To say that "the camera cannot lie" is merely to underline the multiple deceits that are now practised in its name.
The poet, the artist, the sleuth, whoever sharpens our perception tends to antisocial; rarely 'well adjusted,' he cannot go along with currents and trends.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Creative individuals often struggle to fit into societal norms due to their acute awareness and perception.
This quote by Marshall McLuhan suggests that those who enhance our understanding and perception of the world—like poets, artists, and detectives—often find themselves at odds with mainstream society. Their unique insights and perspectives can lead them to feel isolated, as they are not inclined to conform to societal norms and trends that others may follow. This disconnect reflects a deeper truth about the creative process and the cost of heightened awareness in a world that often values conformity.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can serve as an introduction in an art class discussing the struggles of artists.
More from Marshall Mcluhan
All quotes →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.
We shape our tools and afterwards our tools shape us.
Similar quotes
Oh literature, oh the glorious Art, how it preys upon the marrow in our bones. It scoops the stuffing out of us, and chucks us aside. Alas!
I never consciously place symbolism in my writing. That would be a self-conscious exercise and self-consciousness is defeating to any creative act. Better to get the subconscious to do the work for you, and get out of the way. The best symbolism is always unsuspected and natural. During a lifetime, one saves up information which collects itself around centers in the mind; these automatically become symbols on a subliminal level and need only be summoned in the heat of writing.
Film is really the one art form that can effectively use silence. Music and theater can play with silence, but they can't sustain silence without losing energy, whereas film can go into a silent mode and stay there for minutes at a time.
Casting sometimes is fate and destiny more than skill and talent, from a director's point of view.
If the culture shifts, if people think differently about women, the art will shift, too. You can't ask art to make social change. It's not what it's for.
Because, if one is writing novels today, concentrating on the beauty of the prose is right up there with concentrating on your semi-colons, for wasted effort.