“In case I don't see you: good afternoon, good evening, and good night”
I don't know if you have any impression of this sentence? This is a classic line from "Truman's World". In the film, Truman's World is a 30-year live reality show curated by director Keith.
Our protagonist Truman lives in a place called Taoyuan Island, which has been rated as a livable city in the world many times. Truman is an insurance broker, his life from childhood to adulthood is very comfortable, comfortable, stable, with loving parents, friends who talk about everything from childhood to adulthood, warm neighbors, friendly colleagues, and later beautiful and virtuous wives. The people on the island were very kind to Truman.
However, just like Truman's name, "true man", only Truman is real on the island, and everyone else, including his parents, wife, friends, are actors arranged by director Kisto, and even the Taoyuan Island where he lives is a huge studio created by the director.
He didn't know that in the 30 years from his birth to the present, all of his life was broadcast by 5,000 cameras, day and night, to hundreds of millions of viewers around the world. He lived in a false world for 30 years, never suspected, never left. Until his father, who had been dead for many years, suddenly appeared and aroused his suspicions. He recalls his first love in college saying to him that "everyone is lying to him, everyone knows everything about him."
So he re-examined his life, and he began to find that there were many strange things in his usual life. He decided to flee Taoyuan Island and go to the outside world to see. After many trials, he finally stepped out of the door to freedom.
And the audience in front of the TV: waiters in the restaurant, doormen in the duty room, uncles who are taking a bath, retired grandmothers... they pay attention to Truman's every move. After Truman stepped out of that door, they cheered for him and wept for him, just as they successfully used truman's father's death and resurrection for the director team to prevent Truman from leaving Taoyuan Island. After the program was suspended, they still casually adjusted the station.
Truman's life was just a pastime for them. Cheers and tears are nothing but accessories to pastime. They consume their lives to entertain Truman's life.
Just like now, most of us, when we get home from work, we go to the couch, watch soap operas, funny variety shows, and then laugh and laugh, consume the dissatisfaction of the day, and the day passes again. Years later, I still lie on the couch, but I see the show differently.
What Truman really wanted, they didn't really care. In contrast, our lives are the same, our joys and sorrows are only a pastime for others, just as we rarely empathize with the joys and sorrows of others except for those who are close to us. So we don't need to care too much about other people's opinions, or be brave enough to be ourselves!