No performance captures my imagination quite as much as the dramatic turns offered by established comedians. From Adam Sandler in “Punch-Drunk Love” to Jenny Slate in “Obvious Child,” watching an actor unpack their public persona in service of a bittersweet love story. In looking back, it’s probably fair to say that “The Truman Show” helped form this appreciation. It was the first time that Jim Carrey dialed down his boundless energy in favor of his character; there are moments in that movie that I still find myself thinking about to this day.
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So I’m certainly here for a little ‘Truman Show’ appreciation, especially if it comes from the man himself. In a recent interview with Collider, Carrey was asked which of his past roles, in an area of continual remakes and sequels, is most worth revisiting. Carrey chose “The Truman Show.”
“Now everybody has a subscriber channel,” Carrey replied. “Everybody has their own little ‘Truman Show’ world. There’s something to be had there. I often think, and am asked about, what would have happened to Truman when he goes outside the wall. It took me a while to realize that basically, he was alone out there, too, because everybody went back inside. They all wanted to be in the dome.”
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This may be a somewhat bleak take on his iconic character, but Carrey is correct in his analysis of how the world has changed to be more in-line with his film. How we represent ourselves to the world around us goes way beyond “Big Brother” and reality television; things like YouTube and Twitch provide 24-hour access to some of our favorite celebrities. There is nothing objectively wrong with this kind of fame – people who spend hours a day on IGTV are not inherently less important or valid than those who live their lives outside of the spotlight – but it does affect how we think about the connections we as a society have formed.
In hindsight, the most unbelievable thing about “The Truman Show” is that they would need to keep his circumstances a secret. As Carrey notes, almost anyone would want to opt-in.If they ever do get around to making a sequel to the film, the writers will have no shortage of good ideas to work from.
