I had an idea the other day of what I was going to write here. It had something to do with the bloke, above, who I think is one of the funniest and talented people in the movie business – well any business for that matter. I know some people think that our business is a bit shallow or unimportant and there is only one answer to that and I would put it here - if I could spell it.
When he made the second Ace Ventura movie they also cast in it a very respectable English actor with a posh voice and because Jim Carrey wasn't well known in Britain, the respectable English actor had probably – and I am guessing probably – never heard of him.
If you see the movie you will see that Jim Carrey does a lot of face pulling, mugging and improvisation and when they were filming there was a special camera on Carrey all the time. This must have really foxed the Englishman with his acting priorities of minding his diction and keeping clear of the furniture. I look out for his reactions, the Englishman, every time I see the film.
The film above is The Truman Show; it is a favourite of mine and was made in the late nineties. I saw it again recently – a few times – and there are magic moments in it for me. One scene is when the Philip Glass soundtrack is used for the first time. I particularly like the director – Peter Weir. He also directed Witness which is also one of my favourite pictures. It has Harrison Ford, in it, and a particular scene when the Hamish are building a barn and we see Harrison Ford working as a carpenter, which is what he trained and worked at before, and during, his time as an actor, the music in that sequence is by . . . now who was it by? Maurice Jaare.
The Truman Show put a stop to a film based on the TV series The Prisoner the Patrick McGoohan cult TV series, which was seen in the 1970s. I knew someone quite well who knew Patrick McGoohan and he changed his mind for some reason when The Truman Show started shooting. He probably went back to writing and directing episodes of Columbo.
In the movie Jim Carrey plays Truman. There is something very strange about it because when it starts it seems like a regular film, set in the suburbs of small town America, - the burbs - but Truman's wife tends to mention various products as if she is making a TV commercial. Sometimes, when he goes to work, he stands near an advertising billboard and if it's not quite in shot he seems to be moved by another member of the cast so the sign can he seen.
The Philip Glass music comes in when Jim Carey is walking along the street and a light seems to fall out of the sky (there he is above with it). Loads of confusion when people come from nowhere to move the light – a big spotlight used in movies – and as Jim drives along, cars seem to veer him over to change his route and then . . . . we get the picture. He is actually being watched by everybody else in America and is the only one who doesn't know it. His character's wife, is played by an actress, his pals, work mates, the guy in the news-stand and everyone are actors. And that is the Truman Show.
It is an experiment where they took a child from birth and the nation watched him grow up. A bit similar to the TV series 7UP where they took children from upper, middle and working class backgrounds to see whether the Jesuit saying is true 'show me the child at seven and I will show you the man.'
When I said I was thinking about this, in my opening sentence, it must have been this series that I was thinking about as I saw 63UP a couple of weeks ago.
The Truman Show shows how the media works or could work. How we are obsessed with fame, celebrity, renown – we rush to the TV every time we hear that a famous person has had something happen to them. Yesterday every newspaper in the UK (and there are many of them) had a picture of Tiger Woods' SUV on the front page. Every news bulletin led with the Tiger Woods story and millions tuned in to see if he was dead.
The Truman Show shows what affect if has on Truman Burbank. When he finds out he wants out. He tries many ways and that's where it is similar to The Prisoner. When I was working in a play in Cheltenham I was working with an actor who had been in an episode of The Prisoner and he received post cards and a few autograph hunters at the stage door – in fact when I did my play in London in 2016 a few blokes were at the stage door one night and they had photographs of me in their binder and I was asked to sign under them in various places and these were fans of a movie called Lifeforce which is a kind of cult movie very popular with film students and horror film buffs, which I was in.
It never worried me being recognised whenever I have been in a TV series or on TV but some actors find it a strain especially when it's been going on for years. I was on the tube once and when I got on there was a gang of skin heads near where I was going to sit and when I sat down they started saying 'TV' and nudging each other. Then they all turned around menacingly 'Oye TV?' I just nodded and smiled. I remember too when I was in the north of England on a train and as I took my newspaper out to read a couple of yobbos shouted 'Oye! Guardian!!' They took a dislike to my newspaper.
So fame is not as great as it is painted. Very famous people get it all the time. The Truman Show is a fantasy - a stretch of the imagination when the unfortunate subject was viewed like an animal in the zoo.
But this is no fantasy.
This family has been locked up for years. The whole world takes a daily interest in them especially in America where they look and admire; all knowing of course that the family, as long as it is locked up and used will prevent a monster like Trump ever happening in the UK. When Charlie takes over it may be a chance for pieces of faeces like Farage to take a chance on getting rid of them but . . . . I don't think he'll stand a chance!
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