Leaving the Truman Show

I watched the Truman Show (again) on local TV a couple of days ago. I’m certain that many of the people reading this post have already seen the film with its brilliant performance by the comedian Jim Carrey, but if you’re not familiar with the movie, I’ll give you a brief rundown.

Jim Carrey plays Truman Burbank, a man in his late twenties who has lived his entire life in the picturesque seaside town of Seahaven. What Truman doesn’t realize initially is that his idyllic life is being played out on a gigantic, enclosed soundstage and that he’s the star of the incredibly popular Truman Show. He has been since birth. All the people around him, his wife, his parents, and even his best friend are actors tasked to create a realistic life for the unsuspecting Truman and the show’s millions of devoted viewers.

Gradually, however, Truman begins to understand that all is not quite right with his world. This realization is spurred on by the increasingly obvious—and ridiculous—attempts by the actors surrounding him and the show’s executive producer, Christof, (played by Ed Harris), to prevent him from learning the truth and escaping from Seahaven.

Finally, in a last effort to find freedom, Truman steals a sailboat and sails out across what he believes is the ocean. After avoiding death in an artificial storm designed to make him turn back, the sailboat crashes into the wall of the huge soundstage, which is painted to resemble a sky with scattered clouds. Truman, now realizing that his entire life has been faked, clambers out of his boat onto a walkway that circles the edge of the stage. Truman’s walk ends when he comes to a door leading to the outside world.

Then Christof, aware that Truman now realizes that his whole life has been staged, makes one last ditch to keep Truman (and Christof’s meal ticket) in his goldfish bowl world by announcing his presence with a great, disembodied godlike voice, suddenly calling out of an empty sky. Calling himself "The Producer," Christof attempts to persuade Truman to stay by telling him that the real world outside the dome is a terrible place and that he is far better off staying inside the show’s make-believe setting, where his every need will be taken care of.

But instead of returning to his cosseted existence in Seahaven, Truman opens the door, turns to face the cameras, and says his famous farewell: "In case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening, and good night,” then bows and walks out the door to freedom.

Of course, what I’m suggesting and hoping for is that, with the 2024 election, the majority of the tens of millions who voted for Biden-Harris in 2020 will emulate Truman and break free of the fantasy world imposed on them by the Left.

While the illusion created for Truman in Seahaven was a very pleasant one, the fantasy foisted on Americans by the Left is definitely on the dark side. Instead of the promised peace and prosperity, people were punched in the gut with high inflation, high crime, and the abolition of the southern border by allowing millions of migrants in, mostly unvetted, to create a new class of Democratic Party-controlled voters.

As for peace, with the Biden-Harris regime, the world has become ever more unstable with the chaotic collapse of Afghanistan, the Ukraine War, the Israeli Anti-terror War in the Middle East, Chinese friskiness over Taiwan and the South China Sea, and North Korean ICBM tests.

Compared to Truman’s struggle to break free of Christof’s well-constructed gilded cage, voting for the Trump-Vance ticket ought to be an easy choice for any clear-eyed individual. After all, when stacked up against Seahaven, the Democrat’s cage is made of nothing more than corroded lead, thinly painted with cheap fake gold gilt.

But people are not often clear-minded, and old habits—including voting habits—are hard to change. So the next few days are going to be very tense for the people who have already escaped from the Truman Show. Or, for that matter, never joined in.