The Truman Show: Where Reality TV and the Bible Meet

In 1998, Jim Carrey was still best known for talking out of his butt. For some, that changed when Carrey went into semi-serious mode for "The Truman Show". Carrey got recognized as a legitimate dramatic actor, but "The Truman Show" didn't need his antics to carry the movie. Aside from being the dramatic breakthrough of Carrey, "The Truman Show" is notable for many other reasons. The first is how it unintentionally foreshadowed the rise of reality television. The second is how "The Truman Show"'s unique world parallel certain events in the Bible.

Reality TV had garnered some hits, but was not the worldwide phenomenon it is today back in 1998. Therefore, when "The Truman Show" came out, the concept of a reality show featuring every day in a man's fake world seemed ridiculous. Who would watch such a reality show in real life, after all? In 2000, when "Survivor" took off, the process of proving these reality TV skeptics wrong began. Reality show after reality show has featured celebrities, regular people, and one hit wonders being filmed by cameras. Though they claim to be reality, the shows environments are pretty controlled, and seem just as fake as they would be if they had scripts. In that vein, Truman Burbank's world seems a lot more believable.

Though Carrey plays Truman as real and genuine, everything else is not. His wife is an actress who often promotes household items like a TV commercial. His best friend peps Truman up with lines fed to him from the show's creator. Many people around Truman talk to him just so they can get more camera time. And Truman's real life struggles are eaten up by a mass audience as if he was just another fake TV character. Reality TV has not quite mastered how to do what "The Truman Show" creators have done. But as their ideas get worse, one won't be too surprised if they eventually try.