Hello and welcome back to Life’s Biggest Questions, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey.
I’m sure we’ve all had moments where we thought people were watching us.
Maybe you turned to the mirror and spoke to the camera that you knew PROBABLY wasn’t
there.
Maybe you just muttered “Stop watching me” under your breath.
This is colloquially known as Truman Syndrome.
Most of the time, you just end up feeling silly, but what if there really was such a
show?
Let’s explore.
Make sure to subscribe to the channel down below, and if you’re looking for more alternate
realities, check out our Biggest what If’s playlist!
Now get ready, it’s time to ask the question: What if the Truman Show was Real?
For those who don’t know, the Truman Show tells the story of a man named Truman, who
slowly comes to the realization that his entire life, from his friends to his family to his
hometown, was fictional, created by television producers to make a reality show about his
life.
These producers had full control of the actors and environment of the simulated city, and
followed Truman’s life from childhood to adulthood.
This was the ultimate television show, watched by people around the world.
If the show was as popular as it was in the film, it would take over pop culture.
And considering the current popularity of reality television, this doesn’t seem like
too much of a stretch.
With one show dominating the ratings for decades, there probably wouldn’t be a whole lot of
diversity on the screen, since it would be impossible to compete with the 24/7 stream.
This means that many of the shows we have nowadays likely wouldn’t exist.
Which, sadly, might mean that Galavant would never have been created.
I love Galavant.
Because of this, the show would have a huge cult following.
It would be THE subject of watercooler talk, with some making predictions, while others
discuss who their favourite of Truman’s girlfriends was, or the will they won’t
they with his current muse.
When the show is about a person’s entire life, there are any number of topics to discuss.
Especially if the person is as interesting as Jim Carrey.
Furthermore, theories would be flying about the show.
Given the incredible following many modern shows have, such as Rick and Morty, The Truman
Show would have some absolute fanatics, coming up with all sorts of theories.
It might even draw the conspiracy folks like the flat Earthers.
Some would claim that there was some nefarious reason for the show, while others would claim
that Truman was just another actor himself.
Also, as seen in the film, sponsorships would be the name of the game.
Companies would be clamouring to have their products displayed on the Truman Show, to
cash in on the constant viewership.
And there would be plenty of time to include these product placements, since the show would
be streaming 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
There would also very likely be a large number of people protesting against the show.
Taking a baby and forcing it to grow up in a simulated city is pretty unethical; denying
a person real experiences just for the entertainment of others isn’t something everyone could
get behind.
However, as we’ve seen elsewhere in our culture, if something gives enough enjoyment,
most people are willing to forgive certain ethical failings.
If we want to have a small look at how the Truman show would work in real life, we can
look at the Quebec comedy film: Louis 19, Le Roi Des Ondes.
As a side note, this was named after Louis the 19th of France, who was King of France
and Navarre for less than 20 minutes; the original 15 minutes of fame celebrity.
The film told the story of Louis Jobin, a tv-obsessed man who won the chance to star
in his own reality TV show.
In this story, the television producers decided that Louis’ life wasn’t exciting enough,
and threw obstacles at him to make the show more interesting.
This brings up an important aspect of the Truman Show being real; most people just don’t
have very interesting lives.
As was shown in both Louis 19 and the American film based on it, Ed TV, the producers would
likely interfere when things got a bit too stale.
Life going a bit too well?
Whoops, looks like your house got robbed, what hijinks will you get up to now?
This is a bit of a new take on Murphy’s law: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong…
if the ratings start to drop.
But what if you found out YOUR life was just a show?
What would this realization mean to you?
Well, if you suddenly found out that your life was actually being broadcast to the masses,
it would of course be an enormous shock.
You wouldn’t know if your most cherished memories were real or simply created for the
ratings.
Your friends and significant others may not have actually liked you; they may have just
been playing a role.
This is actually a fear that some people have, and to have it confirmed would be rather devastating.
Not only that, but the knowledge that billions of people had seen you at your most vulnerable
would be devastating.
People were watching every bout of diarrhea, every heartbreak, and worst of all, every
time you had, you know, However, it wouldn’t be all bad.
If you found out that you had billions of people watching you… you could have some
fun.
You could start doing small, strange things.
Learn morse code and start tapping spooky messages to people.
You could start your own conspiracy theories.
You could even mess around with the actors, trying to get them to break character, or
cash in on your fame, making the producers pay you in order to keep you on the show.
The possibilities are endless.
Thank you for watching Life’s Biggest Questions, I hope this was interesting and informative,
and maybe even inspired you to look into it further on your own.
If you liked this video, please thumbs up and subscribe to the channel down below.
While you’re down there, let me know if YOU would want your life to be a television
show.
Until next time, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey with Life’s Biggest Questions, wishing you
the best of luck, on your quest for answers.