To say that "the camera cannot lie" is merely to underline the multiple deceits that are now practised in its name.
Marshall McluhanRead
Ads are the cave art of the twentieth century.
Interpretation
Ads reflect the cultural expressions and values of their time, much like ancient cave art.
Marshall McLuhan's quote compares advertisements to cave art, suggesting that both serve as significant cultural artifacts that reveal the beliefs, desires, and societal norms of their respective eras. Just as cave paintings provide insight into prehistoric life, modern advertisements encapsulate the ideas, aspirations, and creativity of the twentieth century, serving as a mirror to the values and innovations of contemporary society.
In practice
In a discussion about modern consumerism, this quote can illustrate how ads shape our cultural identity.
To say that "the camera cannot lie" is merely to underline the multiple deceits that are now practised in its name.
A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding.
In big industry new ideas are invited to rear their heads so they can be clobbered at once. The idea department of a big firm is a sort of lab for isolating dangerous viruses.
The news automatically becomes the real world for the TV user and is not a substitute for reality, but is itself an immediate reality.
Faced with information overload, we have no alternative but pattern-recognition.
The poet, the artist, the sleuth, whoever sharpens our perception tends to antisocial; rarely 'well adjusted,' he cannot go along with currents and trends.
At some point you have to believe that the inadequacies of the words you use will be transcended by the faith with which you use them. You have to believe that poetry has some reach into reality itself, or you have to go silent.
I sometimes think there is nothing so delightful as drawing.
The language of art is celestial in origin and can only be understood by the chosen.
I guess I've accepted that theatre is never going to be edgy in the way I want it to be. It's too expensive for a start. And, the audience seems to be complicit in the dullness.
If you write fiction, you're by yourself. There are certain advantages to that in that you don't have to explain anything to anybody. But when you get in with others who share the loneliness of the whole enterprise, you're not lonely anymore.
A poet is a bird of unearthly excellence, who escapes from his celestial realm arrives in this world warbling. If we do not cherish him, he spreads his wings and flies back into his homeland.
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