Truman Show : Were Any Laws Broken?

[Gojirob]

The adoption was legal, and I suppose, in the world of the film, how they raised him was their business, so long as he was obviously fed and boarded and not abused in a physical sense, though even there, I have questions. But, even with the needs of a movie, and in-universe, the popularity of a TV show, at some point, I have to believe, such extreme actions taken to keep a now-grown man ignorant of the truth of his world almost have to break laws that transcend this fictional world. I can see law enforcement going lax in the face of pressure from various sources, but that wouldn't change the fact that laws were broken. I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know for certain that any big, red-flag ones were. Any help?

 

[Mistral]

Well, I think slavery is a crime....

 

[Scout101]

was he a slave, though? He worked a regular job, and until the end, was doing everything of his own free will. They manipulated him, yes, but when he decided to leave, he WAS able to do so...

 

[sojourner]

Well, once he turned 18, without a contract, pretty much every recording made of him that was not in public (in his home for example) would have been an invasion of privacy.

 

[Mistral]

Well, once he turned 18, without a contract, pretty much every recording made of him that was not in public (in his home for example) would have been an invasion of privacy.

And whatever "job" he "worked" at was a fabrication-his real job was actor in a reality show-for which he was not paid. If not slavery, certainly some kind of indentured servitude. Either way, illegal. I mean, Jesus, didn't they even shoot at him to stop him from leaving?

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Well, once he turned 18, without a contract, pretty much every recording made of him that was not in public (in his home for example) would have been an invasion of privacy.

I suppose, technically, you could argue that the home was legally owned by the producers of the series. Still, as a renter, Truman might have some reasonable expectation of privacy in his residence. But I doubt anyone would be brought up on criminal charges for it. In civil court, however, Truman could single handedly financially destroy everyone who ever profited from the show for unauthorized use of his image.

 

[Non Sync]

I'm sure there were all sorts of labor laws broken.

California Child Labor laws limits filming of newborns to just 20 minutes a day. Children between 15 days and 6 months can only be on the set for just 2 consecutive hours per day.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

Well, there was that bit where they tried to murder him at the end.