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Your ‘Truman Show’

College is, for lack of a better word, a sh*tstorm. The emotional trauma, the moments of silliness and the passing characters that unfold over the course of four years are enough to make students return home with several scars on their backs and give everybody one hell of a story to tell.

But just what would that story look like?

In 2008, two brothers, psychiatrist Joel Gold and neurophilosopher Ian Gold, coined the term “The Truman Show delusion,” based off the 1998 comedy film written by Peter Weir and starring Jim Carrey. The unofficial term refers to a delusion in which someone essentially believes they are being watched by cameras that are documenting their lives in some elaborate narrative.

While it must certainly be believed that a majority of Bradley’s student body do not suffer from The Truman Show delusion (hopefully), it got me wondering about what our stories as college students might look like if they were indeed turned into a film. What music would be on the soundtrack? Would it be a comedy, a tragedy or a horror flick once the student loans kick in? But there is one question that I believe everyone asks themselves at least once in their lives:

What actor would play me?

Being a junior myself, I know that my story isn’t done, and my opinion might very well change by the time it is. With graduation coming up faster than you can say “crippling debt,” one must wonder … what do all the seniors here at Bradley think of who should play them in the movie of their lives? And what would they call it?

Alex Perez, senior advertising major:

“Riz Ahmed. If he was a younger guy. There’s something about him … I feel like he just shows a very easy-going personality, but situations always happen to him.

“I’d call my movie ‘Never-ending Second Act.’ The second act is when the character is kind of drowned, and they need to work back up to the third act where they can resolve their problem. College has kind of been a slug of working through so much bullsh*t.”

Kailyn Bates, senior management information systems major:

“Kerry Washington would play me. But my movie is like ‘Jumanji.’ Just adventures, man. I’ll be thinking it goes one way, and then it goes another. It’s pretty cool, though, because they’re still doing remakes. So ‘Jumanji’ – if Kerry Washington was in it.”

Bekah Coon, senior biology and Spanish double major:

“[I think] Lauren Graham, because she has dark hair and blue eyes. That’s pretty much it.”

“If my [college career] were to be a movie, the title of the movie would be ‘Bio 666.’ Bio has been the bane of my existence, but it’s smooth sailing once you overcome it. If you get past 250, you’re good to go from there.”

Jake Wolf, senior business management and leadership major:

“Tom Hanks, because he’s equal parts funny and serious.”

“I’m going to steal a movie title, I’d call my college career ‘The Grind,’ because there’s just a lot of work you gotta put into it to keep your GPA where you want it and look forward to your career.”

Alfred Hitchcock once said, “What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out?” As these seniors approach the swan song of their undergraduate journeys, the movies that are their college careers are filled with the defining and transformative moments. What will your “Truman Show” look like?

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