The strange power of art is sometimes it can show that what people have in common is more urgent than what differentiates them. It seems to me it's something that theatre can do, but it's rare; it's very rare.
John BergerRead
The publicity image steals her love of herself as she is, and offers it back to her for the price of the product.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Publicity images manipulate self-perception, linking self-worth to consumer products.
John Berger's quote highlights how advertising practices can distort an individual's self-image. It suggests that the portrayal of beauty and desirability in media often undermines genuine self-acceptance, creating a scenario where individuals are led to believe that their worth is contingent upon purchasing products that promise to enhance their self-esteem.
Themes
PublicitySelf-LoveConsumerismImageMedia
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote in a discussion about the impact of advertising on mental health.
More from John Berger
All quotes βUnlike any other visual image, a photograph is not a rendering, an imitation or an interpretation of its subject, but actually a trace of it. No painting or drawing, however naturalist, belongs to its subject in the way that a photograph does.
John BergerRead
We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves.
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The camera relieves us of the burden of memory. It surveys us like God, and it surveys for us. Yet no other god has been so cynical, for the camera records in order to forget.
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Propaganda requires a permanent network of communication so that it can systematically stifle reflection with emotive or utopian slogans. Its pace is usually fast.
John BergerRead
Being a unique superpower undermines the military intelligence of strategy. To think strategically, one has to imagine oneself in the enemy's place. If one cannot do this, it is impossible to foresee, to take by surprise, to outflank. Misinterpreting an enemy can lead to defeat. This is how empires fall.
John BergerRead
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