12 Times Real Life Played Out Like 'The Truman Show'

In case you missed it, The Truman Show was a movie where Truman Burbank's whole life was the subject of a TV show. While this would normally just mean he'd have cameras following him around all his life, this show's producers went even further and constructed a fake town for him to spend his whole life in.

As Truman slowly grew to realize, his friends and family were all actors and his entire life was a lie. 

Even if you have seen the movie, you might not be aware that a similar delusion exists in real life. As Joel Gold from New York's Bellevue Hospital describes, people with this syndrome "believe their family, friends, and co-workers are all reading from scripts and their home, workplace, and hospital are all sets. They believe they are being filmed for the whole world to see.”

The phenomenon has been observed both in those who seek the spotlight and those who fear i,t but there's some debate as to whether this delusion is genuine or if it's closer to an act.

Yet this fear of living in a TV show can be a little easier to understand than some of us may realize. If we happen to see certain things at a vulnerable time in our lives, we may be convinced that the world around us isn't real. At the very least, we may feel inclined to believe that our every move is closely being watched.

If it's still hard to picture how someone could think this way, these 12 examples may help piece it together.

COMMENT and let us know if you ever saw something that made you wonder if you were being pranked.

1. Customers didn't like eBay's new background, so they subtly rolled it out anyway. 

Back when the website had a yellow background, the company wanted to change it to white. Users didn't like this change at all, so eBay went back to yellow after a flood of angry emails.

At least, that's what it looked like. Instead, they constantly changed the background to a slightly paler shade of yellow over the course of several months. The background was white by the time they were finished, but the change happened so gradually that nobody noticed.

2. Some garden suppliers glue fake flowers to their cacti.

This gives the impression that the flower blooms for longer than usual. Since it takes so long for cacti to grow, it could potentially take years before the customer notices. 

3. The bookshelves in this coffee shop aren't real.

If this were The Truman Show, there'd be a dramatic music sting as he tried to touch them.

4. A Houston airport decreased its guests' complaints with a little trickery.

Customers were complaining about the long wait times at the baggage claim even after airport executives brought the wait down to eight minutes. So instead, they moved around the arrival gates and luggage carousels so it took flyers six times longer to reach the claim.

Since they were so busy walking, people didn't notice that it took just as long for the bags to arrive as it had before.

Yet there are even more subtle ways for businesses to make you forget you're waiting for something.

5. Have you ever wondered why so many elevators have mirrors next to them?

It turns out they're there so you'll notice them and start checking out your hair or face. As long as you're keeping yourself occupied this way, you won't notice how long the elevator is taking to arrive.

At least, that's the idea.

6. This same effect can make stores a killing through impulse buy items. 

Not only are customers not complaining so much about the wait, but supermarkets are earning about $5.5 billion a year just off of these items.

7. People on Facebook reacted to a government plan to enact martial law without knowing it came from a satirical paper.

This is why it's helpful to remember not to give in to these Truman Show feelings too much. After all, you don't want an article from The Onion to seem like real news.

8. It looks the part, but no bus is going to come to this stop.

Some nursing homes in Germany have put these fake bus stops in place to make it easier to find wandering Alzheimer's patients. Many are trying to get to a home that no longer exists, and the bus stop design is familiar enough that they'll wait next to it.

At this point, staff will tell them that the bus is coming later and invite them back to the nursing home for coffee.

9. You have to search the picture for clues to see what's really going on here.

It's hard to tell, but this isn't a real person. Instead, it's a sculpture by artist Duane Hanson, who is known for his photorealistic works.

Even art experts can sometimes get tripped up by his work since one asked a security guard a question at a Hanson exhibit only to find that they were talking to another sculpture.

10. This would be a pretty unnerving sight to stumble upon.

However, it makes a lot more sense when you realize that this fake crowd was made for the Jackie Robinson biopic 42. After all, everyone does look unusually dapper here, don't they?

11. For some reason, these real bricks are covered with fake bricks.

If we ripped it off, it would be hard not to expect someone to shout, "Hey, stop wrecking the set!"

12. Sometimes our pets can feel just as weirded out as us.

At first glance, this does kind of look like a slice of pizza, so I can understand this dog's frustration.

Don't forget to COMMENT and tell us about the times when your surroundings just didn't feel right. Check out the video below for even more content!