The Truman Show, directed by Peter Weir, is a movie that makes viewers think about privacy, reality, and how much control the media has over our lives. The film tells the story of Truman Burbank, a man who has no idea that his entire life is being broadcast as a reality TV show. Every part of his life, his friends, and his job, are carefully planned by a TV crew, and everyone around him are just actors. When Truman begins to notice slip-ups with everyone, he starts questioning his life and whether it’s real or not. With all of the slip-ups throughout the film that Truman begins to notice more and more, it throws him into a whole panic.

His growing awareness represents the increasing tension between his own desire and control of his surroundings. The audience of his television show is also a part of this horrible manipulation of Truman’s life because they want to watch the show that is constantly running knowing that Truman is completely unaware that he is being watched worldwide. The Truman Show also goes into the modern obsession with reality television, where the boundaries between scripted entertainment and real life have been mixed up. In Truman’s case, his concept of “reality” is just fake, but somehow he remains trapped in this lie. The film going into Truman’s yearning for freedom is a metaphor for the human desire for something to be real in an age built on by surveillance and mass media.

As a whole, The Truman Show has a strong perspective on the working of surveillance and the invasion of privacy just for publicity. While Truman is the star of this so-called show, he has no control or say over his narrative. His life is not necessarily his own, which makes you question consent, privacy, and the invasion of Truman’s personal experiences.