10 Movies That Will Make You Re-Evaluate Your Life

4. The Truman Show

"We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented." Surprise! We bet you didn't expect another off-the-wall Jim Carrey film. Although The Truman Show finds Carrey slipping back into his comedic element, the ideas that this movie presents are extremely thought-provoking and more than a little unnerving. The coupling of the upbeat feel of The Truman Show with the offbeat premise of its plot plays a large role in the development of the message itself; while things may seem perfectly normal on the outside, Truman's life slowly begins to unravel until all his preconceived notions about the world are turned inside out. As viewers, it's easy to find ourselves becoming more and more frustrated as the film continues, somehow being able to sympathize with Truman simply through a shared paranoia of suddenly discovering that you've been living a lie. While the concept of televising an individual's every waking moment from birth to adulthood seems ridiculous, we're sure nearly everyone has gone through a time in their life where they felt disconnected and betrayed by the people they trusted the most. Much to the horror of audiences everywhere, The Truman Show manages to take a perfectly rational fear and reconstruct it on a much larger scale. As far as life lessons go, there are plenty to be found within the film itself. Like Truman, we are given the choice between a life of free will and uncertainties, or a life of conformity and comfort. Such a decision requires us to examine how much we truly value individuality and independence, and whether or not we would trade those things for a hazard-free existence. The film also encourages us to take a deeper look at the things that are holding us back, and to determine whether or not they're based on valid observation rather than tainted experience. At the heart of the film is the concept of living a life less ordinary; the biggest question that The Truman Show presents is whether or not we are satisfied with the life we're currently living, and what we would do in order to break free from monotony. Despite The Truman's Show's somewhat cynical view towards society as a whole, the film is one that causes us to think about issues that we've probably never had the opportunity to address, and for this reason we applaud the ingenuity of both premise and provocation.