{"id":47,"date":"2023-09-05T06:43:14","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T05:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetrumanshowistrue.com\/?page_id=47"},"modified":"2023-11-03T23:35:47","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T23:35:47","slug":"read-the-preface-to-part-one","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thetrumanshowistrue.com\/index.php\/read-the-preface-to-part-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Read the Part One Preface"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2023 is the 25th anniversary of the release of The Truman Show<\/em> movie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you haven\u2019t seen the movie, starring Jim Carrey, close this book now and go watch it. And it doesn’t matter whether you watch the original 1998 version, the Special Edition version, or the 25th<\/sup> Anniversary version. Just watch whatever you can find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve seen the movie, this book is going to try to convince you that the movie is the closest thing to \u201cThe Truth\u201d \u2015 the most accurate explanation of how our world actually works \u2015 that has even been written, produced, or offered to humanity in any form by any one at any time. In fact, the most recent research in physics is proving that Andrew Niccol, who wrote the screenplay for The Truman Show<\/em>, may be one of the greatest prophets of our era \u2015 although he apparently is unaware of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s part of a 2023 ScreenRant interview with Andrew Niccol 25 years after he wrote the screenplay\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Niccol: When I first conceived of the film, there wasn\u2019t any so-called reality television. (The first episode of The Real World aired when we were in post-production.) I say \u201cso-called\u201d because I\u2019ve always thought Truman is the only genuine reality star because when you know there’s a camera, there is no reality. What I guess I\u2019m a bit surprised about is that we would become our own Trumans, turning the camera on ourselves and cataloging every aspect of our own lives willingly.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SR: I know Peter Weir coming on to direct and Jim Carrey starring in it really influenced the final product, but you were along for the ride the whole time. What were your favorite memories of collaborating with them and moments you felt really became movie magic?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Niccol: I\u2019ve always thought the premise was bullet-proof and even though the original script is set in an alternate version of New York City (if you can fake it there, you can fake it anywhere), I was happy to embrace Peter\u2019s more idyllic, small-town take on a counterfeit world. As for a memory, I tend to hold onto one image in every film I do\u2026 a moment that somehow sustains me through a shoot. On The Truman Show, it was Truman touching the sky. (If you can\u2019t trust the veracity of the sky, the moon and the stars, then surely nothing is real.) The moment meant so much to me, I worried that it wouldn\u2019t live up to my imagining of it. It exceeded it. Jim played it with simplicity and purity and, dare I say, truth that gave me chills. I don\u2019t think Peter did many takes. No need.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SR: Would you ever consider a sequel, chronological or spiritual, or a remake in the present day? Is that something you would want to see anyone attempt, or do you want it to stand on its own?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Niccol: There has been talk of doing a musical \u2014 believe it or not \u2014 or a series. When it\u2019s a different art form, I don\u2019t think it takes anything away from the original. In my version of a series, I thought it would be fun, if after Truman walked through the sky, the audience clamored for more (which you sense at the end of the film). I imagine there would be a network with multiple channels all starring a subject born on the show. If I set it in New York City, there would be girl living on the Upper East Side, a boy from Harlem, a kid from Chinatown, etc. Since they are all on their own channel and move in their own circles, they are never meant to meet. But at the end of the first season, the boy from Harlem and the rich girl find themselves drawn to each other. They both sense that the other is acting differently from anyone they\u2019ve ever met\u2026 because for the first time, they\u2019ve met someone who is not acting! (In the second season, the Network would desperately try to kill off their romance.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SR: I know there have been some wild theories about what The Truman Show is “really about,” but what has been your favorite fan response or theory in the last 25 years?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Niccol: Well, there\u2019s one sad and somewhat alarming response that people started believing that they actually were the star of their own reality show. It\u2019s an actual psychological condition called a Truman Show Delusion or Truman Syndrome. The most bizarre fan letter I received was from someone who was convinced that the film was a pro-life metaphor. Truman represented a fetus; the domed soundstage was a womb and he was sailing to freedom across a uterine sea. (I kid you not.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are some key sentences in that interview I\u2019d like to spend a little more time on\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI say \u2018so-called\u2019 [reality television] because I\u2019ve always thought Truman is the only genuine reality star because when you know there’s a camera, there is no reality.\u201d <\/em>So, take that, Kardashians!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut at the end of the first season, the boy from Harlem and the rich girl find themselves drawn to each other. They both sense that the other is acting differently from anyone they\u2019ve ever met\u2026 because for the first time, they\u2019ve met someone who is not acting!\u201d <\/em>As we continue in this book, we\u2019re going to see just how prophetic Niccol is with this statement!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, there\u2019s one sad and somewhat alarming response that people started believing that they actually were the star of their own reality show. It\u2019s an actual psychological condition called a Truman Show Delusion or Truman Syndrome.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s true. There are unofficial DSM diagnoses like a \u201cTruman Show Delusion\u201d or a \u201cTruman Syndrome\u201d which are defined as \u201ca type of delusion in which the person believes that their life is a staged reality show, or that they are being watched on cameras.\u201d (Wikipedia)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And just to be clear, that\u2019s NOT what this book is suggesting \u2015 although, as a 2013 article in Popular Science<\/em> magazine pointed out, \u201cIn a world where the government really does have the capability to broadly and furtively spy on its citizens, it\u2019s suddenly delusional to not<\/em> think Big Brother is watching\u2026 or as author Joseph Heller wrote in Catch-22<\/em>, \u2018Just because you\u2019re paranoid doesn\u2019t mean they aren\u2019t after you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Niccol himself admits he frequently experiences what he calls Trumanesque moments. Terrible acting. Incongruous casting. Sloppy art direction and set design. Continuity errors. Generally inept production management. And he doesn\u2019t mean anything happening on a set or on a screen. He means daily life. For example, in a British Film Institute interview: \u201cThere\u2019ll be a traffic jam, for instance, for no reason,\u201d Niccol says. \u201cIn my mind, the reason is actually that Christof [the all-powerful, demiurge director of The Truman Show] isn\u2019t ready for the next scene\u2026. Or I\u2019ve acted out of character and gone into some equestrian supply store, which I never would do. And they think I never would either, so they\u2019re not prepared; and I realize that the extra standing there pretending to be running the store knows nothing about that particular store. So, they\u2019re either extras or an actor \u2015 they\u2019ve got no dialogue; they don\u2019t know how to talk to me. For me that\u2019s what I call Truman-esque moments.\u2026. I can\u2019t tell you how long I\u2019ve felt this way,\u2019 he says. \u2018I can never truly escape the idea.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can find any number of so-called \u201cfilm critics\u201d on the internet who will offer their own speculation about The Truman Show<\/em> and what it represents. Here\u2019s just one example from The Atlantic <\/em>magazine: \u201cThe film culminates in a hectic collision of metaphors: for religion, for politics, for the question of what the individual owes to the collective, and vice versa. Truman struggles to be himself in an environment built to enclose him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s not what this book is about either. Despite what everyone else will tell you, there\u2019s no metaphor in The Truman Show<\/em> that needs to be deciphered; there\u2019s no hidden meaning lurking behind the scenes that needs to be uncovered and explained. Everything you need to know about The Truman Show<\/em> is staring you in the face from the screen right there in front of you, in plain English. It\u2019s about the fact that for the first time in human history, someone is showing us how our<\/em> world really<\/em> works. And it isn\u2019t what every religion in history has claimed, or every philosopher, or even every poet. But it is very possibly, finally, The Truth, and we need to pay attention, because the Truth has ramifications that we must become aware of and then change our behavior accordingly. If we continue to ignore The Truth, we do so at our own peril.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, let\u2019s start diving into The Truth and figure out what I\u2019m talking about\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[i]<\/a> Tatiana Hullender, Screenrant, The Truman Show Writer Reflects On Classic Movie’s Legacy After 25 Years<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2023 is the 25th anniversary of the release of The Truman Show<\/i> movie, and you can find any number of so-called \u201cfilm critics\u201d on the internet who will offer their own speculation about the movie and what it represents. <\/p>\n

This book offers a different perspective. I’m going to try to convince you that The Truman Show<\/i> is the most accurate explanation of how OUR world actually works that has even been written, produced, or offered to humanity in any form by any one at any time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-47","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetrumanshowistrue.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/47","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetrumanshowistrue.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetrumanshowistrue.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetrumanshowistrue.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetrumanshowistrue.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/thetrumanshowistrue.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/47\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":274,"href":"https:\/\/thetrumanshowistrue.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/47\/revisions\/274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetrumanshowistrue.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}