Modern America's TOP 100 Culturally Significant Movies: #98

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Directed by the highly innovative and inspiring Peter Weir (with strong supporting directorial and scripting assignments by Michael J. McAlister), R. Martin Basso submits ‘THE TRUMAN SHOW' as #98 on his list of the Top 100 most culturally significant movies impacting, influencing and molding all that constitutes 21st Century America.

Honorable Mention for the #98 position: ALFIE (1966).

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OVERVIEW...

Australian movie director Peter Weir is (as my father would say) "logical, methodical and unemotional" in regards to the film directorial assignments he has accepted throughout his elaborate and important cinematic career.

To this, THE TRUMAN SHOW from 1996 is certainly no exception.

Weir's cinematic resume reflects his important role in various culturally relevant films impacting society. In short, Peter Weir had provided his directorial oversight and management of some cinematic heavyweights: MASTER AND COMMANDER(2003), DEAD POET'S SOCIETY (1989), MOSQUITO COAST (1986), WITNESS (1985), THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY (1982), GALLIPOLI (1981).

Weir, a self-proclaimed ‘social historian', accepts his responsibilities in chronicling history, telling compelling stories and commenting poignantly on history and human culture with creative, yet serious and responsible authority.

"I will some day shuffle off of this mortal coil. I wanna make sure that I have contributed significantly, that folks will look at a work like GALLIPOLI, or DEAD POET'S, or TRUMAN and say ‘yeah, mate... I get it.' The duality of war, the polarization of convention, intrusive sensationalism: yeah, I get what Peter Weir was saying."

That Weir takes so much time between directorial assignments only puts an exclamation point on his rather Zen-like philosophy and approach to movie making. Curiously, Weir doesn't seem to seek, crave or even need the Hollywood limelight; certainly an anomaly in such a self-effacing culture like movie making. Weir is a philosopher, a director and a historian who shuns celebrity-ism'.

Collectively speaking, Peter Weir's films (the stories they tell and the issues they bring to viewer's consciousness) are the real ‘stars'. In honoring this, Weir is indeed ‘logical', ‘methodical' and rather ‘unemotional' in the assignments he accepts. Weir seems to make a point of making a point, so to speak, in ensuring that long after he himself is ‘gone', that the messages his films bring forth continue to be heard and remembered as both responsible and relevant.

Other notable directing peers sharing Peter Weir's socially-conscious bandwidth are Black-empowerment and awareness guru Spike Lee, as well as Lewis Gilbert; best known for his unique interpretations of various James Bond franchise installments.

In perusing prospective scripts, Weir spends months to years constructing the ‘perfect' story and how his creative directorial skill set might poignantly resolve the theme from opening credits to end.

Even Weir's one relative ‘flop' (1990's GREEN CARD) still was able to convey its central core message: What defines ‘true love'?

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THE ‘ALFIE' FACTOR...

ALFIE (1966) arrives as the tying honorable mention with THE TRUMAN SHOW for the #98 position on R. Martin Basso's Top 100 most culturally significant movies constituting 21st Century America.

No stranger to using film as a platform for voicing social statements, Lewis Gilbert earned his right to direct several of Ian Fleming's James Bond movies through an unexpected venue: 1966's ALFIE, starring Michael Caine in all of his perverse best and Shelley Winters. Gilbert forged a unique professional relationship with Caine, whom he would have later the pleasure of directing again in the 1983 highbrow effort, EDUCATING RITA.

The adventures of ALFIE and TRUMAN are each the respective YING to the other's YANG; similar stories and character conflicts told in opposing fashions. Truman Burbank, played effortlessly and convincingly by Jim Carrey, is living a completely counterfeit life, unbeknownst to him.

In this counterfeit existence, engineered exclusively by archetype Christof, Truman's entire life is exploited for the sole voyeuristic pleasure of a worldwide viewing audience. The only ‘life' that makes any sense to Truman is one grand elaborate lie, of which he and he alone is the centrifuge and starring character.

Alfie's understanding of ‘real reality' is much more compartmentalized: The only ‘real life' to Alfie is his sex life. It is only through sex that Alfie justifies living. There exists no desire for social status, no career aspirations to ‘climb the corporate ladder', no need to identify monetarily, religiously or politically with varying groups or organizations.

To Alfie, for his life to have fulfillment and meaning, only sex justifies the end means regardless of the effects of his actions upon the ‘greater good', or the ‘larger society'. For Truman his life exists solely for the purpose of validating the greater good of society itself. Again, each is the Ying to the opposite's Yang; each conveying similiar messages, utilizing similar logic yet achieving opposite results.

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SO, WHY IS THIS MOVIE 'CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT ' TO MODERN AMERICA?

America's ‘voyeur culture' was forged long ago, but commented upon dramatically by THE TRUMAN SHOW.

Upon initial conceptualization of THE TRUMAN SHOW, screenplay and linear content developer Michael J. McAlister predicted extremely accurately that, over the next several years, ‘reality-based entertainment' would evolve into an American phenomenon approaching addiction levels. The prospect of this quickly-evolving and American obsession provided McAlister and Weir a perfect venue to craft their unique introspective and center it around one completely ignorant bystander victim named Truman Burbank.

But reality-oriented voyeurism as an entertainment medium is nothing new to America. America has always had a fascination with itself. It is only because technology has evolved through such a tremendous curve (internet, digital satellite, wireless, et al) that what was once our inherent right to privacy has been stolen to identity theft, recorded digitally in almost every public arena, tracked and recorded via satellite technology and ultimately provided to the highest buyer. The advent of technology has exploited this obsession by almost exponential bounds, thus creating a snooping, intrusive cultural ‘identity' intent upon corrupting itself.

As goes the marketing tagline for THE TRUMAN SHOW: ‘On the air, unaware.'

Such is the reality of our brave new world, so as goes my favorite expression: "Welcome To The Future". You'd better get used to the Google Earth philosophy of right here, right now, 24/7 access.

Our right to privacy? Gone and sold to the highest eBay bidder.

Buy it NOW!

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THE ORGINS OF ' INTRUSION-ORIENTED' ENTERTAINMENT:

Allen Funt first broadcast the original voyeuristic sensation in 1948 with his hugely successful CANDID CAMERA. CANDID CAMERA and Allen Funt continued to both commercial success and critical acclaim for decades, reaching its fever pitch in the mid 1970s.

Reality-based entertainment has proliferated through such platforms at movie and television: Star Search, Solid Gold, American Gladiator, That's Incredible!, TV's Funniest Bloopers, COPS, American Idol, Access Hollywood...

Blah, blah, blah...

Across the decades and through the years such 'entertainment' has lead us from 'way back then' up to 'way up now.'

THE TRUMAN SHOW, originally authored by Hollywood scripting writing heavyweight Andrew Niccol, postulates a reality television program that goes too far. In doing so, Weir, Niccol and McAlister point fingers at our culture's own "has the public's need-to-know finally gone too far" conundrum. THE TRUMAN SHOW is a fictional mirror into actual American sensationalism.

But before anyone jumps and interjects with "wait a minute, THE TRUMAN SHOW could never happen," allow this simple question to be asked: But could it? And, if there is one thing in which history is fully awash is that, time and time again, it has been proven that if something can be done, it will be done.

It's all about ‘when', not ‘if.'

Today, in 2008 a full decade after Weir and McAlister delivered Truman Burbank and his counterfeit ‘real' world, who amongst us can honestly say that we are either not headed for this future vision, or perhaps that we have already arrived.

In a larger analysis of the social importance of Andrew Niccol's grandly entertaining (if not lightly uncomfortable) TRUMAN SHOW breaks down to a dramatic reinvention of philosopher Plato's ‘Allegory of a Cave,' which is historically brilliant in illustrating how ‘reality' is a fluid concept, limited completely to one's own perspective.

To place an exclamation point upon this conclusion, established actor Ed Harriss' fatherly ‘villain' Christof, the story's antagonist, (initially cast by Dennis Hopper, who later pulled out due to creative differences with Jim Carrey) poignantly and pompously announces that although Truman's life is itself a lie in and of itself, that Truman is genuine and that in this "we accept the reality with which we are presented."

This is the mouse-hunting-for-cheese-in-the-maze type of ‘ends justify the means' that digital snooping and our culture's erosion of privacy embraces in this new and automated 21^st Century.

This film arrives as modern America's 98th most culturally significant movie.

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SELECTION & EVALUATION CRITERIA:The author recognizes seven 'Societal Themes' which bind our civilization together; sort of like the "glue" of our culture, so to speak, which constitutes our modern American society. The criteria utilized in reviewing movies for inclusion into (or exclusion from) his list of Modern America's Top 100 Culturally Significant Movies are SOCIETAL THEMES, HOLY VIRTUES and DEADLY SINS. To read more about R. Martin Basso's EVALUATION CRITERIA please click on this hyperlink.

THIS MOVIE IDENTIFIES MOST STRONGLY WITH THE FOLLOWING 'SOCIETAL THEMES': Escapism, Creative Ingenuity, and Social Consciousness.

THIS MOVIE EXEMPLIFIES THE FOLLOWING HOLY VIRTUES: Diligence, Patience, Kindness, and Humility.

THIS MOVIE'S PERSONIFIES THE FOLLOWING DEADLY SINS: Greed, Wrath, and Pride.

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MODERN AMERICA'S TOP 100 CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT MOVIES:

#100: Pink Floyd, The Wall (1982)

#99: Jesus Of Nazareth (1977)

#98: The Truman Show (1996)

#97: Coming Soon... HINT: Is it a movie or not? This selection for the #97 position on Modern America's Top 100 Most Culturally Significant Movies is the shortest ‘movie' in all of cinematic history. This movie literally defined a generation and caused a pop culture craze equaled only by Beatlemania of the 1960's.

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LEGAL NOTIFICATIONS:

DISCLAIMER: The Truman Show images, artwork and photographs cited in this article are used with the implicit intent of promoting The Truman Show with no financial gain whatsoever by this article's author. All imagery, artwork and photographs from The Truman Show cited and used in this article remain the exclusive copyrighted property and material of Paramount Pictures and Michael J. McAlister & Associates. Any copyright breech, actual, implied or suggested, is unintended.

© 2008 - R. MARTIN BASSO & 3 Doves Media

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