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Enough with The Truman Show analogies, mkay?

If I hear one more time that the "Jon & Kate plus 8" is the true-life version of "The Truman Show", I may scream.

Seems like I shouldn't have to spell this out, but the GWoPpers aren't all that smart so alas, I must. Be warned. I am about to share painful news ... akin to telling little Suzie that there is no Santa Claus. Before reading any further, you GWoPpers may want to make certain that your shrinks will be available to take your calls.

Are you ready?

: takes a deep breath :

"The Truman Show" is NOT a movie about a Reality TV show and the exploitation of its main character, Truman.

To anyone but a moron, it should be pretty clear that it's a move about existentialism....

(I'll now pause a moment while all the GWoPpers look that big word up.)

... it's a movie about a man questioning the meaning of his life and realizing in all likelihood that he will not discover any truths until he exits it.

Christof plays the role of an evil, manipulative "God" with very clear motives for masterminding Truman's universe: power and greed.

The movie's devoted TV viewing audience represents our cowardly and lazy human nature, specifically our ridiculous preoccupation with other people's lives instead of our own. Well, not me, of course. I don't fixate on other people's lives but I definitely know a group of people who does. Hint, Hine.

Last but not least, we have Truman. If you're a simple-minded GWoPper, Truman is the movie's victim. If your IQ is above 12, you realize the Truman is actually the movie's hero, who courageously chooses to assign meaning and value to his life by taking action. Unfortunately, I suspect "taking action" is not something the GWoPpers are too familiar with unless it involves a keyboard and Internet access.

Even if I were to entertain the most simplistic interpretation of the movie, neither I (or wikipedia) find too many any obvious parallels between "The Truman Show" and "Jon and Kate plus 8".

Wikipedia says it best: "Truman was chosen out of five unwanted babies to be a TV star, whereupon film producer Christof builds a gigantic studio to encapsulate Seahaven, the artificial town in which Truman lives. The enclosed studio allowed the producers, directors and crew to control every aspect of Truman's environment, including the weather. "

Conversely, the Gosselins kids were all very much wanted by their very real Mommy and Daddy, who clearly adore them. Nothing about the children's universe is deceptive or phony. And it's quite obvious that all the kids absolutely know they are being filmed.

You GWoPpers can argue till the cows come home that the filming of these 8 little lives is an egregious invasion of privacy that is somehow "damaging", but the fact of the matter is: you have no proof. You also have no evidence that the kids will fare any better otherwise.

There is no time like the present to become a real-life Truman yourself. Simplify life. Only worry about your own sad little lives and take the appropriate action. Perhaps you might start by trying to repair all the damage you've done to your own little darlings.

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