Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Truman Show‪.‬

MAURICE YACOWAR is Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Calgary. Spectacular special effects - not least Jim Carrey's unenhanced rubber face - have made Truman a phenomenal success. In the midst of the usual summer movie fluff, Hollywood has created a cutting work that exposes the irresponsible illusionism in our mass media and the public's avid gullibility in responding to it. As usual, the Hollywood pot delights in calling the TV kettle black. In this story, television producers legally adopt an orphan and broadcast every second of his life - without ever telling him. Of course the real plot hinges on the unwitting star escaping this phony world by drawing on his inner strengths. And, despite his quirky sense of humour, Truman retains an innate common sense in the midst of his artificial world - for one thing, he doesn't watch a lot of TV.