The True Man Show

The True Man Show

Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip. - Will Rogers

What is the truth? In the 1998 film, The Truman Show, Jim Carrey plays Truman Burbank, a man whose whole life, unknown to him, is a non-stop TV show that is broadcast worldwide. Truman doesn’t realize that his quaint hometown is a giant studio set and that everyone around him, including his wife, are all Hollywood actors.

But, through time, Truman gets wise and attempts to break free from his fabricated life - to find the truth. Based on the film, here’s one way of establishing your own personal level of truthfulness:

Imagine you were being filmed today - your every word and movement broadcast to the outside world. They say the camera never lies. How would you act? Would you be yourself? What difference would it make if your life was being scrutinized? What if you were the news? The next time you find yourself in a corner, imagine what you would do if everyone out there was looking in on you behind closed doors - judging your every move.

Of course, in reality, even Big Brother doesn’t have eyes in the back of his head. Our conscience is the camera that filters the truth. And the truth is often a matter of opinion. Sometimes we hide from the truth because we fear its consequences. Sometimes we falsify the truth to protect people’s feelings. Sometimes we hide from the truth because to reveal it would be to set us back.

And yet, sooner or later, the truth seems to find a way to surface: unexpectedly; surprisingly; absurdly; intuitively; definitively. It rises to the top like oil on water. It finds a way to be told.
In the end, Truman found freedom by being true to himself first. Then, having acknowledged who he really was and what he needed, he went in search of the truth. And he eventually found it.

Don’t kid yourself. Falsifying the truth can tell on you.