State of the Smart
JOHAN STEYN: Modern technology: a celebration of ignorance
Social media is a force for dissension and fake news amplifying our already dangerous biases
“We accept the reality of the world with which we’re presented. It’s as simple as that.” Looking down from on high, in god-like control, the creator of a large media corporation speaks about his creation. Adopted by the corporation at birth, inhabiting the largest television set in the world, Truman Burbank (played by Jim Carrey) is blissfully unaware that he has been the focus of the show all of his life.
Played by Ed Harris, Christof is known as “the creator”. Every waking and sleeping moment of Truman is recorded and broadcast to a global audience. Everything and everyone around him is fake. Premiering in 1998, The Truman Show seemed absurd. However, when a host of reality television shows started filling our living rooms, we all became voyeuristic bystanders, our empty existence filled with the chaotic lives of those we like to watch...
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