The Truman Show, which tells about a man who is broadcast to the world as a reality show every moment of the day, not only won the admiration of the audience, but also gave a name to a kind of delusion that the person thinks is being watched all the time. Let’s examine the Truman Show syndrome in all its details.
There is a magical world of art, especially cinema. During the film, we break away from the real world we live in and embark on an adventure within the film world. However, some movies also make an impact in our real lives because of the stories they tell. The Truman Show movie is one of them. The production was so impressive A type of delusion in psychology has been called the Truman Show syndrome.
Don’t get me wrong, viewers of The Truman Show don’t see this delusion. This name is not officially given to the delusion anyway, but as a grandiose delusion, one can think that every moment of it is broadcast to the whole world with cameras, and this delusion takes this name because it overlaps with the story of the movie. What is Truman Show syndrome, which can have serious consequences if it becomes paranoid? Let’s take a closer look and see what kind of response it has in society.
First of all, let’s remember the movie The Truman Show:
Standing out with an IMDb score of 8.2 1998’s The Truman Show The movie is directed by Peter Weir. In the lead roles of the movie, we watch important actors such as Jim Carrey, Ed Harris, Laura Linney and Noah Emmerich. The Truman Show, which was nominated for Oscars in the fields such as Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Original Screenplay, was deemed worthy of many different awards in the year it was released and made a great impression.
In the movie, we watch the story of a man named Truman Burbank. Truman, He was adopted by a company while he was still in the womb. This company is making a kind of realty show called the Truman Show, in which Truman is broadcast live, with an ever-increasing number of cameras. Truman, who lives on an island that has been turned into a big set, thinks his life is real, but everyone around him, especially his family and friends, is an actor and every word said to him is actually whispered into the player’s ear.
Truman’s biggest dream is to go to Fiji, but according to the scenario, he is afraid of the sea because his father died in a sea accident years ago. Truman, who has been manipulated since the day he was born so that he never questioned the life he lived, one day he realizes something is wrong. Truman, who became a real world star thanks to the Truman Show in the outside world, decides to step into the real world despite all the obstacles.
Let’s come to the real issue, what is Truman Show syndrome?
linked to psychosis considered to be a type of delusions of grandiosity in which the person persecutes himself. Truman Show syndrome is a delusion in which the person thinks that his life is broadcast to the whole world with a reality show that is recorded with cameras at every moment. The person with this syndrome thinks that his family and friends are fake, that he is constantly watched by hidden cameras, that his life is broadcast to the whole world, that is, everything in his life is fake, just like in the movie.
The term The Truman Show delusion, or Truman Show syndrome, was first used in 2008 by brothers Joel Gold and Ian Gold, a psychiatrist and neurophilosopher. Not included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association not an official diagnosis however, as it is a type of grandiose delusion, it is defined by important medical journals such as the British Journal of Psychiatry.
The Truman Show isn’t actually the only show with this kind of story:
As we mentioned in the introduction, people do not get this type of syndrome after watching the Truman Show movie. Because people with advancing technology long before they were afraid that their lives might be recorded and broadcast in some way. In fact, there are many stories based on this fear before the Truman Show movie.
In the Special Service episode of the cult television series The Twilight Zone, A person who finds a camera in a bathroom mirror is described. Science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein, in his novel They, published in 1941, told a story based on the belief that one is one of the few real people in the world. In the novel Time Out of Joint, written by master science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, there is a story in which the person is kept with his family and friends by paying money.
When we look at all these productions, actually one of the most basic fears of man, We see that his life is based on a lie. For example, in Capgras syndrome, the person experiences the delusion that their family and relatives have been replaced by their false counterparts. In Truman Show syndrome, the person only takes this work a little further and has the delusion that this game is watched by the whole world.
Such delusions can have dire consequences if they progress:
The brothers Joel Gold and Ian Gold, who named Truman Show syndrome, came across very interesting examples when they examined such cases. For example, a person living in the USA To see if the 9/11 attacks were part of his personal show He said that he wanted to go to another show by going to the FBI building in a different state.
In another case, a person who had previously worked as an assistant on a reality show U.S. elections were secretly recorded with cameras. and said that George W. Bush was Judah. In a more serious case, a former war veteran tried to commit suicide, saying he didn’t want to be on the show anymore.
Unfortunately, there is another much worse example. a young person living in Australia, due to delusions due to Truman Show syndrome He killed both of them because he thought that his father and sister were recording and broadcasting him with cameras. In other words, although the name sounds funny, when it reaches the paranoid point, delusions caused by Truman Show syndrome can result in suicide and murder.
So is there a cure for Truman Show syndrome, why are we experiencing such a thing?
As we have given examples above, the biggest fear of people for many years is that their lives are based on a lie. Yes, from time to time we may all experience minor doubts due to the films, novels and stories we have been exposed to or We may wonder if we are living in some kind of simulation. Especially at a time when we are so overwhelmed with technology, such fears are not unfounded.
If you have such doubts and it has come to the point that it will even affect your daily life You should definitely seek help from an expert. Okay, it’s fun to make jokes like TC simulation is very tiring, but no matter what we go through, remember, ‘this is the world, this is it.’
The person has the delusion that he is being watched all the time and broadcast on a reality show with cameras. What is Truman Show syndrome We answered the question. What we describe is for informational purposes only. If you think that you are experiencing this type of delusion or that someone around you is experiencing this type of delusion, you should definitely consult a specialist.