How Jim Carrey film The Truman show helped fuel a psychiatric delusion trends now
It was a film which eerily predicted the modern world of mass surveillance and social media, where millions document their daily lives on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.
The Truman Show, released 25 years ago today, starred Jim Carrey as the eponymous Truman Burbank, whose entire life was a fiction designed to entertain millions around the world.
The film, which was directed by Peter Weir and written by Andrew Niccol, grossed more than $264million worldwide and garnered three Academy Award nominations for best supporting actor, original screenplay and director.
But it also ended up giving its name to a psychological delusion, where patients - of whom there have been hundreds - believe they, like Truman, are the subjects of a TV show.
One sufferer killed his father and sister in the belief they were broadcasting his life to the world as part of a game show, another allegedly assaulted a toddler and his mother while thinking he 'had to get out of the Truman Show'.
Released 25 years ago today, The Truman Show told the story of a small-town insurance salesman whose every move was being watched by millions around the world. Above: Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank
In the film, Truman's every move from the moment of his birth has been documented by 5,000 cameras placed throughout his hometown of Seahaven Island, which is in fact a giant TV studio.
Everyone in Seahaven, including his wife Meryl - played by Laura Linney - is an actor.
As his life as an insurance salesman unfolds on screens 24 hours a day, a loyal viewership of 1.5billion people watch around the world.
In what becomes his catchphrase, he joyfully tells his friends and neighbours: 'In case I don't see you: good afternoon, good evening and goodnight.'
Truman eventually comes to suspect that his life is a fiction after a series of clues emerge, including the moment a lighting rig falls from the 'sky'.
He decides to flee the invented world, much to the anger of the show's creator Christof, who is played by Ed Harris.
In the film, Truman's every move from birth has been documented by 5,000 cameras placed throughout his hometown of Seahaven Island, which is in fact a giant TV studio. Everyone in Seahaven, including his wife Meryl - played by Laura Linney (left) - is an actor
As his life as an insurance salesman unfolds on screens 24 hours a day, a loyal viewership of 1.5billion people watch around the world
Truman eventually comes to suspect that his life is a fiction after a series of clues emerge, including the moment a lighting rig falls from the 'sky'
Jim Carrey is seen as Truman Burbank as he waves to neighbours in his hometown
When the film was released, reality television was in its infancy. The hugely successful Big Brother, originally a Dutch creation, premiered in 1999.
The show saw ordinary people share a house for several weeks as television cameras documented their every move.
From then on, the reality genre would become a worldwide phenomenon, with shows like The Only Way is Essex and Keeping Up with the Kardashians proving hugely popular.
The Truman Show also effectively foresaw both the mass surveillance and widespread social media use of the modern world.
With the former, millions of CCTV cameras keep a careful watch on ordinary citizens in Britain and elsewhere.
In the latter, millions document every detail of their lives on the likes of Instagram and TikTok.
And whilst the film was released towards the end of the 20th century, its premise harked back thousands of years to Greek philosopher Plato's Allegory of the cave.
In that Plato depicted a group of people who had spent all their lives chained to the wall of a cave.
The shadows they see projected
