for STRAIGHT TALK
THE WAY I SEE IT... Wise words fromourfeisty, fearless andfunny columnist
‘At the weekend, I watched The Truman Show again. Made in 1998, it stars Jim Carrey as the unwitting star of a show designed and made around him and his life, one that he was literally born to be in and where he is constantly filmed and watched by the world, 24 hours a day.
When I saw it the first time I remember thinking, wouldn’t it be dreadful to be watched, filmed and effectively spied on with no privacy whatsoever? But when you consider it, we’re almost there with CCTV everywhere, your phone listening to every word, your computer or TV camera watching what you’re doing and, worst of the lot, those digital assistants like Alexa.
And I couldn’t imagine being trapped inside a limited area as Truman was, but that’s happening too. So-called 15-minute cities where you might be fined if you exceed certain boundaries or limits are already a reality.
Other movies too have that mystic ability to see what’s coming. The film 1984 (1956 and 1984), based on George Orwell’s book, was the first to warn of a totalitarian dystopia of surveillance, constant war and restrictions. VFor Vendetta (2005) is a fine example of a lockdown scenario where people are arrested for being out and shouted at with loudhailers blasting out warnings of a dangerous virus circulating. Minority Report (2002), has the ‘PreCrime’ police, which I’m sure isn’t far off.
Sometimes you wonder whether thepowers-that-be use these films as guides of what to do next, or whether it’s just tha
