Did you ever feel that you were being watched,
That someone saw each time you won or botched?
No one’s watching; don’t despair
(At least as far as I’m aware),
Yet Truman Burbank’s on TV,
Living life for all to see,
Quite contented in his dome,
Which he doesn’t know is home.
He has fans around the world who watch him daily
As he greets Seahaven every morning gaily.
No reality show’s greater,
Thanks to Christoff, its creator.
Due to Christoff’s shrewd promotion,
Truman’s frightened of the ocean,
So he never leaves his isle,
Though he’s tempted for a while.
Truman’s been content with blinders since his youth,
But he starts to have an inkling of the truth.
From a star that might be fake
To a radio mistake
To endorsements from his wife,
Things revolve around his life,
Such that he begins to wonder
What conspiracy he’s under.
He attempts to leave his quaint, idyllic course
But is urged to linger, even if by force.
When at last he gets away,
Sailing off across the bay,
Christoff tries to be his guide
From the unknown world outside.
Truman doesn’t want ideal;
He would rather have what’s real.
________________
(I had fully intended for The Truman Show to be part of my original list, and I even wrote the review last year. Yet, in looking over my archives, I found that I apparently never posted it. I don’t know how I could have missed it, but it’s time to correct that oversight. Better late than never, right?)
Who would have thought from films like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber that Jim Carrey could muster such a subtle, earnest performance? The Truman Show is without a doubt his finest film. I want to call it one of the most original stories of the last twenty years, but a little research revealed that it did have some forerunners, particularly a similar 1989 Twilight Zone episode entitled “Special Service.” While that episode had some perceptive themes, such as how some people are famous just because they’re on television (Snooki, Housewives, etc.), the movie improved on those themes, creating a film that both entertains and challenges our sense of paranoia and privacy. It’s also funny and pleasantly intelligent, shrewdly depicting certain rules of Truman’s world before they’re even fully explained.
Jim Carrey gets a chance to intermittently employ his trademark goofy grin and mannerisms, but he proves he can handle weightier material as he slowly discovers all is not right in his world. One of his best scenes occurs when his suspicions are first aroused, and accompanied by a mood-setting score, he wordlessly changes up his routine just to witness what will happen. Oscar nominee Ed Harris as show creator Christoff isn’t wholly unlikable as the overlord of Truman’s life, and his few scenes make it clear that he does care for Truman in a twisted way and believes that this charade is somehow in his subject’s best interest. Of the other actors, Noah Emmerich offers the most convincing deception, effortlessly earning Truman’s trust while giving little indication that he’s just an actor.
As a Christian, I might have taken issue with The Truman Show’s symbolic renunciation of its God stand-in, except that Christoff is just a stand-in. He’s a pretender, believing himself benevolent while using Truman for ratings and engaging often ridiculously obvious methods to keep him from discovering the truth. It’s a thought-provoking notion that all of our situations are pre-ordained and many groups have latched onto such concepts, but I believe God allows the multitude of human beings on this planet to choose their actions. Though He knows what will happen, He doesn’t interfere in the ways Christoff does but lets us choose, sometimes to our detriment. In addition, there’s no sacrifice on Christoff’s part, no desire for a real relationship, as God desires. While the filmmakers most likely intended Truman’s rejection of Christoff to mirror a rejection of Christ, Christoff’s actions are ultimately not God-like enough to warrant the comparison, unless you count watching from the sky. The film does challenge one’s view of God but not in an insulting or dogmatic way. I choose to perceive it as a critique, not of God, but of authoritarian frauds, posers, and maybe even governmental control freaks.
The Truman Show continues to be insightful and socially relevant in our fake reality-obsessed world and stands as Jim Carrey’s most Oscar-worthy performance. It continues to have an influence on modern films like Bolt and The Hunger Games and reinstated fears of surveillance to a post-1984 world. If only Jim Carrey would seek out more roles like this….
Best line: (Truman, as a kid in school) “I’d like to be an explorer, like the great Magellan.” (his teacher, trying to convince him to not want to leave) “Oh, you’re too late. There’s really nothing left to explore.”
Rank: List-Worthy (should have been #100)© 2015 S. G. Liput
296 Followers and Counting
A man is sadly at his least wise
When he prefers work above his own loveliest prize.
Wisdom can spring from pain or the past;
How you and I choose is our generation’s contrast.
Journals and annals have much to tell:
Listen and look to find in them what lessons may dwell.
Dreams are perhaps best when advertised:
Speaking them may render them more potent when realized.
Regret grows when foolish sleepers wake;
Contentment grows from dodging someone else’s mistake.
___________________
Deep in Siberia, prison of nature,
Brig of the barbarous Soviet ship,
Men were convinced there could be no escapers;
No one could hope to survive such a trip.
Janusz, a Pole locked away by betrayal,
Hoped and gave hope when it nearly was dead.
Rushing from Russians through snow-glutted gale,
Seven escaped from the Gulag and fled.
Journeying south through the frost and the firs,
Through hunger and fears that they may not arrive,
Ever they traveled with personal spurs,
Keeping the world-weary rovers alive.
Onward and onward, from hills unto lakes,
Lakes unto hills unto plains unto sand,
Onward through nature’s unbearable aches,
Onward they walked over merciless land.
Husband and artist, accountant and priest,
Father and criminal—all carried on.
Though they were free, some were further released
To journey no farther until the last dawn.
Sojourning south through the sting of the sun,
Through thirst and through fears that they may not arrive,
Ever they traveled till travels were done,
Clinging to that which keeps all men alive.
________________
X-Men United? Well, not all that much.
There’s six or so heroes, and Rogue who can’t touch.
The rest of the mutants unfortunately
Line up with Magneto or stay absentee.
A cure for mutations has been synthesized,
And soon its great risk is sensationalized.
Meanwhile, Jean Grey has returned from the grave
To murder the friends that she perished to save.
As evil Magneto initiates war,
The X-Men fight back, as they’ve all done before.
For those wishing for Bryan Singer on hand,
This thankfully isn’t the X-Men’s last stand.
___________________
To soldiers we send to the other side
In pain and grief and bodies still—
Esteem is the least we can provide.
When enemies suddenly surfaced to kill,
Due honor was given to young Private Chance
In pain and grief and bodies still.
His body and others would no more advance.
Homeward he went with Marine Michael Strobl;
Due honor was given to young Private Chance.
Everywhere everyone noticed the noble,
Mournful delivery, precious cargo.
Homeward he went with Marine Michael Strobl.
No greater debt does society owe
To those who return in a flag-buried box,
Mournful delivery, precious cargo.
We mustn’t ignore those who bear our worst shocks.
To soldiers we send to the other side,
To those who return in a flag-buried box,
Esteem is the least we can provide.
_______________
Brave Athos and Porthos and Aramis three
Fell victim to fraud that they could not foresee.
These fine musketeers were the heroes of France
But now are in need of a grand second chance.
When reckless D’Artagnan arrives with his sword
And makes first impressions that garner reward,
The Cardinal Richelieu plots and conspires
To trigger a war with a helper he hires.
It’s up to D’Artagnan and those musketeers
To launch the great quest of their noble careers.
For king, queen, and country, and also romance,
They’ll sail for adventure to rescue all France.
____________________
(Today’s 
We are watchers on the wires;
We are tenants of the skies;
Symbols of when man aspires;
Keepers of the flinching eyes;
Witnesses of every creature,
Evil, good, and in between,
Whether as a nimbus reacher
Or a prisoner to preen.
We are victims cursed by weakness,
Kept by cage or mortal mesh;
Though you know us by our meekness,
We will feast upon your flesh.
We are biders of the ages;
We are conquerors in wait.
When our wingéd warring rages,
You will comprehend too late.
_______________
Two years since the big divorce,
And Tracy Lord has no remorse.
The wealthy heiress soon will wed,
And tabloids, wanting to be read,
Will stop at nothing to inveigle
For what news they can finagle.
Macaulay Connor’s sent by Spy
To get the story none can buy,
Accompanied by pressured Dex,
Miss Lord’s both sore and spiteful ex.
To Lord’s dismay, she lets them stay,
Despite her coming wedding day.
Their presence tends to complicate
And spark unusual debate,
Which makes the vain Miss Tracy Lord,
That goddess always so adored,
To wonder of her selfish life
And who she’ll choose to call her wife.
______________________
News reporter Kimberly Wells was hired,
For her pretty face and the ratings it drew.
Hard news is the journalist’s grail desired,
Dauntless and brand new.
She discovers just such a story when she’s
Sent to film a nuclear power station.
Sudden shutdown captured on film may displease
That corporation.
Cautious Jack Godell at the plant is worried:
Noises from the accident he alone fears.
Work to bring the plant back online is hurried;
Nobody there hears.
Those behind the overpriced project will block
Whistleblowers trying to thwart their tactic.
Brave Godell’s forced warnings yet hope to cause shock
With stunt climactic.
_________________
Rhyme and Reason 