The Truman Show

[ecks]

I saw that movie yesterday on TV. I remember seeing it a long time ago, but then it didn't make that much of an impression on me as it did now. It's weird that it was made such a long time ago yet it makes more relevance now with the whole reality TV craze going around. I can't help admitting that I have sometime felt that what I'm living is not the real reality, like there's something so much more I could be doing, like people are wasting their time on imaginary agendas, like people don't live their lives but live other people's lives. Does anyone remember this nice movie? There's also some great music to it.

 

[Miss Shelf]

Yeah, I remember it, I can't say I liked it too much though. I am not a fan of Jim Carrey's but he did a good job in this one without going over the top as he often does.

Remember the Shakespeare saying, "All the world's a stage"? I think that's the message we're supposed to take away from the movie. However, once I get past my indignation of his being brought up from infancy in this manner, I can see the pros and cons-he's grown up in a perfect world, one that many people would like to live in even if they're blissfully unaware of the cameras and the fact the people in this world are paid actors. But there's the real world, with all its risks and dangers and unknowns. There's a choice to be made here, and I think I'd probably choose the real world too because living in a perfect world is ultimately not living.

There's also a topic of discussion about a society that would enthusiastically watch this type of 24/7/365 reality show following a person who never consented to having his life monitored in such a manner, and that life being manipulated, to boot.

 

[ecks]

Yes, i think everyone would choose the real world, either that or start making his own problems in the perfect world. It seems to me, a perfect world cannot be because people will make problems for themselves. It kind of reminds me of the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve were abolished from because of their curiousity. It seems perfection is ingrained as an end only as an illusion, because once perfection is reached, it is no longer perfect. It seems, since perfection is so hard to reach, but people believe in its reality, they would rather be fooled in watching someone who they perceive to be perfect, and live through his perfection, hence reality TV. I don't know, did that make sense?

 

[Miss Shelf]

Yeah, it did make sense-I think! I think that watching reality is entertaining, to watch someone botch something up and tell yourself you can do better, or be glad it's not you botching up in front of the world. I personally don't watch those so-called "reality" shows because I think they're faked to a degree, or heavily edited.

But the appeal of watching someone live in a perfect world is also entertainment because it gives us a diversion from our imperfect world. Is that what you mean?

 

[SFG75]

I saw that movie yesterday on TV. I remember seeing it a long time ago, but then it didn't make that much of an impression on me as it did now. It's weird that it was made such a long time ago yet it makes more relevance now with the whole reality TV craze going around. I can't help admitting that I have sometime felt that what I'm living is not the real reality, like there's something so much more I could be doing, like people are wasting their time on imaginary agendas, like people don't live their lives but live other people's lives. Does anyone remember this nice movie? There's also some great music to it.

I can't stand Jim Carrey, but in this role, he did a good job. It is a decent film with some interesting commentary on free-will and the whole "reality" craze in general. Your comments relate to a discussion that I read on the Matrix site. For all we know, we are just living in a fantasy life with our real brains in large vats to amuse some higher being(s) From the website:

If you cannot know whether you are in the real world or in the word of a computer simulation, you cannot be sure that your beliefs about the world are true. And, what was even more frightening to Descartes, in this kind of scenario it seems that your ability to reason is no safer than the deliverances of the senses: the evil demon or malicious scientist could be ensuring that your reasoning is just as flawed as your perceptions.

As you have probably already guessed, there is no easy way out of this philosophical problem (or at least there is no easy philosophical way out!). Philosophers have proposed a dizzying variety of "solutions" to this kind of skepticism but, as with many philosophical problems, there is nothing close to unanimous agreement regarding how the puzzle should be solved.

source

Granted, we could be doing other things. Marxists would argue that we have an intricate system of "false consciousness" systems-sports, entertainment, petty concerns, and hobbies that keep us from asking uncomfortable questions about the nature and hierarchy of society. Buddhists would say that we are continuing the cycle of Samsara(wheel of sorrow) and that the only true solution is to become centered. Perhaps we are living, just not living consciously most of the time, but I doubt there is a nefarious reason behind it. While Carrey's character may have been living in the moment, his world was a falsely constructed one, perhaps that is the ultimate fear that you are hinting to? Or are you merely talking about having a greater sense of urgency or purpose?

 

[ecks]

Well, I'm glad this turned into a discussion.

But the appeal of watching someone live in a perfect world is also entertainment because it gives us a diversion from our imperfect world. Is that what you mean?

Yes, it makes us forget about who we are and lets us live as someone we would like to be. I don't know whether that's good or bad. The positive side of it is that you can find inspiration, it gives you a vivid example of what you would like to be. Like, for instance, some of MTV's I Want to be Made can show how a regular person can become something he always wanted to be. The negative side is that you become dependant on those characters, you live life through them rather than living your own, and waste yourself in the process. You settle upon something illusionary and unrealistic, it's a drug that separates you from your OWN desires, unless that is a person's desire, to watch other people live.

Perhaps we are living, just not living consciously most of the time, but I doubt there is a nefarious reason behind it. While Carrey's character may have been living in the moment, his world was a falsely constructed one, perhaps that is the ultimate fear that you are hinting to? Or are you merely talking about having a greater sense of urgency or purpose?

Of the two, I'm probably more inclined to agree with the latter. I don't know if anyone felt like this, but have you ever felt like you wanted to do something so much, like ask a girl out or win at your favorite sport, and there was something stopping you, like your reality that you imagine it to be cannot be realized because there is something in the way? In the movie, there were weird circumstances that stopped him from getting out of his idealistic world. Well, the director guy even said that if Truman really badly wanted to, he could escape and there is nothing that could stop him. However, he had to conquer his biggest fears in order to escape. Well, i think life is the same way, you must face your fears and let go of uncertainty (matrix idea), only then will your desires become reality. People, instead of doing what they really want to do, construct a false world themselves full of illusions that only divert them. I'm not trying to say that to live in an imaginaryy world is bad, I mean that it is bad to not know and confuse the two worlds. I'm trying to say is that we should strive to make our imaginary world reality, not to replace reality with an imaginary world.

 

[Miss Shelf]

wouldn't it be rather hard to strive to make our imaginary world reality? and if you succeed, would other people be affected by your imaginary world-made- real?

This reminds me of a quote I read years ago by Dr. Robert Schuller, "If you could do something and knew you would not fail, what would you do?" (not sure if I quoted it right, but that's the gist).

 

[Kookamoor]

Sorry, it's too late for philosophy. I just loved this movie when it came out, and it's even more relevant today. I thought Jim Carrey was awesome in it, and I'm not a Carrey fan at all. This is definately on my list of top movies.

I think the idea of facades is interesting. Reality TV 'stars' are frequently different people on TV than they are in reality - what is reality, one might ask. I thought Jim Carrey's character was interesting for that reason as it was somewhat twisted - his facade was his outward face to his neighbours and friends, and we only saw the real person because of the cameras.

 

[Miss Shelf]

going OT for a bit-there wasn't there a Twilight Zone episode about a woman who found out her current life was being shown in movie theaters?

 

[ecks]

Sorry, it's too late for philosophy.

lol, i think too much about everything and over-analyze it. It's good you liked the movie, but please don't make me feel bad that I think about it.

wouldn't it be rather hard to strive to make our imaginary world reality?

Doesn't it depend on what your imaginary world is? It's the same thing as setting goals for yourself, if you dream of big things, it'll be really really hard but at the end you'll appreciate it more, but you can also crash and burn. That's why most people seldom accomplish their dreams. I don't know, is it worth it? Or is it better to just lay back and dream, but know that your dreams will be nothing? That creates such an empty feeling in my stomach, though.

and if you succeed, would other people be affected by your imaginary world-made- real?

Well, I think it's up to them. That's a nice quotation also. I also liked the metaphor in Harry Potter with the Polyjuice potion, that would give you confidence and luck in everything you do, I wish so much I had one of those things, could have really come in handy.

 

[JimMorrison]

Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!

 

[helgi]

how very polite!

 

[breading1]

It's a great movie, but Jim Carey just can't be taken seriously when he does a sad scene.

 

[helgi]

yeah, but I heard Jim Carrey's going to play Richard the 3, hunched over and talking from his rear. Then they'll take him seriously, and both his and shakespeare's posterity will benefit.