tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post9216250441199442723..comments2024-03-27T21:42:56.131-05:00Comments on 1001plus: Watching Oscar: The Truman ShowSJHoneywellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-64565791689241679772013-11-18T19:34:21.974-06:002013-11-18T19:34:21.974-06:00Yep. Anyone who "stops believing" becaus...Yep. Anyone who "stops believing" because he or she is angry with God is <i>still a believer</i>. If I'm mad at my wife, I don't suddenly believe she doesn't exist. It's that sort of bullshit that sticks in the public consciousness and causes people to continually misunderstand exactly why someone becomes an atheist in the first place.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-7047485887186318152013-11-18T10:41:38.095-06:002013-11-18T10:41:38.095-06:00I saw this movie when I was a believer so your int...I saw this movie when I was a believer so your interpretation didn't occur to me. I like it and it certainly adds a new perspective. I may have to watch it again now. :-)<br /><br />And I'm totally with you. Characters who supposedly give up belief in god because they're angry at god make no f'in sense at all.<br />Ipecachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15157560182505626755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-40864888500104927472013-11-11T13:15:07.317-06:002013-11-11T13:15:07.317-06:00As a heathen, I tend to look at things from a beli...As a heathen, I tend to look at things from a belief/non-belief point of view. <i>The Truman Show</i> was one of the first films that really jumped out at me as promoting a positive atheist worldview. Most of the time, the heathen unbeliever either ends up horribly killed or finishes the film with his/her beliefs intact. Hollywood has never really understood the reason people give up beliefs. We always get crap like <i>Signs</i> or <i>Independence Day</i> where the unbeliever stops believing because he or she "got angry." Yeah...that's not really the way it works. SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-89702592207276638322013-11-10T12:49:29.483-06:002013-11-10T12:49:29.483-06:00Interesting atheist parable line! I like that int...Interesting atheist parable line! I like that interpretation quite a bit.<br /><br />And crap, I love this movie. I remember seeing it in a theater and feeling overwhelmed. <br /><br />The score is one of my favorite parts of The Truman Show; brilliant music summing up a profound moral problem.siochembiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11487373396181856763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-41329105641900494382013-10-26T15:30:57.630-05:002013-10-26T15:30:57.630-05:00That wasn't much of a stretch for me. Lots of ...That wasn't much of a stretch for me. Lots of people pretend to be something they aren't to their spouses. The giant structure was far more improbably.<br /><br />However, I buy into it, because I buy the story as allegorical, which allows for a certain amount of license.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-47961657924961287142013-10-26T09:54:43.453-05:002013-10-26T09:54:43.453-05:00But they aren't pretending to be someone other...But they aren't pretending to be someone other than they are to their husbands. They are attention seekers who are out to promote themselves first and foremost and under their own name. Once they get their "fame" they leave whoever they leveraged to achieve it. They don't stick around and play 1950s housewife.Chip Laryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00787403805554027107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-79438639849941566692013-10-25T19:07:44.521-05:002013-10-25T19:07:44.521-05:00You don't think a person exists in this world ...You don't think a person exists in this world right now who would agree to marry/have sex with/bear the child of someone on television just for a part on TV?<br /><br />Dude, there are entire <i>channels</i> devoted to those people.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-64922624989432909702013-10-25T18:28:26.090-05:002013-10-25T18:28:26.090-05:00Oh, this film is definitely intended to push relig...Oh, this film is definitely intended to push religious buttons. I love the "cue the sun" line.<br /><br />While I like this film, I couldn't 100% buy into the concept of a miles in diameter building and an actress willing to not only have sex with the guy, but bear his children just for a part on TV. I got maybe 80% of the way there, though.<br /><br />A co-worker said that this movie freaked out her husband because of the whole "is it all fake" aspect of life.Chip Laryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00787403805554027107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-14913092884501597982013-10-24T09:37:54.180-05:002013-10-24T09:37:54.180-05:00I'm with you on that. I think your reading on ...I'm with you on that. I think your reading on this is far closer to the intended message than mine is.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-59828034612917469122013-10-24T01:40:15.811-05:002013-10-24T01:40:15.811-05:00True, true. I didn't say it made sense--just w...True, true. I didn't say it made sense--just what I felt it was going for. For the record, The Truman Show was in my "#1 Favorite Movie" spot for YEARS (Little Shop is at the 0 spot). But then that changed to Leon. And then to Shaun of the Dead. And Shaun has pretty much stayed in that spot since, though the other two are still at least in the Top 50, I think.Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08092564511948736386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-49397192966755678982013-10-23T23:42:35.822-05:002013-10-23T23:42:35.822-05:00Were I more familiar with the works of Sartre, I m...Were I more familiar with the works of Sartre, I might've made that connection myself. That seems pretty on the nose.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-30273997725257967222013-10-23T23:42:06.302-05:002013-10-23T23:42:06.302-05:00The whole Christian idea of God's plan/free wi...The whole Christian idea of God's plan/free will is a self-defeating argument. The people who love to talk about how the Big-G can't interfere with our free will also believe that he already knows the outcome of every decision we make before we do. How much free will do I have if it's all been ordained? I know there's a rationalization for this, but I don't buy it. I think the free will/fate argument is one you could make with as much evidence as I provide for my reading. Yours may even be closer to the intended message. My argument against it would be that Truman always has free will. He can react to what fate-in-the-form-of-Christof throws at him. His reactions are never pre-ordained even if the events are. SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-90084406336546562762013-10-23T22:56:52.066-05:002013-10-23T22:56:52.066-05:00I'm reminded of Jean-Paul Sartre's play Le...I'm reminded of Jean-Paul Sartre's play <i>Les Mouches</i> (The Flies), in which the main character, Orestes, ultimately has an encounter with the highest god, Zeus... and Orestes rejects Zeus' glory in favor of continued existence in the pedestrian rough-and-tumble of the here-and-now, an existence in which people make their own choices unguided by gods.Kevin Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01328790917314282058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-17980873772966070782013-10-23T22:43:48.516-05:002013-10-23T22:43:48.516-05:00I see where you're coming from with the atheis...I see where you're coming from with the atheist argument, but I see it as more of a Free Will vs. Fate (i.e. God's Plan). Just because Truman chooses Free Will doesn't mean it's an atheist message. According to the Christian faith, God does have a plan for everyone, but he also gave mankind Free Will... allowing them to make their own choices that may or may not follow God's plan. It's like... I write a book and have an idea where I want it to go, but I get halfway through and reach the point my characters start writing themselves... and they can drastically change what I had in mind. So I don't feel it's that Truman chooses atheism over belief, but rather Free Will over Fate.Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08092564511948736386noreply@blogger.com