel agent.
But all the posters in thetravel agency are like are you
sure you want to fly?
It's really dangerous.
And because they didn't expecthim to go to the travel agency,
they have to very quickly sendan actress in and she's still
wearing the bib from the makeupwhen she comes in.
(15:22):
She has to pull it off quickly.
And so she's like wearing thebib from the makeup when she
comes in, just to pull it offquickly.
And so she's like I'm sorry,there are no flights for another
month.
And he's like all right, I'llfind another way.
So he tries to take a train andit's just left.
And he tries to take a bus andhe just manages to get on the
bus and the bus driver likegrinds the gears until the bus
(15:46):
breaks because that's what he'sbeen told to do, and everyone
gets off the bus because there'sa bunch of extras on the bus,
including a little girl who liketurns around, like is that him?
And so everyone piles off thebus, nobody's upset, and the bus
driver is clearly upset andhe's like I'm really sorry, son.
(16:09):
So Truman ends up having a fightwith Meryl, where she's like
all right, you want to go toFiji, go to Fiji, save up for a
few months and then you can go.
At that point they're in hiscar.
He's waiting in the car whenshe gets home from work.
She's, theoretically a nurseand she rides her bike to work.
He's like okay, you're okaywith that, let's go now.
(16:30):
And so he like pulls out of thedriveway and starts driving,
like really, really fast.
She's like not okay with this,because this is not the job she
signed up for.
She's like freaking out.
And then a bunch of cars show upand like block his way and
(16:50):
she's like, hey, let's just gohome.
He's like all right.
And then he backs up and goesthe other direction but then
skips their turn off and thengoes the other way and there's a
bridge off of their island andlike he's afraid of the water.
And there's a bridge off oftheir island and like he's
afraid of the water and so he'slike he rushes over the bridge,
has her like take the wheel andhe closes his eyes because he's
(17:11):
scared of the water.
And like they get over thebridge and then there's like
fire that again this isChristoph clearly doing this.
They get to a place whereapparently there's a nuclear
power plant that's having ameltdown and they have to turn
around and there's policeofficers who are like I'm sorry,
you can't come through, there'snuclear meltdown.
And the police officer calls himtruman and he is like this is
(17:39):
what?
And he gets out of the car andlike runs away into the forest
and is like tackled by severalmen in the like radioactive suit
and the police officer and theytake him home.
At which point he and merylhave like another argument where
he's like why do you want tohave a baby with me when you
(17:59):
don't even like me?
And yeah, and she says whydon't I make you a nice cup of
mococo?
And she does a productplacement thing and he's like
who are you talking to?
She is like scared of him andshe had recently had a product
placement of like a kitchenutensil that has like it's like
(18:22):
a knife thing and she like takesit and is like holding it
towards him because she's scared.
And he takes it from her andends up like he's not actually
gonna hurt her but and she likelooks up and goes do something
to like the christoph producersat which point marlin shows up
and she's like I can, can't goon like this, it's
(18:45):
unprofessional.
Marlon comforts her and thentakes Truman away and Truman's
like I feel like everyone's inon it.
And Marlon says to him well, ifeveryone were in on it then I
would be in on it too.
We've been best friends sincewe were seven years old.
The only way we got throughschool was copying each other's
work and like I would never lieto you.
(19:07):
And then you go through and yousee that Kristoff is feeding
him lines.
Well, you know.
Meanwhile Marlon is liketearing up and it is like it's
just a punch to the gut, becausethe one relationship that are
kind of cheering Truman on, theykind of want him to figure it
(19:38):
out.
We also see Kristoff and hisassistant directors working and
there's an interview withKristoff.
So Marlon says and I missed onepoint, there was a Truman sees
his father on the street dressedas a homeless man and
(19:59):
recognizes him and everyone istelling him he's crazy and like
the whole, like people, likespirit Kirk, right off the set.
And so Marlon's like I foundhim.
And there's this like emotionalreunion.
And so Kristoff in thisinterview is saying like well,
since he started it.
We're going to fix this.
He was saying that Kirk wasdisgruntled and came back on.
(20:23):
He was not happy about beingwritten off the show, so but
we're going to fix this.
And the interviewer's like sohow are you going to explain the
22 year absence?
And he's like amnesia.
The interviewer's like, oh,brilliant, even though that's so
stupid.
And they have some people callin to ask questions like an
interview show.
(20:43):
One of them is Sylvia saying,like what you're doing to Truman
is sick.
And Kristoff says, like youbatted your eyelashes at him and
thought you had a moment withhim, but what really bothers you
is that he could leave any timehe wants.
He doesn't appear to want to.
He also says Meryl is going tobe leaving the show.
There will be a new loveinterest.
(21:03):
So after all of that happens, wesee Truman goes home, goes to
sleep and we see Kristoff hasthis enormous screen in his like
room and he goes and kind oflike pets Truman's face before
he goes to bed.
(21:24):
So like he clearly has thislike affection for him.
So the next day Truman is backto what appears to be normal.
He he is like in his likebathroom mirror and like drawing
a look with soap, drawing ahelmet, like he's an astronaut.
(21:45):
He says to his neighbors hiscatchphrase like and if I don't
see you, good afternoon, goodevening, good night, goes
through his normal day.
Everything seems to be back tonormal.
They introduce who is clearlygoing to be the new love
interest and you know, he likekind of shyly, like smiles at
her and stuff like that.
And in the evening hisassistant directors are, you
(22:08):
know, just kind of keeping aneye on him.
He is in the basement, which iswhere he has been staying since
Merrill left.
Christoph comes in and is likewhat's going on?
Where is he?
And he's like, oh, he, just hefell asleep in the basement here
.
He's like something's wrong.
Put on the audio.
He's snoring, it's fine, he'ssleeping, it's not a big deal.
(22:28):
And so he's like send Marlonover.
So Marlon comes over, comesdown to the basement he's not
actually there.
He's piled something up and putan audio on.
He's like, well, he's got to bethere.
We would have seen him go upthe stairs.
And they find that he has dug ahole from the lawn down into the
(22:51):
basement and escaped that way.
And no one realized becausethey didn't think that he could
get out any way other than thestairs.
When they find him, he has aboat that he is sailing away.
And so they start, because theycontrol the weather, they start
sending storms to him.
(23:12):
The assistant directors arelike he's afraid of the water,
he doesn't know how to swim,he's going to drown.
And Kristoff is like no, makeit worse, make it worse.
And at one point Truman shoutsup at the sky is that the best
you can do?
You're going to have to kill me?
And nearly capsizes the boatuntil finally Kristoff says all
(23:33):
right, that's enough, and stops.
Until finally Kristoff says allright, that's enough, and stops
.
And so the weather improves,the boat is fine and Truman is
like just kind of enjoyingsailing.
The boat suddenly hitssomething, and it's the dome,
because it's not really the sea.
(23:55):
It's this amazing, weird momentwhere Truman touches the sky and
then he starts walking alonguntil he comes to these stairs
with the door.
It's marked exit and he goes toit and then Kristoff speaks to
him, which startles Truman, ofcourse.
(24:16):
Truman says who are you?
Kristoff says I am the creatorof a television show.
And Truman says well then, whoam I?
He's like you're the star.
And Kristoff tries to convincehim to stay and says there are
lies out there too.
You know, in here you're safe,you know you can't leave.
And Truman just kind of stareslike up at the sky for a while
(24:40):
and he says we'll say something.
Kristoff says we'll saysomething.
God damn it, you're on livetelevision, you know to the
entire world.
And that's when Truman says andif I don't see you, good
afternoon, good evening, goodnight.
And he takes a bow and he goesout the door and we see everyone
who's been watching it go likejust so excited, so excited, so
excited.
And then one person says whatelse is on?
(25:02):
And change the channel.
So I remember laughing when Isaw it in 1998 and I did not
laugh this time.
Yeah, so I'm going to start withsomething little the attention
to detail in this film.
(25:23):
It's not little, it's enormous.
It's amazing the attention todetail they put into this film.
But it's not a big part of myanalysis.
So there are things that theythought about and put into that
I just think are amazing.
So, for instance, this is adome.
There is no real sunlight,truman would not get any actual
(25:48):
vitamin D, and so they'vethought of that.
And you see, in one scene hehas a bottle of vitamin D pills
by his breakfast.
So there are moments like thatthat they have thought of.
That kind of attention todetail is amazing.
So Peter Weir and Andrew Nicolthought through the implications
(26:13):
of what this would be andincluded it in the film.
They have given us all of thesedetails of what it would be
like to enclose someone in aspace like this.
The fact that the music that helistens to is classical Clive,
(26:35):
it's classical music becausethat's in the public domain.
So that is partially becausethat's money-saving, but then it
also helps them control thenarrative as well, because if
they were to allow him to listento contemporary music with
(26:55):
contemporary lyrics, that couldgive him more opportunities to
question things.
So, like, all of these kinds ofattention to detail is just
amazing, it's when he stops bythe newsstand every day and
picks up a newspaper and amagazine.
The magazines that are there areall things that that are
(27:17):
hobbies that don't requiretravel.
So there's dog fancier, there'sparenting magazines, there's
fashion magazines All of thisstuff is just really impressive.
There's also a street cleanerwho has one of those grabby
things to pick things up off thestreet.
He's not actually pickinganything up because he's an
(27:39):
actor, he's not actually astreet cleaner and like this
place is pristine, because it'snot actually a place where
people are on the street.
And then the fact that theseextras aren't actually citizens
doing things.
They're pretending and sothey're not very good at it.
So all of these little detailsare phenomenal and really,
(28:01):
really well done.
That attention to detail isamazing.
It's an amazing aspect of thisfilm that rewards repeat viewing
and I think is also just atestament to how good this movie
is.
I just kind of wanted tomention that before I jump into
(28:24):
the bigger analysis.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yeah, cool.
All right, there's somepotatoes, give me some meat.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
So allegory for high-control religion, because
this is something I didn't quiteget, and it's also an allegory
for abusive relationships too.
So in the most generous readingof this, christoph truly does
love Truman.
I have trouble seeing thatbecause his love is control.
(28:52):
He loves Truman as long asTruman does what he wants within
the dome.
Yeah, very conditional love, andthat love means gaslighting him
.
It means asking myriad otherpeople to gaslight him.
So like thinking about the busdriver who really was upset
(29:16):
about it and you know, on theone hand you could be like so
why does he work for him?
And it's like, well, you're anactor.
It's not like there's a lot ofoptions out there.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
Yeah, jobs are hard to come by.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
And like if you're an extra on something like that,
you don't think you're going tohave to actually do that.
Right, Like the little girl whowas like is that him?
Yeah, so, especially if you'reextra and your job is to be the
bus driver, you're like hedoesn't leave.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Right and he doesn't drive the bus.
He doesn't ride the bus, he hashis own car.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Kristoff does that.
And then I saw something lastnight and there are several
YouTube videos I'm going to linkin the show notes that talked
about how, in a lot of ways,marlon is a big victim in this
too, in part because he wasseven years old when he was
brought into this, and Truman istruly his friend, even though
(30:13):
he is in on this conspiracy.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Yeah, so he's forced to abuse his friend from age
seven.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
And so he didn't have a chance to consent to this
either, which is also reallylike a good example of what it's
like to be in a high-controlreligion.
Right, the indoctrination startsreally young and that's the
internalized oppression, so thateven when the big guy's not
here, like we police each otherso there's that societal
(30:44):
pressure that christoph, so likethe prophet or no one, is
getting through to Truman, evenas he's like, asking, like tell
(31:07):
me what's going on.
And that is it's heartbreaking.
It is heartbreaking especiallyso truman doesn't know anyone
who is real, and it's fittingthat his name is truman.
(31:28):
Everyone else is going by afake name and so, and so the
other aspect of it, the thingthat I have many of the
apostates, the ex-evangelicalsthat I've read have talked about
is they have a touching thewall moment, or touching the
edge of the dome moment, whenthey have decided to leave their
(31:52):
faith.
Faith and how it's exhilaratingand scary where they have long
suspected that their faith isnot what they've been told it
was.
But they didn't necessarilyhave proof.
And just as Truman has longbelieved that there is some sort
(32:15):
of grand conspiracy, this worldis not what he thinks it is,
but he didn't necessarily haveproof.
But when the boat hits the walland he actually reaches out and
his hands trembling a littlebit and he touches the wall,
that's proof.
It's proof that this world isnot what he's been told it is,
and how terrifying that is.
(32:40):
Christoph has this illusion ofcontrol.
So one of the like, one of themoments that stuck with me from
when I was 19.
They are searching for trumanovernight, like they have all
the actors and extras likelinking arms.
They're searching all of seaHaven before they realize that
he's taken a boat and he's onthe sea.
It's overnight and he's likewe're not going to be able to
(33:01):
find him.
It's too dark and he's like cuethe sun.
It is very clear that Kristoffsees himself as this god of this
little fiefdom.
Yeah, he says he's the creator.
Control is an illusion Becausewhen Christoph is talking to
(33:23):
Truman, he says I know youbetter than you know yourself.
I watched when you were born, Iwatched when you took your
first steps.
I watched the episode when youlost your first tooth, and he
says it that way the episodewhen you lost your first tooth,
and he says it that way theepisode.
And Truman says you never hadcameras in my head.
And that is, I think, somethingthat's really important is,
(33:50):
like, any time there is anattempt to control anything,
it's an illusion Because we dohave.
We humans have free will andthe world is chaotic.
(34:12):
The attempts to manipulate andcontrol Truman, to imprison him
there, can't and won't workbecause they never had cameras
in his head.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
They never knew who he was inside, because it's an
illusion of control friend andteacher, rabbi david jaffe, says
they can hack our brains, butthey can't hack our souls.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
That's what's coming up for me right now and watching
this, I was reminded very muchof the matrix, which just came
out a year later yeah, becauseit's the conversation between
neo and morpheus, where you knowneo is saying like, yeah, with
this world, so he gets to leave.
And it's Plato's allegory of thecave, which is the only world
(35:19):
you've ever known.
Is this cave where you seeshadows and you think it's the
only world there is.
But when you leave the cave andyou see the world as it is,
it's terrifying because it'sdifferent, but it is so much
bigger and brighter.
I think it is very fitting andshows how much personal, like
(35:49):
you know, delusion control.
You don't have control overanything but yourself, your soul
.
That truman ends the show withhis catchphrase and a bow which
is like the most classy middlefinger he could possibly give.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
Be like you wanted a performer, I'm done performing
yeah, speaking of performers andnot you mentioned that there
are those who say that this wassort of prescient of reality tv
like survivor and whatever, butthat maybe that misses the point
(36:31):
.
That comparison misses thepoint.
Can Can you say more about?
Speaker 1 (36:33):
that, yeah, so like there's, and I definitely
understand why that analysis wasso prevalent.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Well, the cameras everywhere is an obvious, that's
the obvious connection.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
And I don't think that it's an unreasonable
connection.
It's just that's not what'sdisturbing about this film, Like
the fact that he's underconstant surveillance is not
what's disturbing Constant andunrealized surveillance.
Yeah, that his life as aperformance is not what's
(37:10):
disturbing.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
What's disturbing, it's not what's most disturbing.
It's kind of disturbing.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Gotcha there.
What I took away from this wasnot the cameras and all of that,
it was the gaslighting, themanipulation, kristoff's
narcissism, the lack of choice,the lack of consent of choice,
the lack of consent.
That is what left me feelingcold about this film.
(37:38):
I mean not cold about this film, the film's brilliant.
It's what let me feel coldabout what Kristoff did.
The methodology that Kristoffused to do it is not good, but
this film could have like thestory.
He could have done the samething using a different method
(38:02):
and it would have told a similarstory.
It just happened to use realitytelevision as the particular
medium and that's why I say Ifeel like talking about it being
prescient, about reality TV,misses the point, because this
is a story about someone playingGod and it's a story about
(38:25):
control that the abusivecontrolling person thinks is
love, and that, I think, is thepoint of the story, not the
cameras well, I think too,because the thing that's
interesting not to me but ingeneral about reality tv is that
(38:45):
all of the players know thereare cameras and then forget.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
And so watching to see when the performance stops
or the performance for thecamera stops and the sort of
authenticity or, you know,authentic pettiness for the
contest shows up, I don't findthat interesting.
I like to see people at theirbest, not at their worst, but I
think that's what's interestingto the viewer.
(39:11):
But the fact that the playersall knew the cameras were there
from the beginning is part ofthe interest, I think, because
seeing when they forget is likewhat we're watching for.
So Truman is the opposite right.
Truman never knows the camerasare there and so the setting is
similar insofar as there arecameras everywhere, but the
(39:34):
actual action and what is in itfor the viewers is different
that Christophe displays.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
He says to Sylvia your concern is that he could
leave anytime you want, and hedoesn't.
But he can't.
Because when he tries toChristophe nearly kills him and
at one point one of the studioexecutives says you can't have
him die on live television.
Executive says you can't havehim die on live television.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
And Kristoff's response is well, he was born on
live television and because hiscommitment to the spectacle and
the show is greater than hiscommitment to the well-being of
this person, he claims to careabout this person he claims to
(40:37):
care about, and again, that isto me bigger than the fact of
the cameras and that speaks tosomething that I don't know if
you've said yet and we'rerunning out of time, but I just
want to name, like we said, thatthe love was conditional, and
the condition actually, if wezoom out, is on the money-making
ability, right, like it'sactually all of, like Truman is
a meal ticket for Kristoff andhe has to keep him in the dome
(40:59):
in order to keep that moneyflowing, and so all those
product placements that are soawkward, you know where Truman's
like who are you talking to?
Or like gets pushed against thewall or whatever by
acquaintances so that the shotis right, like those moments
like that's what's drivingKristoff.
And so the condition is notjust like how you treat me,
(41:21):
which is the way sort ofnarcissistic, conditional love
often manifests, it's like howyou keep making me money.
Speaker 1 (41:30):
Well, it's the ultimate stage, parent, it's an
extra layer.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Yeah, yeah, yeah it's the ultimate stage, parent,
which is an extra layer.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
Something to that there as well.
So you see all of these peoplewatching and they are delighted
that Truman escapes, even thoughthey are fans of the show, even
though they love Truman, eventhough it means the end of
something they enjoy, eventhough they love Truman, even
though it means the end ofsomething they enjoy.
(41:57):
And I was thinking about that,and I was thinking like some of
that has to do with the factthat stories are supposed to end
and like one of the things thatI lament about American
television is that they willsqueeze every drop out of it
even long past when the showshould have just wrapped up same
, but yeah story same with likethey'll keep churning out
(42:20):
sequels, even when like thejuice is gone, right, right I
was thinking about that toowhere it's like that's not even
necessarily like truman gettingout, isn't even exactly about
them like cheering on thisperson.
It's more about like oh, thisis a satisfying conclusion.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
I think that's part of it.
I think there's alsopotentially some commentary
about the authenticity of aparasocial relationship, Like
there is some authentic careeven in a parasocial
relationship.
It's not reciprocal, obviously,but from the audience, like
there is genuine care for thatperson that we're watching on
the screen, except that the lastline is what else is on?
(43:01):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, that speaks to the story.
It was a satisfying conclusion.
Now it's over and just that.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
That is where, like the prescience of, of reality tv
, that like everything's aproduct and we're just, it's
just a constant stream ofcontent.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
Yeah, we just consume it and then move on.
Yeah, yeah, we are pretty muchout of time, so any like final
insights before I do my wrap upso there's a lot of focus on
like this is an allegory forhigh control religion.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
I was also spending a little time thinking about the
aspects of Judaism that Istruggle with, specifically the
story of the binding of Isaac,where God tells Abraham to take
Isaac and sacrifice him,sacrifice him and really you're
Okay.
(43:58):
Really you're bringing this upnow.
Yeah, we got three minutes left, so I was thinking about that
because I struggle with that somuch, and that feels like the
kind of request that aChristoph-type God would ask of
a Truman-type Abraham, except itwouldn't be Truman, it would be
(44:21):
Marlin.
Yes, yeah, it would be Marlinof Truman.
Yeah, thinking about where andlike I don't have any answers to
it, which is part of the reasonwhy I'm bringing it up at the
end, where it's just like I justwant to put this in there and
just think about it when we seeechoes in media like this, where
(44:45):
it feels like we're in a domebeing asked to do impossible
things, horrible things.
Speaker 2 (45:03):
I mean, there's a lot of commentary on the Akedah in
particular, that story inparticular, many of which
suggest that God actually did it, so that Abraham would say no,
I'm not doing this.
And others would say Abrahamwas testing God to see if God
would actually like go throughit with it, and neither of them
intended to.
But that's a.
That's a different thing.
Speaker 1 (45:23):
Oh, I know.
And I oh, I know, and, like thething is, I don't find either
of those satisfying.
That's why it reminded me ofthat.
But I was just thinking likepeople who have left high
control religions feel like thisis a good metaphor for their
experience.
But I do not feel like I'm amember of a high control
(45:43):
religion, but I still see echoesin a religion that I feel very
comfortable being a part of.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
So yeah, in the stories.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
Nobody's asking you, no one is asking me to bind my
child, but what I'm saying iseven in religion that feels
pretty progressive and open,there are still stories, there
are still moments that can feellike this and that's worth
thinking about.
That's all I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (46:13):
I'm going to give some highlights from some key
takeaways from what I just whatwe just talked about.
Ok, so I'll start with where weended, which is that this film
is an allegory thatex-evangelicals so people who
have escaped high controlevangelical religions see
themselves in this movie in theway the control that is exerted
(46:35):
over Truman.
And you're noting that even innon-high-control religions, like
the sort of non-OrthodoxJudaism that you and I practice,
there are echoes at least inthe stories, if not in what
we're being asked to do, andthat's worth thinking about that
.
This movie has an allegory ofreligion and escape from
religion and the implications ofthat, with the narcissism of
(46:58):
christoph who is the creator ofthe cv show, are sort of
interesting in terms of likesome of those stories and then
also the actual churches where aleader is narcissistic.
And then you pointed out thisis really interesting the ways
in which the gaslighting that isrequired of this control of the
(47:20):
object of control, thegaslighting of them and the
participation in the gaslightingof everyone around them and the
damage that that does to otherpeople.
You spent some time pointingout, in particular, the damage,
the victimhood of Marlon, thebest friend, who was recruited
into this when he was sevenyears old, so literally grew up
(47:43):
lying to his friend, and that'sthe only, that's the basis of
their relationship and the onlyrelationship that they have, and
how just sad and damaging thatis.
You noted that this sort ofescape metaphor is reminiscent
of Plato's allegory of the caveand that if all you know is the
(48:03):
cave and the shadows on the cave, then you think that's all
there is.
And then you actually gooutside and it is wonderful and
terrifying when you see how muchbigger and brighter and more
depth there is to the worldoutside the cave.
You also talked about sort ofthere's a lot about control in
this movie, and so you notedthat all control in this movie
(48:25):
and otherwise is an illusion,because in the pithy quote of my
teacher and friend, rabbi Jaffe, they can hack our brains but
they can't hack our souls.
So Christoph thinks he knowsTruman better than Truman knows
himself, but there are nocameras in Truman's head and so
when Truman starts to think forhimself, things change about
(48:53):
capitalism in this film and sortof the nods to capitalism with
the product placements, but alsothe fact that Kristoff's love
of Truman is completelyconditional, and not just
conditional on the way thatTruman treats Kristoff, which is
sort of a traditionalnarcissistic conditional love,
but conditional on himcontinuing to be the cash cow of
the star of this TV show, ofthe star of this TV show.
(49:17):
Many people call this filmprescient of later reality TV,
which in some ways it is,because the setting is very
similar, with cameras everywhere, including in your bathroom
mirror.
But the actual heart, the meatof what's happening, of the
lessons that we are meant todraw, is totally different,
because reality TV stars knowthe cameras are there and
sometimes they forget, but theyknow from the beginning that
they're there and they consentto do this, and Truman did not.
(49:38):
And so the actual lessons thatwe're learning are different.
And then the last thing, whichwas the first thing you started
with, was the remarkableattention to detail that the
filmmakers had for this film.
So the example you gave washe's in a geodesic dome without
actual sunlight, so they putvitamin D next to him.
(49:59):
That repeat viewing will revealvarious things like that that
are attention to detail, likethe actress who has to come in
and still has the makeup bib on,or other things that remind us
that all of this is a fictioninside a fiction, because we're
watching a movie.
Any final words?
Speaker 1 (50:17):
Just that.
I think that this movie gets toa human condition, even though
it's about something completelyfantastical.
Speaker 2 (50:24):
Yeah, nice.
Well, next week I am going tobring you my deep thoughts about
romancing the stone, thanks toa listener suggestion.
So fancy me Very cool.
See you, then.
This show is a labor of love,but that doesn't make it free to
produce.
If you enjoy it even half asmuch as we do, please consider
(50:46):
helping to keep us overthinking.
You can support us at ourPatreon there's a link in the
show notes or leave a positivereview so others can find us and
, of course, share the show withyour people.
Thanks for listening.
Our theme music is ProfessorUmlaut by Kevin MacLeod from
Incompetechcom.
(51:07):
Find full music credits in theshow notes.
Thank you to ResonateRecordings for editing today's
episode.
Until next time, remember popculture is still culture, and
shouldn't you know what's inyour head?
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