Before the Reality TV takeover, before Kate Gosselin said “It’s are [sic] life,” before the Bachelor or Jersey Shore, before the Kardashians took wherever they take every season, before celebutantes were famous for partying and just letting the masses in on too many facets of their life, there was Truman Burbank.

The Truman Show, released in ’98, is a film about a television show centered around an individual from the day he was born til a few weeks before his 30th birthday. The star of the show, Truman (Jim Carrey), has lived his whole life as sheltered and constantly in fear without even realizing it, but the day a studio light with the name of a star written on it comes crashing down into the street in front of his house is the day he begins to feel like he may also be the star of some universe centered fully around him.

The television show airs 24 hours daily and there are 5,000 cameras around town to capture his every move. And how did they create this life for him? He lives in a town called Seahaven which is actually a giant mile and a half tall dome encircling the city complete with it’s own sun, moon, ocean, and atmosphere. Everything in his life has been chosen for him by the director of the show, Christof (Ed Harris) who watches his every move from his director’s chair in the sky (God complex, anyone?). Christof has directed him since birth and has manipulated everyone who is a supporting character in his life from his wife, Meryl (Laura Linney), his best friend, Marlon (Noah Emmerich), and even his parents. The world he lives in is fanciful and too perfect: the sun is always too bright, the city is like a 1950′s fantasy, and everyone knows everyone and is nice to everyone. It’s a snapshot of a fantastic and idealistic America, which is how Christof can argue with himself that this is not harmful to Truman as a person; even if it’s not so much real, it’s a much more safe and perfect place to live than the “real world.”

Truman has been faced with the possibility of figuring out his existence several times in the past, but most notable has been his college crush. While the staff was trying to enter Meryl into his life, he met and fell for another girl, Sylvia (Natascha McElhone), who can’t stand the thought of Truman living a lie and before he can process her telling him about the television show she is whisked away and out of the set to where the man playing her father says is “Fiji,” which of course sparks his interest in flying all the way around the world to the island. But, enter his fear of water. They didn’t leave any door open for him to enter the real world. But he still keeps the thought of her alive and makes it his life goal to find her.

This is not a traditional Carrey comedy (which I appreciate). I find his comedy can be good at times, but severely overdone, so I find this film refreshing. Of course his character is a quirky and innocent type who plays in the mirror in the morning, drawing a space suit around him with a bar of soap (which, by the way, was completely improvised by Carrey). But he plays the innocent character quite well (it’s those big, dark brown eyes!), and the dynamics come in toward the end when he realizes all may not be perfection.

I love this film, and always have. Everyone feels like they’re the center of their own universe so it appeals to everyone, and who hasn’t always thought of this scenario in their head? The set is so beautiful (too beautiful, which was their goal), and they buttoned the whole thing up quite well, not leaving anything to question from his fear of water and living on an island to his being such a nervous-type as he works in insurance. They didn’t leave one thing out to keep him on that island and unknowing of his situation. Even his name, Truman, has a lot of weight if you consider he’s the only real character in the show. Even though it was released twelve years ago (and I finally did start to see its age this time), it still is a relevant film for today, especially in the wake of reality TV, and I feel that everyone should take the time to watch it!