How ‘The Truman Show’ Warned Us About Social Media (Before It Was Invented)

This article has been updated to include the section ‘Dark Patterns’

The Truman Show (1998) is perhaps one of the most interpretable films ever made. In just 103-minutes it presents and teases apart a wide range of themes: our relationship with television and media, the way large companies control and curate our lives through representation, the way we filter real life through the narrative structures of popular storytelling, and many more.

In the mix is a theme often neglected when discussing the The Truman Show because, unlike the ones listed above, the film doesn’t examine it through the fictional audience’s experience of watching “The Truman Show”, but instead through Truman Burbank’s experience of it. It’s a theme that seemed less important in the late-1990s, but one that has risen in relevance in our Instagram-filtered world: the public vs. private self.

The Truman Show (directed by Peter Weir, written by Andrew Niccol) follows Truman Burbank’s (Jim Carrey) slow realisation that his life is, and always has been, broadcast live around the world for people’s entertainment. His hometown of Seahaven is nothing but a huge set, and its residents, including his wife and best friend, are all actors playing their part.