Crash Course | Leaving the Cave: The Allegory of The Truman Show

What if everything you ever thought you knew was a lie? Peter Weir’s 1998 film THE TRUMAN SHOW (103 min) presents this philosophical dilemma in the form of a satire about television, stardom, and media manipulation of reality. It’s a rich film whose critiques about modern media resonated in 1998, predating the “Reality TV” movement by several years; yet its existential themes are timeless, presenting an allegory of awakening applicable to any era. 

In this class, we’ll attempt to unpack the philosophical dimensions of the film using Plato’s Allegory of the Cave as a guide to the questions: what is the truth, and how can I find it? We’ll look at the development of these thoughts over centuries, including the skepticism of Rene Descartes, the problem of appearance for Kant and Hegel, and the question of freedom and action in Marx. 

This Crash Course will be taught by Hollywood Theatre projectionist, social activist, and a student of philosophy and political theory Evan Burchfield. 

MMU Crash Course classes offer a low-intensity way to explore a filmmaker or genre, in a friendly environment shared with fellow film lovers. Unlike our MMU seminars, Crash Courses offer a more casual approach. There’s no formal lecture or discussion, but films are curated and presented by staff experts. 

Class size will be limited to 18.

Email us at education@moviemadness.org if you have any questions.