Mass consumption, advertising, and mass art are a corporate Frankenstein; while they reinforce the system, they also undermine it.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Willson describes mass consumption, advertising, and mass art as a corporate Frankenstein that both supports and subverts the system.
- In plain terms
- Mass media and consumption are a corporate monster that both upholds and undermines the system.
- What can you take from it?
- Recognizing the dual nature of mass culture can reveal opportunities for resistance.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- In what ways do mass media reinforce existing power structures?
- How can they be used to challenge those structures?
Another view
The metaphor may oversimplify complex economic and cultural dynamics.
More from Ellen Willis
By continually pushing the message that we have the right to gratification now, consumerism at its most expansive encouraged a demand for fulfillment that coul…
Permalink to quote #37 On one level the sixties revolt was an impressive illustration of Lenin's remark that the capitalist will sell you the rope to hang him with.
Permalink to quote #39 Take back the night? How can women take back the night when they've never had it?
Permalink to quote #36
Related quotes
Now, here's the thing you've got to remember. You've got to see this. This is the point. (And Jack Valenti misses this.) Here's the point: Never has it been mo…
Lawrence LessigLawrence Lessig quote #25 It's only a movie, and, after all, we're all grossly overpaid....
Alfred HitchcockAlfred Hitchcock quote #28 'The culture industry not so much adapts to the reactions of its customers as it counterfeits them.'
Theodor AdornoTheodor Adorno quote #85