MovieChat Forums > The Truman Show (1998) Discussion > Is the fake life ultimately better? (Peo...

Is the fake life ultimately better? (People's simplistic 'morality' makes no sense)

posted 5 months ago by avortac4 (3743)
6 replies | jump to latest

It's very common for people to be very blindfolded and single-minded, when it comes to morality. Thing A is wrong, because it FEELS wrong, even though if you knew all the facts about it, you would realize it's not wrong at all. (I have a specific thing in mind, but it's a bit too 'controversial' exactly because people have this simplistic way of seeing and feeling about things).

Let's take 'flat Earth' theory, if it can even be called that. It's based on 'direct experience' and 'how it feels', and it absolutely doesn't take into account all the facts, or the experiments you can even yourself do to prove Earth to be round. The worst thing about the whole 'flat Earth' stuff is that it's pretty much all 'feeling', there are no working models of this theory.

There are probably around 20 different, contradictory models and explanations to every single phenomenon that 'globe Earth' explains perfectly and flawlessly. There is no model of 'flath Earth' that would explain almost any basic things from gravity to other planets being round to eclipses, sunrises, time zones, and so on.

Now, this kind of childish thinking is everywhere - women seem to choose handsome men, so women must be aroused by men's looks (they are not - well, MENTALLY, yes, but not in THAT way).

But because this is such a complicated thing that can only be understood if you take into account all the facts, most people - even women themselves - do not realize the truth about it. Women are aroused by man's status (man's place in the hierarchy between men), that's it. Men are aroused by women's looks, so men project. Women also project status onto 'handsome men', so they don't see a man as 'handsome', they see him as 'handsome doctor' or 'handsome criminal' or 'handsome billionaire' and so on - that is what they project.

Now, when we come to this movie, the whole idea of a 'Truman Show' and of course, FREEDOM... we have to start considering what kind of world we live in to be accurate about your assesment.

Is 'freedom' in our 'real world' really better than 'protected gilded cage' that the 'dome' represents?

There are real-world examples of this kind of thinking. People immediately side with 'freedom' and thoughtlessly condemn Truman's very wealthy and cozy, protected, safe, secure and in MANY ways very free life, because it's not OUR real-world kind of freedom.

However, Truman doesn't have to pay taxes (why would they include that in their show, when they don't have to?) - the economy of the dome is fake, so it's MOST likely very simplified (which makes it easier, better, more intuitive, etc.), if it exists at all (although they must motivate Truman to work somehow).

My point is, everything is 'taken care of', Truman is protected from criminals (even if some people can sometimes enter the dome, it's super rare and immediately taken care of). He never has to worry about being robbed. He doesn't have to worry about money or losing it all because of gambling. He doesn't have domestic abuse (even though psychologically, maybe)

He does not have to live in a ghetto, be exposed to drugs and police corruption, have to worry about going to jail, etc. All you have to do is look at some Philadelphia web cams (there is, surprisingly, one live webcam that shows a street where junkies nod, do drugs, hang out, etc. It's kind of shocking that that kind of 'Truman show' is allowed to play to anyone without any age verification or anything, and it's a very sad thing to witness, but I encourage people to seek it out and watch it a bit to see what COULD have been Truman's life)..

So he doesn't have to 'nod' on the streets, deal with crime, violence, drugs or abuse of authority. He doesn't have to be locked in a mental institution pumped full of neurotoxins.

He doesn't have to justify his existence to some self-important shrink that will probably commit a suicide in two years.

He can BASICALLY do whatever he wants, and everyone treats him well. No one is going to say bad things to him, disparage him, accuse him unjustly, or do anything unfair to him. No one is going to drag him to a war to murder innocent kids in some foresaken jungle or desert.

He can live his live very protected, very secure, very 'happy' state if he wishes it. People might not be 'real' to him, but at least they treat him well and in a friendly way. Can you really play that kind of role for years upon years without some of it actually becoming your real personality? I mean, I am sure some of the actors were genuinely happy to talk with Truman and be kind to him.

When you consider the things people suffer from in this world, you have to wonder.. would it have been actually better for some kids you see on those cop videos or are abused by corporations much worse than Truman ever was in the movie, to actually live the 'Truman' life, as 'fake' as it may be?

[–] avortac4 (3743) 5 months ago

I asked the same question when people were talking how cruel it is to keep dolphins in the pools that are actually designed to mimic the 'natural' lifestyle of the dolphins that usually stay in shallow waters anyway and so on.

Sure, dolphins in the sea have more 'freedom', but they ALSO have more DANGER.

This is something people don't seem to think about. They happily release a dolphin or an animal 'into the wild' without considering how DANGEROUS it is for them out there.

Now, I am not going to make the point again about dolphins being higher beings than humans, more intelligent, more spiritual and more spiritually capable - although it would make sense that an enlightened soul does not suffer from imprisonment the same way an animal might.

When you consider ALL the factors, it's most likely much better for the dolphins to live in the 'imprisoned' life than the 'natural life' in the ocean. Sure, their food is closer to junk food now, there's no physical freedom to roam around as much, there's no meeting new dolphins and so on.

However, what is there to see in the sea? (No pun intended) No matter where you are, you either can't see much, because there's just 'water', or you can see the bottom, which is mostly sand or something, then some pollution, junk, oil spills and whatnot, plus fish.

So the 'freedom' aspect makes less sense when you consider how dull the scenery in the sea actually is. They can watch at least videos in a dolphinarium.

Then they also see new people constantly, when they do their show.

They also have lots and lots of meaningful stimuli, toys, and can feel important showing off their amazing abilities to stupid land-humans who don't understand anything. Maybe some ancient wisdom will rub off to them.

However, the most important point here.. freedom versus danger. Dolphins are often attacked by sharks, but most dangerous and lethal enemy is the land-humans (not that they can really be called humans - maybe land-bipedal entities?).

[–] avortac4 (3743) 5 months ago

Dolphins face so many dangers, so many unpleasant, scary and awful things in their 'free life', that you have to weigh in pros and cons.

Just like Truman, the imprisoned dolphinarium-dolphins are actually living on easy street - a very cosy, very PROTECTED life, they don't have the hassles of the regular dolphins, they don't have to extend any effort in finding food or trying to migrate from one place to another or the danger of being killed by land-bipedalers or sharks or anything.

Truman is very protected, in that he does not have to sniff glue in some south-east Asian traffic pollution and pass out in the middle of the busy streets.

He does not have to sow shoes in a sweatshop factory for a major corporation with second-based schedule all day long for one bowl of rice every other day.

He doesn't have to be falsely accused by a woman and then thrown to jail as innocent and then be brutally RRPPRD by the Bubbas in the prison for a couple of decades.

He doesn't have to work for a corporation in the real world for 20 years without advancement in career, good enough pay or any respect, deal with the office politics and annoyances every day for hours that never end, just so he can go home and watch some really crappy TV show until he passes out... just to be fired because the corporation outsourced his whole department to some third-world country.

He never gets bullied, he never gets unfair treatment, no waiter is ever going to be snappy or insulting to him for no reason. He is always treated well, he always gets what he wants, and he can do basically whatever he wants.

Sure, he has a 'job', but it's probably around 90 times better than any regular corporate wage slave job in the real world.

[–] avortac4 (3743) 5 months ago

Of course Truman is NOT equipped to deal with the real world, where people are absolute monsters and can treat you completely unfairly and horribly just because, or even with less justification than that. It can come out of the blue. It can be jarring to suddenly be accused of something you did not do just because someone doesn't like you, to be misunderstood by what you said or did although you had good intentions, be bullied and teased in the workplace just because you don't 'belong to the clique' and so on.

Truman is ABSOLUTELY not prepared for the 'real world', where someone can just punch you in the street, steal your stuff, mug you, stab you, shoot you or drive over you deliberately without warning.

He also doesn't know about the office politics and drama, he doesn't know about the toxic hostility people are so ready to unleash upon someone just because they are new or don't act like they do, etc. If he ever starts using the internet, he is going to have a heart attack with ANY chat or forum he ever enters, even this board...

Truman should have a transitional period, where people tell him what the real world is like, what is required of him, how insane fans can get and how to avoid them, and so on.

Truman is going to be a big celebrity, so he can easily earn money (and thus never REALLY know the troubles of the real world, at least from a regular individual's point of view), but he's also going to be a bit of 'Michael Jackson', being too famous to walk anywhere anonymously.

He is going to have a mental breakdown in two weeks because of all the differences of the 'fake' world and the 'real' world.

Knowing what I know about the 'real' world.. just like Cypher, I think I would actually prefer to live in the 'fake world' - freedom is not all it's cracked up to be, when you take everything into account.

What about you? Would you rather be a junkie in that Philadelphia cam or a young kid sniffing glue in asian traffic or live in that more smily life?

[–] cv1cv (470) 5 months ago

BEWARE! Avortac4 is a troll trying to waste everyone's time with such idiotic comments. Look at his posts. He doesn't think anything in any film makes sense. His post may seem like it makes sense in the first sentence or two. But he always quickly wanders off into a completely idiotic idea, and then writes a wall of text that makes no sense. And his sole purpose is to waste your time, thinking he's cute for doing so. Don't feed the troll. If you write a comment, you're giving this troll EXACTLY what he wants. Don't comment after my comment.

[–] punkrockgirl (1269) 5 months ago

You must be mentally ill

[–] punkrockgirl (1269) 5 months ago

[deleted]