DARK HORROR TALES Editorials--Was The Truman Show A Horror Movie?

Was The Truman Show a Horror Movie?

Yes, you heard it right. The Truman Show was a well-received sci-fi comedy movie that came out in 1998. It won several awards and was touted as an excellent entertainer.

And why wouldn't it be? Its stellar star cast included Jim Carrey in the main role along with Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Paul Giamatti, and Natascha McElhone.

The movie was about a man called Truman Burbank, who, on his thirtieth birthday, finds out that his world is not what it seems to be. Everyone knows how it ends, and if you do not, well,  here's a spoiler for you: Truman is in a TV show. He's not aware he is, though. The world around him is fake, a set. The people in his life are actors. Everything from his childhood to adulthood is scripted.

And that's where the horror seeps in.

Imagine living a life that is a lie. Imagine that your most cherished childhood memory was scripted. That one good, lucky day you had? All part of the script.

Your best friend? Doesn't even like you. They're just hired actors. They are being paid to spend time with you. Your family is lying to you. Your parents' death, which deeply traumatized you? Not real. They are alive, too!

Your whole life is controlled by another human who has made sure that you are conditioned depending on the experiences they planned for you.

The Truman Show was an incredible movie that left a lasting impression after all these years. But it was mainly because the thought of finding out that everything around you is artificial is what makes it terrifying.

As you grow, you are shaped by your experiences. You change according to your reactions to situations. You meet people, interact with them, and learn how to deal with them.

Although you keep learning and changing, your character is shaped by what you went through in your past.

In Truman's case, he lost his father in a boating accident, which is why he developed a fear of water. Of course, his father isn't dead. The scene is incorporated to give his character a traumatic backstory and also to keep him from escaping to the real outside world.

Later, he falls in love with a woman, but she's taken away when she almost reveals the truth. Truman is told that she has abruptly left to another country. But Truman doesn't think of following her because he has always been discouraged by his loved ones to stay in Seahaven Island.

Despite being constantly dissuaded by the people around him, Truman manages to break through the illusion of the perfect world with perfect friends and the perfect life.

When he discovers that the world he is in is a set, he decides he needs to find the truth no matter what, even if it means he has to confront his fear of water.

It is his anger to being lied to, to being betrayed that finally propels him to get out of this artificial world.

But it doesn't go as easily as he imagines.

His wife tries to thwart his attempts to escape. When he heads to the exit, traffic jams appear. He chooses a different road that is without cars, and suddenly, a dozen cars appear.

This makes Truman even more determined to escape, wanting to desperately know what the real world even looks like.

He eventually leaves after declining a lucrative offer from the show creator.

Now, if  The Truman Show were a typical horror movie, he would not have been able to leave without being attacked and then having to defend himself with a makeshift weapon.

But The Truman Show is a different kind of horror movie, one where the worst thing one has to fear is being constantly controlled and knowing that you cannot trust anyone in your life, even your partner.

The Truman Show is the perfect example of how the real world is often scarier than monsters and ghosts.

Truman is in a set in the real world, and knows only the life Seahaven Island has to offer. Will he be able to survive the real world on his own?

That would be an interesting sequel to watch.