Simon Dillon
2 min readApr 6, 2022

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I saw this (twice) at the cinema during the original run in 1998 and was absolutely blown away. It instantly became one of my favourite films. It is now a classic, and easily one of the most important films of the 1990s. Not only is it superb on every artistic level, and immensely entertaining, but it anticipated so much - as you correctly point out in this article. Not just reality television, but social media, echo chambers, and the way the audience is a part of the Truman machine. Really, this film was a prophecy.

There is also an interesting spiritual underpinning to the story, allowing for multiple readings. In a sense, Truman is on a pilgrim's journey to salvation, with Christof essentially operating in the role of Satan. As he states, if Truman was really determined to escape, to discover the truth, he couldn't be stopped. The thrilling finale proves this. On the other hand, others have read this as an anti-religious parable, with Christof as God rather than Satan, with mankind's supposedly enlightenment leading him out of the Garden of Eden.

It's also just a damn entertaining film that plays on so many paranoias, and the way we simply accept the world around us without question. The scene where Truman's best friend tells him "the last thing I'd ever do is lie to you" is bone-chilling. I love the satire of media manipulation too ("Easy on the fog..."). As someone who has worked in TV, that gave me a big laugh.

Really The Truman Show ought to have won Best Picture that year over Shakespeare in Love (though I'd still have given Spielberg the Best Director Oscar for Saving Private Ryan).

Great article. :)

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Simon Dillon
Simon Dillon

Written by Simon Dillon

Novelist and Short Story-ist. Film and Book Lover. If you cut me, I bleed celluloid and paper pulp. Blog: www.simondillonbooks.wordpress.com

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