To say that "the camera cannot lie" is merely to underline the multiple deceits that are now practised in its name.
The movie, by sheer speeding up of the mechanical, carried us from the world of sequence and connections into the world of creative configurations and structure.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on how film transforms our perception, moving us from linear storytelling to a more complex and creative experience.
Marshall McLuhan's quote explores the impact of cinema on our understanding of narrative and reality. He suggests that movies, through their fast-paced and mechanical nature, disrupt traditional sequences and connections, allowing audiences to engage with stories and ideas in a more abstract and creatively structured manner. This highlights the role of technology in shaping not just art, but also how we perceive and make sense of our world.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the evolution of storytelling, this quote could illustrate the transformative power of cinema.
More from Marshall Mcluhan
All quotes βA 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.
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I kept starting 'Anansi Boys' as a movie and stopping, and eventually wrote the novel and was happy.
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