I know this would be an EXTREMELY BIG thing, but do you think it would be possible to make a reality show like that for real, with technology available today? I wonder if one day someone decides to give it a try. Would it be a success?
shareThe Truman Show is probably a case history of someone who had some kind of troubled event in his earlier days that was manifesting as outbursts, and he was posing a danger to people. This is why he was surrounded by a lot of people who were paid to be his companions, friends and acquaintances.
Truman himself probably smiled and had a cheery disposition because he was on medication. Said medication makes the subject "happy", so to speak, or have a positive outlook until a negative event can elicit an angry reaction.
Therefore in the movie you had Truman behaving like a 1950s boy scout / perfect neighbor for the first half of the film, and then when he's taken off medication he begins to realize that the world around him isn't all that it seems to be.
The reason I'm bringing all this up is because the idea of a second movie presupposes that there's more history for Truman to experience when in fact his story is over with when he finds the stage door at the edge of the ocean.
In such cases the subject is compelled to leave, though resistance is put before them to make it seem like they can't escape, so that when they do, the subject will hopefully have exercised appropriate aggression for whatever obstacle was put in front of them.
In other words he may push and punch someone who's blocking his way, but hopefully he doesn't use a weapon or deadly force. These kinds of efforts are used in the most extreme cases of alleged mental illness, and done so for people who are believed to be of great benefit to society.
*EDIT*
Or who may have some kind of criminal history to reveal; their own or someone else's.
While the premise itself could remain a secret until launch date, there's no way in hell society would enable it to last more than a few weeks. The show's essence is its viral nature, no one would care & the ones who do would try to stop it.
Technically speaking, only thing I could see as a hitch would be possible hackers trying to infiltrate the Truman world, hoping to connect/communicate with him on the dl.
Well, this kind of thing has happened before, only it's not done with a giant studio, but executed as an investigative effort into someone who seems like a good person but some unusual quirks about their behavior.
And, just an FYI, people may be outraged, but are usually too coward like to actively put a stop to it.
Technically and legally this could happen today. According to the supreme court Corporations are people so a corp could adopt a baby and make a reality show out of it. It is not likely though because people would instantly boycott them and shareholders would never allow it.
shareIt would be technically possible but wouldn't be financially feasible (in addition to other comments about it not being acceptable to society). If you imagine the cost of the dome environment using real estate in a warm location along with the daily cost for all those people living in Truman's world, viewer ratings would have to be huge.
A real life show would struggle to make money and keep ratings high since networks are already overflowing with reality shows where people have short attention spans that cause cancellations.
Finances would definitely be the hardest part. For awhile it would just be a couple actors to take care of a baby and some cameras, but once the kid started getting old enough you would need to start building the whole dome isolation area and hire a lot more actors. It would be a significant amount of money to cover all of that construction and actors' salaries.
Luckily the internet would make it easier to broadcast the show. It seemed like they were broadcasting on their own channel to cable tv, but having a website would be much easier and cheaper to start with.
jeffers right, theres no money in it,
jut having randoms walking day in day out, with all the technology, huge effort needed.
Where it could work, is have say, a person win a trip to Fiji, but his entire holiday is bugged and set up for drama.
I'm confused, do you mean do they have the technology to create a world like that for Truman and broadcast?
Or did you mean that with all of the technology today like smartphones, tablets, etc. that they would be able to keep Truman from discovering the outside world?
The latter is exactly what I was thinking. All it would take would be for the Truman character to create a FaceBook page or Google his own name and find out that his whole life has been a lie.
shareEasy. Don't bring those into the set. Just make the show have a 50's or 80's setting and you wouldn't have to worry.
shareEasy. Don't bring those into the set. Just make the show have a 50's or 80's setting and you wouldn't have to worry.
shareThe closest thing that happened in real life is possibly the Joe Schmo show? But he was duped by his gullibleness then advanced technology!
shareThey'd have to keep the ignorant star of the show away from all telescopes/binoculars!
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It'd never ever be possible with ANY technology. How is that not obvious???
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I own you.
This is very possible technology wise, legally we arent there yet.
Two things.
You wouldnt have a big domed eco system.
you'd have a makeshift town on a distant island (such as Fiji) with a setup that is like the Big Brother house with all the actors.
You'd be worried about all the actors sticking to script, some will get angry at something and flat out tell him.
You also wouldnt have perfetly synced cars leaving their houses etc