Beyond ‘The Truman Show’ (1998): ‘The Charles III Show’ (2023)
In my previous piece, I mentioned the fantastic film The Truman Show (1998) which comes far closer to a film inspired by the philosophy of Jean Baudrillard and his writings on Simulations, Simulacrum, and the Hyperreal than the later Matrix. Even though The Matrix was inspired by Baudrillard's seminal text Simulacrum and Simulations (1981) and actually appears in the film it is The Truman Show which by combining both a simulated reality and reality is the essence of the philosophical vision of Baudrillard. Truman is the only person in the film that does not realise that he is living in a simulacrum. For this to work Truman cannot know that everything is a fictional creation within a real world. This real world is behind the cameras and the media which along with the actors who simulate Truman's reality is where both the real and the unreal co-exist. Once the Real bleeds into the simulations it all starts to crash and burn.
We in Britain have outdone The Truman Show in 2023 with the crowning of a new King and the beginning of a new film/TV show The Charles III Show. We have now moved beyond the simulation of Truman because Charles knows very well he is living in a simulation of the Real. And those watching him perform also believe that this is a show for the cameras and the people at home and that there is absolutely nothing of the Real involved. This was not just a ceremony conducted from history to affirm an archaic status it was part of a new show that will attempt to keep us royally entertained with the exploits and adventures of the new King. The troubling part is that everyone including those involved in scripting it and acting in it as subsidiary characters will believe it is true.
0 Comments