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By William Rotger

It seems like The Truman Show, which came out in 1998 and was directed by Peter Weir, predicted the future. The movie is about Truman Burbank, a man whose whole life has been filmed on a big TV set that is closed off. He didn’t know it, but cameras that he couldn’t see were recording everything he did for the whole world to see. Reality TV was just starting to get popular when it came out, and there was no social media. The movie, on the other hand, showed a world where spying, entertainment, and business power all worked together to turn private life into a product.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120382/)

People still wanted privacy to stay the same, even though consumer capitalism and mass media were having a bigger and bigger effect on culture in the late 1990s. The imagined alternative in The Truman Show completely changes that. Truman’s world is a product that works without any help. He has a plan for how to deal with people. He is in charge of writing stories. He wants to change how he acts even when things happen in nature, like storms. This other option imagines a world where businesses not only change society but also make reality.

The film’s surveillance structure closely resembles what philosopher Michel Foucault described as the “panopticon,” a system of observation in which individuals internalize discipline because they know they might be watched (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Foucault: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/foucault/). Truman is always and completely being watched by people. Since he was born, thousands of cameras have been watching him. The panopticon has a deeper psychological meaning: knowing that someone is watching you makes you act differently. People who use social media often choose what to share about their lives because they know someone is watching, even if that person isn’t real or doesn’t exist.

The movie’s imagined alternative also predicts what Harvard scholar Shoshana Zuboff calls “surveillance capitalism,” which is an economic system in which companies make money by using people’s personal information (Harvard Business Review article by Zuboff): https://hbr.org/2019/01/surveillance-capitalism-and-the-challenge-of-collective-action). Truman’s world is one where ads and sponsorships turn who he is, how he feels, and what he has done into money. Businesses put their products right into the talks. People don’t just watch his life; they plan it so that it stays interesting. Digital platforms make money these days by keeping track of what people do online, turning their actions into money, and using algorithms to find and organize content. It’s hard to miss how similar the structures are, even though people choose to take part.

In order for this imagined alternative to work, both technology and the system as a whole would need to change. Truman’s world depends on advanced systems, hidden cameras, and live streaming that let him control the environment. This looked like it was from the future in 1998. Smartphones, facial recognition software, and algorithmic data tracking are some of the technologies that make it possible to keep an eye on things all the time. But technology alone isn’t enough. People have to accept the system for it to work. A lot of people watch the movie and don’t think about how wrong it is for Truman to be held captive. Freedom is less important than entertainment. This normalization of spectacle mirrors apprehensions articulated by communication scholars examining reality television and media performance (Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication entry on Reality Television): https://oxfordre.com/communication/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228613-e-815).

The alternative in The Truman Show is not that different from what is happening now. Influencer culture, live-streaming sites, and short-form video apps make people want to share their daily lives. You can make money by turning your personal relationships, feelings, and even tragedies into content. Even though these people agree, the system as a whole still benefits from being seen and getting involved. Digital platforms are like Truman’s world in that they are organized spaces that keep people in groups that have been carefully chosen.

But the movie does more than just say bad things. It also gives people a civic choice based on being aware and doing something. Truman starts to question what he sees when he sees things that don’t make sense, like background actors who keep showing up, a stage light that falls and is labeled “Sirius,” and the fake fear of water. The main point of civic imagination is that things don’t have to stay the way they are. In the end, Truman chooses the unknown over control. He walks toward the unknown instead of staying in a world that is safe but not real.

That choice shows a new way to look at politics and culture. The movie says that people should get up and do things instead of just sitting around. It suggests freedom instead of constant supervision. Civic imagination frequently utilizes familiar narratives to assist audiences in conceptualizing alternative futures. The Truman Show changes worries about the media and corporations into a story about freedom. It makes people wonder how systems they can’t see might affect their lives and if they would know where their own dome ends.

The movie’s imagined alternative doesn’t seem like a guess anymore, at least not as much as it did in 1998. The world it predicted has come true in the form of digital platforms, reality TV, and data tracking. But the movie will last because it makes you think that being aware gives you options. The Truman Show makes people think about what might happen if people could watch each other and sell their identities. It makes people think about a world where privacy, consent, and freedom are more important than the show, money, and ratings.