My kid asked to watch the Truman Show last night. Not sure if it's a meme running around or how they heard about it but I said sure! I watched it once, probably back in the '90s and liked it. Jim Carey had done a few comedy movies and his performance here is a breakout showing his dramatic acting skill.
The movie is still implausible in many ways but that doesn't really matter as the sense of watching and being watched is the core of the movie. And what are we watching? Someone who lives in a society, like a fish in water, unaware of the true nature of their surroundings. Then slowly dawning on them because they have that itch... that itch a lot of us have right now that there has to be more to life than this, right now. That something is wrong but it's hard to put your finger on just what that is.
The ending is less about the loss of a reality TV show or showrunner Christof's so-called fatherly love but really abusive relationship. For me, the key was Truman fleeing pure safety, pure goodness and nearly drowning and still not turning back. That act of defiance wasn't towards a creator (he had no idea still of the scope of the deception he lived within) or away from everyone being in on it — he ran towards freedom.
So much of this world right now is enrobed in safety. So many rules, so many restrictions for "your safety". The kids stay indoors, the playgrounds practically bubble-wrapped and adults are treated like children. 1
The greatest moment of the movie was the last frame, Truman turning his back to the camera and walking through the darkened door. Fearless, with a smile, looking forward to the unknown.