The Truman Show

This weekend I caught the tail end of one of my favorite movies on TV: The Truman Show.

At the very end Truman (Jim Carey) makes a final life altering decision- that entering into the ‘real world’ and all its unknown variables would ultimately be less frightening than living in a fictional universe under a microscope. Fair enough.

But this got me to thinking, what would await Truman after he passes through the threshold of his encapsulated world to face reality?

It’s not so much adjusting to the senseless and often frustrating quirks of the ‘real world’ that I’m referring to, but rather the media frenzy that would have surely ensued.

In the movie, Truman’s onetime love who had attempted to warn him that his life was a staged TV show rushed out the door to meet him as he bid adieu to his millions of viewers with his trademark, “Good afternoon Good Evening and Good night.”

Provided she knew where to find him, would she even be able to navigate her way through the hundreds of cameras and reporters that were surely waiting to pounce on him upon his grand exit? What would he have to say to them? There’s no such thing as media training for unwitting reality television stars.

What then? He’d need money of course. What comes easier than celebrity, product endorsements and publicity for someone who already has brand equity?

It seems Truman would be doomed to face a life of celebrity either way he would have chosen.